Is TikTok affecting misinformation surrounding estate planning?
How is TikTok affecting the spread of misinformation surrounding estate planning?
Phoebe Skarlatos, Head of Probate, Wills and Trusts, Solicitor
Lawson-West Solicitors, Leicester
TikTok and Social Media
Whether you're an active TikTok user or not, you'll have heard of this popular social media platform with over 1 billion users worldwide. What makes TikTok different to other social media platforms is that it allows anyone to share their videos, regardless of how many followers they have or their expertise. This makes TikTok a great place for people who want to make money from their videos, known as "Content Creators", to get started. Everyone has a chance to become famous, but is this a good thing, and what does it have to do with Estate Planning?
TikTok Documentary and Impact
Recently, Marianna Spring, a reporter at the BBC, made a documentary about TikTok's impact on the world. She found that the most popular TikToks are the ones that start new trends or add to existing ones. When people join a TikTok trend, it often becomes more exciting and exaggerated. For example, someone might make a video covering the law on Will making, and then someone else might make a video related to it, but include wild and untrue statements about Will Making to make the video more interesting and attractive, landing it in front of a wider audience. After all, the TikToks that have more views make more money, even if they are inaccurate.
TikTok and Estate Planning
Here's the problem in Estate Planning: People who are not experts in this field start giving advice to TikTok’s billion-user audience as there is a market for videos on how to save money.
The more exciting and extreme their claims are, the more views they are likely to get. Many videos start with something like "Did you know..." and then give incorrect or incomplete advice about topics such as giving away your property, setting up trusts, and planning your estate to avoid Inheritance Tax or paying for care fees. Following their advice can be dangerous without getting help from a professional as they often do not consider the full picture.
TikTok and Incorrect Legal Advice
TikTok does have moderators (people who check for false information and remove it) but these false videos often spread widely before they get taken down or reported as incorrect. This can have terrible consequences in that families of people who have followed this advice have lengthy, complicated legal steps to take to unwind the ‘advice’ given, and can also experience very large tax bills where they otherwise wouldn’t have expected them (similar to problems caused by trusts created by McClure Solicitors), as mentioned in our blog - McClures Family Protection Trusts.
So what should we take away from this?
TikTok has a lot of information about how to avoid paying taxes or plan your estate: most of it is not given by people who are experts and the majority seen is wrong, incomplete or unsuitable for most people’s situations. Whilst Estate Planning to mitigate tax liability and protect your family is possible, and is something we can assist with, it is unique to each person’s circumstances and consideration to each bespoke situation needs to be given by a profession in the matter: to not do so could result in a very undesirable and expensive outcome!
If you want to speak to us about your situation, please give our friendly team a call on 0116 212 1000 or 01858 445 480 or complete our Contact Us form.
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