What Was James Gandolfini's Mistake?

As is the custom when a celebrity dies, there is a rush to analyze what he or she left behind, who is getting what and how they are fighting about it. That is certainly the case with actor James Gandolfini, who passed away in June at age 51, leaving a 9 month old daughter and 13 year old son.  According to the Daily Mail,

The actor was laid to rest on June 27, but in the ensuing weeks a feud has allegedly erupted between Lin and Gandolfini’s ex-wife Marcy over his estimated $70 million fortune. According to the New York Post, the will, understood to have been filed in Manhattan’s Surrogate Court, reportedly gives Michael first refusal on his numerous luxury homes - amongst them a New York condominium and a property in Los Angeles.Michael is also said to be splitting Gandolfini’s Italian estate with half-sister Liliana when she turns 25, while his own share of all assets will be set aside until his 21st birthday. However, those assets could be greatly diminished, with up to 80 percent of his fortune reportedly ‘unprotected’ from estate taxes.

There are articles by lawyers about how his estate plan was a "mistake" because there may be a large estate tax bill to be paid. However, the strategies that may have protected his estate from taxes may very well have resulted in his children needing to wait to inherit until his second wife, 44 years old, passed away. He may have made the strategic decision to have estate taxes be due so that his son (who has a different mother) would have immediate access to his inheritance. It all depends on what his goals were.  And one would hope that he had explained to his wife ahead of time what his plans were, so that she was prepared as well.Because he passed away from a heart attack, there are also the articles questioning whether he last meals in Italy did him in, what his symptoms might have been in the days leading up to his death and how it could have been prevented (or delayed a few more decades. Death can't be prevented, we are all going to die.)Maybe his bigger mistake was in neglecting his health (if indeed he did), leaving his children, wife and family with a much larger loss than money.