The story of Cinderella, a staple of folklore, childhood story time, and Hollywood movies, reveals some of the real-life challenges that all too often arise in estate planning and inheritance disputes. Whatever the iteration or adaptation, from the original Cinderella to Ella Enchanted, the basic premise is the same: the Cinderella character is orphaned by her parents and left to the devices, neglect, and abuse of her evil stepmother and the stepmother’s natural children. Taking a deeper look into the storyline and Cinderella’s plight provides important lessons for the trusts and estates community. Here are ways estate planners can help mitigate actual and potential conflicts to help protect the Cinderellas of the world, and the inheritances their departed loved ones intended they receive.

Create, Secure, and Share a Comprehensive Estate Plan

The first and best step in making sure Cinderella is protected is to ensure there is a “bulletproof” estate plan in place that provides for her as her loved ones intend. When designing an estate plan, it is imperative to go beyond the “numbers,” the x’s and o’s of the estate plan’s distribution scheme. You must delve into the nuances of sometimes uncomfortable family dynamics, jointly utilized or jointly titled properties or accounts, family enterprises, and other potential sources of contention.

Family dynamics, including any possible, no matter how “unlikely,” rifts or disagreements, must be explored, discussed, understood, and navigated carefully to mitigate and hopefully avoid entirely any future disputes. In our tale, for example, it seems glaringly obvious Cinderella’s father must have known his wife and stepdaughters did not get along well with Cinderella. Leaving his wife in charge of Cinderella’s share of his estate and making Cinderella and her menacing stepsisters equal remainder beneficiaries of the whole or as co-owners of the grand chateau, Gus Gus, Jack-Jack, the horse, goose, and dog, for example, is not advisable. Instead, separate Cinderella from her stepmother and stepsisters by identifying an independent fiduciary to manage whatever share of the estate does or eventually will go to Cinderella and detail with specificity exactly who among the girls gets what assets and when.

In situations like Cinderella’s, choosing a family member – particularly a family member – with a real or perceived conflict. to serve as trustee invites conflict. That conflict can be over differing interpretations of trust terms, investments, and asset management, or over or under communication. The dynamics of the family situation influence the decision-making of a family trustee and interfere with the trustees’ ability to manage the estate efficiently or cost-effectively.

These issues do not only arise when the “evil stepmother” is nominated to serve. Rest assured that Anastasia and Drizella would have a tough time watching Cinderella manage the estate. While Cinderella seemingly might be the only one of the four of them capable of managing her father’s affairs equitably, even after years of mistreatment, the reality is that it just puts Cinderella in her stepsisters’ crosshairs and opens her up to further abuse by Anastasia and Drizella through baseless allegations of fiduciary breaches and even lawsuits.

Similarly, putting Anastasia and/or Drizella in charge of Cinderella’s share of the estate leaves her exposed to their seemingly all-but-inevitable mismanagement or even theft of assets, refusal to follow the trust as written, and putting Cinderella in a position where she may need to initiate litigation to have her stepsisters suspended, removed and surcharged for their misdeeds. Professional trustees offer expertise, impartiality, and accountability, ensuring effective estate management while eliminating the difficulties of having a family trustee.

Additionally, failing to examine how assets are titled can lead to further problems among family members. For example, assets held jointly by family members demand careful attention to ensure that assets that are covered by the estate plan can pass to intended beneficiaries easily without litigation. Similarly, inadequate consideration and planning also can result in a trustee or executor – often a child or the surviving spouse – being at odds with remainder beneficiaries – normally other children – over property expenses, maintenance, what rights a life tenant has, etc. Detailed life estates and marital trusts can help avoid these disputes by providing clear instructions to fiduciaries and beneficiaries alike as to what their rights and their responsibilities are.

In the classic tale, Cinderella’s father is referred to as a “nobleman” or “merchant,” a businessman, which brings another consideration to light. What happens to family business? Often, all surviving children, for example, are left as equal beneficiaries of the family business. But what happens when the industrious Cinderella is left to manage the business with her lazy, spoiled stepsisters? As an equal beneficiary with a minority interest compared to Anastasia and Drizella’s joint majority interest, Cinderella is at a distinct disadvantage. She has little control, all the responsibility, and is entitled to the smallest share of the spoils. Without any provisions about who is to manage and run the business, how those services are valued, or how to value, sell, or buy out interests the only likely outcomes are  that the business either will fail or end up being sold for less than its inherent value. To ensure the continuity and success of the business, it’s critical to have honest conversations about the real desires and abilities of the would-be inheritors to be able to create options for those who might want to work in the business as well as offer clearly spelled out alternatives for those who simply will not or cannot. Family businesses and their succession must be approached with honesty, sensitivity, and foresight.

Finally, the sentimental or emotional value family “heirlooms” may have been overlooked far too often, creating significant potential for high-cost disputes for low-dollar-value assets. These could include cherished antiques, art, jewelry, photos, awards, dishes, silverware, lamps and other household items, family homes or vacation homes. Much like the fracas that ensued over who was the wearer of the glass slipper in the fairy tale, disputes over sentimental assets can cause significant disruption among family members and completely derail the administration and distribution of an estate. It is better to address these issues in detail in a written estate plan, even if that detail simply provides a mechanism for resolving disputes. That mechanism could be a “round robin” mechanism, or all items not agreed upon by family members within a certain time frame will be donated by the fiduciary to charity. The fear of not getting a cherished family heirloom, the notion that your loathed sibling or other family member will receive it, or the possibility the item could go to a “non-blood family member” will spark major disagreements. For example, if Cinderella’s mother wanted her to have a necklace from her grandmother, but her father held onto it until Cinderella came of age, it seems all but certain that after he passed the necklace would go to either Anastasia or Drizella. By encouraging your clients to lay out these concerns openly, a planner can craft estate plans that not only safeguard their assets but also honor their familial legacies and aspirations.

Once the estate plan is finalized, it is best practice to communicate the intentions articulated in the estate plan to those affected. Sharing a copy of the documents themselves, particularly with those a testator wishes to protect, should also be considered.

In A Cinderella Story, Sam’s (Cinderella’s) dad passed away in an earthquake, and her stepmother took advantage of Sam for years, forcing her to work at the family diner for little pay and treating her poorly at home. At the end of the movie, Sam discovers a will hidden in the bedtime storybook from which her father used to read to her. The will gives everything to Sam. Had Sam or a trusted adult known about the will, it could have been probated right after her father’s passing, saving Sam years of mistreatment and heartache. What’s more, if a will is not probated timely, beneficiaries may lose any opportunity to enforce it at all. Time is of the essence.

Most settlors or testators overlook or reject the opportunity to share their intentions with their beneficiaries and heirs before they pass. This is understandable considering how uncomfortable people are with the concept of their own demise, not to mention the potentiality for creating family disruption by communicating one’s intentions. Still, a simple, direct conversation, “This is what I intend and why,” is best practice. Taking this proactive measure sheds light not only on the “what” but the “why”, preventing future disputes and ensuring the client’s intentions are upheld.

Address Potential Challenges from Omitted Spouses or Omitted Children

A robust estate plan is a key part of protecting clients’ intended beneficiaries, including any Cinderellas. However, just because your client has an estate plan before he marries the “evil stepmother” does not mean their Cinderella will be protected. It is equally important to keep estate plans updated. Following up regularly – i.e., annually – with clients to ensure their estate plans do not require updating is an important part of the estate planning process. Checking in with clients to ensure no property or life changes have occurred that may necessitate an update is important in making sure for the future. One of the biggest life changes that require an update is a remarriage or the birth of a new child.

While the ability of an omitted (sometimes called pretermitted) spouse or child to inherit varies by jurisdiction, generally a spouse or child who post-dates the creation of a will or trust, unless specifically excluded under the express provisions of the document or otherwise provided for, will be entitled to receive a share of the estate. For example, in California, Probate Code Section 21610 allows an omitted spouse to receive his or her intestate share of the estate. The pretermitted spouse will be entitled to one-half of the community property and as much as half of the deceased spouse’s separate property.

Safeguarding Minor Beneficiaries’ Interests

In scenarios when beneficiaries are minors at the time of death, the court should appoint a guardian ad litem to ensure her interests are protected. More thoughtful estate planning could also be used to ensure Cinderella’s interests are protected in her own trust with an independent trustee duty bound to provide for Cinderella’s needs.

How to Help a Cinderella

Where estate planning simply did not happen, fails to adequately protect a Cinderella, or is thwarted, there are still things that can be done to protect these clients. What happens if even the best planning fails, and you find yourself helping a “Cinderella?” Here are the most common issues we see in trust and estate litigation.

If there is no estate plan, then Cinderella would be entitled to her intestate share of the estate. She, if she is of the age of majority, or another adult, if she is not, should seek appointment by the probate court to administer the estate to ensure her interests are protected. While Cinderella would not have priority for appointment over her evil stepmother, the probate court’s supervision of the administration should provide her with protection.

If the estate plan fails to adequately protect Cinderella, either because it names the evil stepmother as fiduciary or gives her control over the estate, Cinderella should consult with a probate litigation attorney to examine what efforts might be undertaken to have the stepmother suspended or removed and/or to contest the will or trust.

Similarly, if Cinderella’s evil stepmother or stepsisters are actively or passively interfering with the intent of her father’s estate plan to provide for her, she should consult with a probate litigation attorney to investigate the viability of having the stepmother suspended and removed and/or pursuing her and her daughters for any fiduciary breaches, fraud or theft.

By embracing these planning strategies, estate planners can effectively shield beneficiaries from potential conflicts, ensuring their clients’ intentions are carried out. And by collaborating with experienced probate litigation counsel when those intentions are thwarted, estate planners can ensure their clients’ intentions are given effect.

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Meagan Paisley is an attorney with RMO LLP, where she leads the firm’s client relationship team. In this role, Meagan guides clients and community team members with a warm, empathetic, and attuned approach that provides a strategy and a sense of relief to those embroiled in emotional and complex probate, trust, estate, conservatorship, and inheritance disputes.

Scott Rahn has been litigating contentious probate matters for more than 20 years, including the last decade at RMO LLP, a firm he launched in 2015 to focus exclusively on contentious trust, estate, and conservatorship matters. Rahn has earned a reputation for his keen ability to manage family dysfunction while securing real-world results. Representing beneficiaries, heirs, executors, trustees, and fiduciaries, his clients are typically embroiled in inheritance disputes involving trust contests, will contests, undue influence, incapacity, fraud, financial elder abuse, and claims for breaches of fiduciary duties.