Don’t Take the ‘Heartbreak Express’ to Estate Disputes

What do Dolly Parton, Jimmy Buffett and Michael Jackson all have in common? 

If you said they’re all late chart-topping musicians with millions of devoted fans, you’d be right. There’s something else, less fortunate: ongoing disputes about their estates. Dueling parties with interests in Parton’s estate were in court just this week, in fact, with a judge granting the late singer’s nephew (and former security guard) more time to prepare to defend himself against a restraining order filed by She’s Alive, the entity founded to manage and protect Parton’s assets and intellectual property interests. 

While most financial advisors don’t work “9 to 5” for world-famous musicians, there’s still a lot for them to learn from headline-grabbing estate disputes — starting with the fact that not every estate planning dispute is avoidable, said Sean Houghton, director of New Hampshire Shores Trust. 

“That’s certainly true, but a solid plan and proactive communications can help prevent the worst outcomes,” he said. 

‘More Where that Came From’

While he’s not privy to nonpublic details, Houghton suspects that Parton’s plans are well thought out, and that She’s Alive will be able to maintain control, per her expressly stated wishes. 

“Dolly was known for being savvy financially, and she was vocal during her lifetime about wanting this stuff to be buttoned up and not have people fight over her legacy,” Houghton said. “That’s another big lesson in itself for advisors to take away.” 

Setting expectations is paramount, especially in cases where there could be some ambiguity, said Jennifer Goode, senior national director of the Wealth Strategies Group at Bernstein Private Wealth Management. Parton died without having had children of her own, for example, which changes the default assumptions about estate planning. 

“When people first look for help with estate planning, we find they’re often running away from something, whether that’s a tax bill or worries about how the next generation will behave,” Goode said. “The most effective planning happens when people are running toward something, when they have a vision of what they want to achieve, and Dolly was a great example of that.” 

‘It’s All Wrong, But It’s Alright.’ Another lesson to learn from Parton’s legacy is the need to confront our own mortality. “A lot of people will kind of sign documents and then just ignore the estate planning topic for years or even decades because it’s uncomfortable to think about mortality,” Goode said. “Like Dolly, we try to flip that on its head and emphasize the idea of proactively creating clarity about one’s legacy, whether it’s going to charities or the next generation.”