You Can Accidentally Disinherit Your Heirs

By all accounts, Anna Nicole Smith loved her baby daughter Dannielynn. She shielded her from the media, provided her with constant care and surrounded her with every comfort. She also accidentally disinherited her. Here's how: In a will executed in 2001, Anna Nicole placed all of her assets in a trust and named her son Daniel by name (rather than by the more inclusive term "my issue") as sole beneficiary. When Daniel predeceased his mother, the trust legally lapsed for want of a living beneficiary, since Anna Nicole had failed to name a contingent beneficiary for Daniel. Then, because she failed to update her will to include Dannielynn before her own untimely demise at age 39, her sole surviving child was accidentally disinherited. As a result, Anna Nicole's estate -- including the fortune she may someday be awarded from the estate of her late husband, Texas oil billionaire J. Howard Marshall II -- will likely pass through the laws of intestacy -- that is, as if she had died without a will.
12/4/2007 Jay MacDonald Yahoo Finance

Here's how you can accidentally disinherit your loved ones: