Most of us know the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, where Snow White’s relationship with her stepmother takes center stage. After his wife’s death, the king remarries, hoping to provide a motherly figure for his daughter. Life is peaceful until the king dies, revealing the Queen’s darker nature. Threatened by Snow White’s beauty, the Queen arranges to have her killed. But the huntsman spares Snow White, allowing her to escape and eventually find refuge with the seven dwarfs. Later, she meets and marries Prince Charming, and the Queen meets a grim end. While the tale is extreme, it illustrates how conflict can arise when a family’s unifying figure dies without a plan. Had the king created an estate plan, this story might have had a far different ending.
An Estate Planning Attorney Would Have Put Everything in Writing
While we do not know what the king’s wishes were, if he had written them down in a legally enforceable manner, we would know and they could have been enforced. With tangible proof, everyone would have known what they were entitled to, and it would have been easier for third parties and beneficiaries to enforce what the king wanted. To carry out his wishes, the king had a couple of legal tools he could have utilized.
Last Will and Testament
The king could have used a last will and testament, which is a document that names a personal representative (also called an executor) to collect all of the king’s accounts and property, pay his outstanding debts, and distribute his money and property. A will would specify who would receive the king’s accounts and property and name a guardian for Snow White, as she was a minor at the time of his death. Although this document would only be legally enforceable at the king’s death, it could have provided an official way to express his wishes. One downside of relying on a will is that to distribute the king’s money and property, his loved ones would need to navigate the probate process, a court-supervised procedure for distributing assets after a person’s death.
Revocable Living Trust and a Pour-Over Will
Alternatively, the king could have established a revocable living trust during his lifetime, allowing him to change the trust document at any time until he was unable to manage his affairs or passed away. This planning tool would enable him to name himself as the current trustee—responsible for managing, investing, and distributing the assets—and designate a co-trustee or backup trustee if needed. He would have to change the ownership of his accounts and property from himself as an individual to himself as the trustee or designate the trust as the beneficiary of his assets (with some exceptions). This trust would let him enjoy his assets during his lifetime while designating who would inherit upon his death, avoiding probate court involvement and protecting his loved ones’ inheritances from prying eyes.
If the king executed a revocable living trust as part of his estate plan, he would also create a pour-over will. This document would serve as a backup if he failed to transfer any assets to his trust during his lifetime or through beneficiary designation at his death, or if he needed to appoint a guardian for Snow White. The key difference between a will and a pour-over will is that a pour-over will directs the transfer of all probate assets to the trust instead of distributing them to individuals. Although the king’s loved ones would still have to go through probate, the probate assets would end up in the trust, managed and distributed according to his trust instructions.
An Estate Plan Would Have Appointed Someone to Be in Charge
Once the king passed away, the law would dictate who could step in to handle his affairs if he did not have a legally valid estate plan. The stepmother might be at the top of the list as the surviving spouse, and because she was older than Snow White, she might have had more leverage to step in and take control. By creating an estate plan, the king could have appointed and empowered a trusted person as the personal representative under his last will and testament or as a successor trustee under this trust to handle his affairs, such as a trusted friend, advisor, or neutral third party.
An Estate Plan Would Have Protected Inheritances
Given Snow White’s young age when her father passed, it is likely that she was too young to manage a large sum of money or rule a kingdom without some guidance and oversight. Therefore, whatever he wanted to leave behind for Snow White could have been held in trust for her, either under his will as a testamentary trust or as a subtrust of his revocable living trust. A trust would have allowed him to craft specific instructions on when and how Snow White would receive her inheritance. If the king created a separate subtrust for Snow White, he could provide instructions for her to receive her inheritance upon his death, rather than waiting for her stepmother to pass away to access whatever remained.
Holding an inheritance in trust is not just for minors. The king could have also placed whatever inheritance he wanted to leave his wife in trust. He could have provided specific instructions about how much she would get and when she would get it so that he would have that assurance that she was provided for. He would have also been able to dictate who would receive the money or property left in the stepmother’s subtrust when she died. In this case, he could have named Snow White as next in line to receive whatever was left in the stepmother’s trust.
Snow White Could Have Had a Better Guardian
After the king’s passing, someone needed to decide who would care for Snow White. Unfortunately, her stepmother was in control and proved to be a cruel guardian. Had the king considered his options, he could have nominated a more suitable caretaker, such as a grandparent, aunt, or uncle, rather than relying on the dwarfs. A guardian typically nominates someone in a last will and testament or pour-over will. While this nomination carries significant weight in court, some jurisdictions allow individuals to use a separate document to nominate a guardian, referencing it in the will. This setup would enable the king to easily revise his choice if he decided on a different guardian for Snow White.
Help Ensure a Fairy Tale Ending for Your Loved Ones With A Proper Estate Plan
While the story of Snow White serves as a fairy tale, it teaches us important lessons. We all want our loved ones to have happy endings. We can help you take steps to avoid the bad outcomes that are part of the typical fairy tales. To discuss ways we can help you craft your happily ever after, give us a call!
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