To avoid trouble, said Cooper, the resident of a state needs to know the default rule there and then decide whether he wants the will to adopt it or change it.
The key, he said, "is to understand the issue and coordinate a proper response."
Otherwise, the estate could be on the hook for taxes on property, money or some other asset left to a secret beneficiary on the side. The story of television news personality Charles Kuralt is a case in point. Kuralt left property on the Big Hole River in Montana to his longtime lover, civil rights activist Pat Baker, touching off a court battle over whether his widow, Suzanna, should have to pay the taxes on it.
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