Puff, the Magic Dragon, and the Estate Planner
34 Pages Posted: 22 Jan 2016 Last revised: 27 Jun 2016
Date Written: 2016
Abstract
With the legalization of medical and recreational marijuana in almost half of the states, practitioners need to be aware of interface between marijuana and estate planning. This article provides a discussion of the major issues that arise. After bringing readers up-to-date with the history of legalized marijuana, the article focuses on how marijuana use may impact a user’s capacity to execute a will and other estate planning documents. The article then examines other estate planning concerns such as will and trust provisions conditioning benefits on the non-use of “illegal drugs” and the impact of marijuana use on life insurance policies. The article wraps up with a discussion of how an estate planner may deal with marijuana-based assets when planning an estate and how to value those assets after the owner has died.
Keywords: estate planning, wills, trusts, marijuana, life insurance, testamentary capacity
JEL Classification: K11
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation