When you’re planning your estate, you have to remember that what may seem like a trivial detail may end up causing a dispute, like if you own seasonal tickets to a sporting event.
That exact situation was covered in a recent article by All About Estates, in which the passing of Mr. Chaim Neuberger caused friction between his daughter, Edie, and his company, Nuspor, over a pair of seasonal tickets for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
What Happened?
Mr. Neuberger had purchased the Toronto Maple Leafs tickets under his own name 50 years prior to his passing, however:
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Nuspor disputed that Mr. Neuberger was merely holding them in trust on behalf of the company, since companies were not permitted to sign their name to tickets in the late 1960’s.
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Evidence submitted by Harry Sporer, a partner of the deceased, and others showed that the tickets had been paid for by the company and purchased with the intent to be used for business purposes.
So, Who Got the Tickets?
In the end, the court considered the tickets to be held in a bare trust by Mr. Neuberger. They made this decision based on three components:
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Certainty of intention: to hold the tickets in Nuspor’s name.
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Certainty of benefit: to help Nuspor treat its clients and leaders.
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Certainty of object: that Chaim Neuberger held the tickets in his name, and nothing else.
The conditions surrounding a purchase money resulting trust also helped to confirm Nuspor’s argument:
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The trustee must have title to the property.
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The claimant must have supplied the whole or a part of the purchase price at the time the property was being bought.
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The claimant must prove throughout he acted as purchaser.
A purchase money resulting trust differs from a bare trust because it is a situation in which one person pays for something but the title is recorded in another person’s name.
Ms. Neuberger fought Nuspor’s claim unsuccessfully, despite her recent success winning a larger inheritance from her father’s estate.
When you are planning your estate and preparing your will, you need to prevent disputes as much as possible by considering details you may have overlooked, such as bare trusts.
If you need more information, free estate planning and will preparation checklists and resources are available at ERAssure.com to assist you.