Why is the Will of a Non-Celebrity in Florida Being Contested?

You do not have to be a celebrity to upset people with your last wishes.

Enter Carl Bergstresser.

Carl was a normal, every day American.

He had a home and 11.6 acres of land.

Apart from that real estate, Carl had about $314,516 in assets.

He died in 2016 of cancer, but did have a will.

According to a recent The Sarasota Herald-Tribune article titled “Outdoorsman’s siblings contest how trustees managed his estate,” this will is being contested by his siblings.

Why?

To answer this question we need to know what his will stated.

In his will, Bergstresser allocated his home and the surrounding property to the Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast to become a nature preserve.

Like many of his neighbors, he valued the wildlife and did not want the area to be developed.

What made his siblings mad?

The executors.

Although Bergstresser named individuals to manage his estate, his siblings believe they did a poor job in executing his wishes.

How so?

According to the siblings, the the executors mismanaged his estate by paying debts and creditors without a court order and taking excessive personal representative and professional fees.

As a consequence of these actions by the executors, the siblings would receive nothing or very little from the estate of their brother.

That is why the siblings are contesting the will.

Remember: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” When making your financial, tax and estate plans, do not go it alone. Be sure to engage competent professional counsel.

For more information about estate planning in Overland Park, KS (and throughout the rest of Kansas and Missouri), visit our estate planning website and be sure to subscribe to our complimentary estate planning e-newsletter while you are there.

Reference: (Sarasota) Herald-Tribune (December 15, 2017) “Outdoorsman’s siblings contest how trustees managed his estate”