
Privacy in Estate Planning and the Vaughan Affidavit
People typically have several goals in mind when they are looking to create or tweak an estate plan, and important to some may be the desire for privacy. Estate planning professionals are versed in the various estate planning vehicles that can effectively avoid scrutiny of one’s wealth and the nature of one’s estate plan, during life and after death. For example, while a simple will may require probate at death, with the filing of the will and disclosure of estate assets, trusts are private documents which avoid probate of trust assets at death. There are often work-arounds to disclosing the trust document itself in financial or real estate matters.
When it comes to privacy, individuals often do not want their children to learn the magnitude of their assets or the specifics of the child’s anticipated inheritance. In that case, they certainly would prefer to shield such information from their child’s would-be ex-spouse. However, despite the careful crafting of an estate plan to maintain one’s privacy, a person may be shocked to learn that they are expected to disclose details of their estate if their adult child gets divorced in Massachusetts.
Under Massachusetts law, a divorcing spouse has a right … Keep reading