Estate of Denial: Two legal cases with central Texas ties provide interesting opportunity to discuss questionable probate actions. Anna Nicole Smith – and now her estate’s – pursuit of J. Howard Marshall II’s multi-million dollar estate has long made headlines and a recent court filing could open a new front in an action already ongoing for 15+ years. Meanwhile, the indictment of Waco attorney Ray Rushing along with former caregiver Melissa Adler presents an important example of another path by which alleged estate abuse can occur. While one case is a civil action and the other is criminal, while one involves a high-dollar estate and the other more modest asset values, the public must become aware of the dangers posed by Involuntary Redistribution of Assets (IRA) actions in which probate venues and probate instruments (wills, trusts, guardianships and powers of attorney) are used to divert assets from the dead, disabled, incapacitated and/or their intended heirs or beneficiaries.
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