TV host and personality, Wendy Williams, has been in the news recently for her challenging health issues, marital drama, and legal woes, after a bank froze her bank accounts due to concerns about whether she needed a protective proceeding/guardianship due to her mental and physical ailments.
Her team recently revealed Ms. Williams has dementia, and rumors abound that it may be alcohol related. A new Lifetime four-part docuseries, Where is Wendy Williams, chronicles the sad tale.
Note that Ms. Williams is only 59-years old, so she likely never expected to face such cognitive challenges that require legal planning and preparation. While she did have a Power of Attorney that identified who should manage her finances, were she to be incapacitated, the court got involved and made a determination that the nominated fiduciary was not the best person suited for that job, and appointed someone else to be her guardian for financial decision making.
Other options that could have been taken to protect herself and her assets include setting up a Trust, where a successor trustee would take over, once she became incapacitated. Naming a professional third-party professional trustee, trust company or bank may have been a better option for Ms. Williams, and may have resulted in a different ruling with the court in New York.
Nobody wants to think of the worst case scenario when discussing their future, but an excellent estate planner will help you talk through your options to bring peace of mind: Plan for the worst and hope for the best!
