We were sad and surprised to hear of James Gandolfini’s death. It is always a shock when an active and apparently healthy 51 year old suddenly dies.

In the estate world, there were other surprises. Among them were comments from estate practitioners suggesting that his estate plan was a financial disaster in that, roughly $30 million of his $70 million estate was going to estate tax. Perhaps even more surprising, although of less consequence, is that Mr. Gandolfini did not have a Revocable Living Trust – he only had a Will which was subject to public disclosure. Indeed, you could read the entire Will online or in newspapers. Using a Revocable Living Trust as the primary estate planning tool in lieu of only a Will, avoids probate and the publicity, complication and added cost that goes with probate.

Although planning for a $70 million estate to avoid significant estate tax is complicated, it can be done. But for those of us who do not have a $70 million estate, we can at least avoid probate by using a Revocable Trust. If Mr. Gandolfini had relied on a Revocable Trust, his estate planning would not have been subject to disclosure. The estate planning lesson is that, regardless of the value of our assets, we should take advantage of Revocable Trusts.