Bonnie Kraham: Gary Coleman case shows importance of updating wishes

"Diff'rent Strokes" TV Star Gary Coleman died unexpectedly in May 2010 in Utah. He was only 42 years old. Coleman had an estate plan that named his ex-girlfriend, who was also his former manager, as executor and beneficiary of his estate as early as 2005.

However, the plan does not seem to have been updated in any way in the intervening five years, even though many changes took place in his life.

The lack of oversight of his plan has led to an ongoing feud that continues to drag out under the public eye, a reminder of the need to update elder law estate plans and the value of privacy that can be created with a proper plan.

A brief, rocky marriage

In 2005, Coleman met a woman, Shannon Price, on the set of a movie. The two began dating and were married about two years later. However, the marriage was apparently a rocky one, and the two divorced less than a year after the wedding. The couple remained living together after the divorce. In fact, it was Price who discovered that Coleman had fallen in the home in 2010. And it was Price who made the decision to take Coleman off life support after he suffered a severe head injury in the fall.

Now Price is engaged in a very public dispute with Coleman's ex-girlfriend for control over his estate. Complicated situations like this, with possible ambiguities in the legal documents, often lead to prolonged estate battles. Failing to update documents to account for life events such as marriage and divorce is one of the most common planning mistakes. Many people assume that there will be plenty of time to handle those details later, but no one knows for sure when the documents will be necessary.

Trusts create privacy

The Coleman case is also a reminder of the value of the privacy that comes with estate plans that use trusts, rather than wills, to avoid probate and keep matters out of the public eye. One doesn't have to be a celebrity to want to keep unflattering details or disagreements about one's life private. However, the legal proceedings related to these issues are almost always public matters.

A hearing was recently held in Utah, where details about Coleman's rocky relationship were made public. The ex-girlfriend/manager seeking to gain sole control over his estate claims that Coleman and his ex-wife frequently fought and that she was physically abusive to Coleman. Allegations were also made that the ex-wife treated the TV star like a child, walking him around by his wrist. A former neighbor testified that the home was a mess.

Whether true or not, it is likely that Coleman, like anyone, would have preferred not to have all of these unflattering details made public at any point in his life, or even after his passing.


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