Emergency heart surgery is a strong signal of mortality at any age. For a 70-year-old, it’s past time to clarify the estate plan — and, if necessary, finalize that $400 million divorce.
Arnold Schwarzenegger could have died this weekend if he’d waited a little longer to get his pulmonary heart valve replaced or if anything had gone wrong during the procedure.
That’s what we call a classic “wake up call.” While the new valve could easily hold up another 15 years, his body is aging and medical science is going to have to work harder and harder to keep up.
He’s tempting fate every day he doesn’t have his exact, sincere and precise posthumous wishes on file. For his family’s sake, I hope he’s already talked to the lawyers.
But if his estate plan depended on his divorce being final, the situation might be messier.
A few months ago the tabloids were buzzing about how Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver never actually filed the last paperwork that would make their 2011 separation permanent and legal.
Maybe they quietly corrected the lapse. Otherwise, dying while married in California is a whole lot different than dying while divorced.
And if money was the snag in the split, not even the Terminator can outrun the Grim Reaper forever.
Maria and the spousal share
Arnold and Maria are reportedly worth about $400 million together. Factor out her share in Kennedy family trusts and we just don’t know where his money ends and hers starts.
There’s apparently no prenuptial contract or firm delineation of separate property. Once the divorce is final, it’s not hard to imagine a scenario where she ends up with the bulk of “his” hard-won fortune.
He’s 70 years old and not exactly an action star any more. There aren’t a whole lot of $30 million movies left in him to rebuild his assets in the event of an unfavorable split.
Supposedly that’s why he hasn’t completed his financial disclosures after nearly seven years. He’d rather stay in marital limbo if it means hanging onto his wealth.
Of course if he’s still legally married when he dies, California default inheritance rules give her all the community property and, if there’s no will, a third of the separate property as well. Granted he might not care what happens to the money when he’s dead, but some people have other plans.
Maybe he stalled on the marital accounting of assets while going ahead with a will. It seems unusually spiteful and even risky if her lawyers uncover the documents, but divorce isn’t always what you’d call smooth or rational.
She left him because he cheated with a housekeeper. He may be stalling in order to keep the relationship alive as a legal fiction even if she moved on emotionally years ago.
Either way, he probably wants to spell out support for the son the housekeeper bore him back in 1997. Legally he’s not the father. If he dies without a will, Maria will decide.
Odds are pretty high that even if he has an orderly will and a disorderly divorce file, the will gets challenged for trying to funnel marital assets away from Maria.
Charitable bequests would probably face similar scrutiny, so if he’s got any causes near and dear to his heart, they lose out if he dies married.
In the meantime, of course, his other four kids are in good shape whether they inherit from him directly or through their mother.
They’re all adults now. There’s no compelling reason to keep the marriage together for their benefit.
But if he wants to die with a clean slate and an orderly estate, he’s got to deal with Maria before he settles the hereafter.
