What Can We Learn From Jackie Kennedy Onassis?

Well….her designer (talk about a bait and switch LOL). Oleg Cassini was the renowned American fashion designer, best known for his “Jackie Look” for First Lady, Jaqueline Kennedy Onassis. He died in 2006 leaving behind a Gilded Age Mansion on the Upper East side (of NY) that doubled as his design studio that was acquired by his two granddaughters, Marianne and Peggy Nestor.

It turns out that the octogenarian sisters did not keep up with their bills and six years ago, creditors began litigation efforts against the home to collect the millions owed in mortgages and liens. There was an eviction. There was a bankruptcy. There were “frivolous appeals and objections” and there was a “litigation cloud” created to postpone the inevitable. 

20 years after Cassini’s passing, the property was sold for $34.5M and just barely settled the sisters’ debts. Voilà! 

So, what can we learn from this sisters’ fight of their lives?

We can discuss the nuances of a homestead property through the probate process. In Florida, when someone passes away and (1) a probate of a primary residence is needed (their homestead) AND (2) the property will pass to a lineal descendant or spouse, that property will go through an order determining homestead. 

This means that if a personal representative is appointed, they will not have any authority over that homestead property. Instead, the judge will sign an order transferring the property DIRECTLY to the heirs (do not pass go, do not collect $200). That order will be recorded with the county (sometimes directly by the judge) and acts as the conveyance instrument, moving the property directly out of the estate and to the heirs. Again, the personal representative will not have any power over the homestead property, but they will have the power over OTHER assets.

This means that siblings (or heirs) will be joint owners of the real property without the benefit of the personal representative to manage the property or make decisions regarding the property. Of course, this only applies to a primary residence and is easily avoided by having a funded trust or property lady bird (enhanced life estate) deed. In short, an estate plan can protect from having children (or grandchildren in the case of Oleg) or a spouse squander your real property by mismanagement (allegedly, of course).

So, there you have it. We learn that I love the A-line dress and that homestead property is not typically controlled by a personal representative, even if it’s spelled out in a last will.