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Last week I had a working lunch with “Bill,” a client who had sold a significant portion of his family-held business about two years ago.

Over the course of our discussion, Bill told me a close friend from his university days had called him last month. The friend’s father passed away back in March, leaving a sizable estate. Unfortunately, that estate was now in the process of an extensive legal battle, as four siblings (from two different marriages), a widow, and an ex-spouse bickered and fought over their share of the pie.

“What a mess,” Bill said, shaking his head as he waited for his grilled salmon. “When I go, I want things to be well-organized – easy to deal with.” Bill paused for a moment before looking at me and adding: “And I want everybody to know exactly what I want done with my money.”

Bill’s concern is well founded. In my experience, there’s a direct relationship between the size of one’s estate and the potential for conflict. The higher the stakes, the higher the chances for litigation.

Unfortunately, as I told Bill, there is no such thing as a litigation-free estate. Even the most well-organized, well-constructed estate may be challenged by disgruntled heirs or creditors. That said, there are things high-net-worth individuals can do to discourage litigation, and diffuse inter-family conflict before it leads to courtroom drama.

Read further or Contact Chicago, Illinois estate planning and probate lawyer to learn more from the best.

This is a written agreement entered before a marriage that usually deals with what happens to the parties’ assets and income in the event of divorce or death. For instance, it can specify what a surviving spouse gets on the death of the other spouse. It can increase or decrease inheritance rights.

To be enforceable each party should have separate legal counsel, each party should make full disclosure of all income, assets and other material facts, and no duress should be involved. This is also called a pre-nuptial agreement.

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There are a variety of bank accounts which pass on death to a named survivor. During the life of the owner of the account the survivor has no rights. That is, the survivor cannot withdraw funds from the account like a joint tenant could.

A will does not affect these accounts. They pass to the person designated in the bank records regardless of any will or probate court action. Whether or not such an account has been created depends on the agreement with the bank. Sometimes these accounts are called "Pay on death" accounts. Sometimes they are called "Totten Trusts". Sometimes the account ownership designation merely says "X in trust for Y", although there is no trust agreement.   

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Good article from Forbes about Estate and Gift Tax Planning with 10 tips.

Forbes.com has teamed up with the authors of Ernst & Young Tax Guide 2006 to develop a series of tips to help you avoid paying more tax than necessary. The circumstances of your situation will determine if you qualify, so review the tax code and check with your tax adviser.

Here are ten things you need to know about estate and gift tax planning.