The In-N-Out empire comes to a new owner and president. Thirty  year old Lynsi Torres, now the  youngest female billionaire in the world.The In-N-Out franchise was founded in 1984 in Baldwin Park by Torres' grandparents Harry and Esther Snyder; which started from a single drive-through hamburger stand. Torres came into ownership after a series of deaths in the family as the sole family heir.  She now controls half of the company through a trust fund since her 30th birthday and will receive full ownership on her 35th birthday. “The company has no other owners, according to an Arizona State Corporation Commission filing. . .One private equity executive who invests in the food and restaurant industry said the operation could be valued at more than $2

When you have no friends or family, who do you leave your estate to? Ray Fulk, a 71-year-old eccentric, died alone last summer. Having never been married, no children, and no close relatives or friends, Fulk left the bulk of his estate to 2 1980's actors he never met, Kevin Brophy and Peter  Barton whom he considered “his friends.” Brophy and Barton will split roughly $1 million after Fulk's 160 acres of farm land are sold.  He also left $5,000 to his favorite charity the Anti-Cruelty Society in Chicago. Fulk’s friend and attorney, Donald Behle, explains: “Behle had acted as Ray’s attorney in an earlier civil matter, so in December 1997, Ray approached him to draw up his will, including the bequest to Brophy and

James Brown, the Godfather of Soul Music passed away Christmas Day 2006 due to heart failure. Brown's multimillion dollar estate was divvied up by Attorney General McMaster disregarding Brown's wishes he had stated in his Will: “Attorney General Henry McMaster brokered a settlement in 2009 that split Brown's estate, giving nearly half to a charitable trust, a quarter to his widow, Tomi Rae Hynie, and leaving the rest to be split among his adult children. But the justices ruled that the deal ignored Brown's wishes for most of his money to go to charity. The court also ruled the Godfather of Soul was of sound mind when he made his will. . . . ‘The compromise orchestrated by the AG in this case destroys the

Your hard earned points from loyalty programs with hotels, airlines, and credit cards don't have to go to waste after you die.  According to Randy Petersen, editor of InsideFlyer magazine, U.S. travelers accumulate roughly 3 trillion frequent flyer miles each year.  If you don't do anything with your points and rewards, the value then goes to waste.  By adding your rewards into your will, you are ensuring that all possible assets are identified and distributed based on your wishes. However, there may be some difficulty with security (regarding your accounts) and finding the loop holes in restrictions that certain companies place on their reward programs. For example: “The Marriott Rewards program for Marriott International Inc hotel chain, only allows spouses or domestic partners to inherit

Kristina Sherry, a 2013 J.D. candidate at Pepperdine University School of Law, wrote a great article on a topic that too many people fail to consider – what happens to digital assets like a Facebook account when the owner of the account dies.  The article begins: “In the vast cyber-universe of millions of websites, billions of e-mails sent daily, and approximately twenty hours worth of amateur video uploaded to YouTube in the time it takes you to read this sentence—collectively sucking our psyches into digital excursions like baby pandas sneezing, small children shimmying to Beyoncé, and increasingly nonsequitur Internet memes—there are few things creepier than the dead Facebook friend.  Yet, according to projections, more than 580,000 Facebook users will die in the United States this

Are you young and healthy, but think you do not need to have an estate plan?  Here are ten things you should probably do.

This is a great article from Estate of Denial discussing why the estate tax is a dumb tax and is a fail in terms of both social and fiscal policy.  According to the article, the estate tax actually reduces total federal tax revenue, fails to reduce income inequality and has little to no effect on wealth inequality. “This study confirms that the cost of the estate tax far exceeds any benefits it produces.” So begins “Cost and Consequences of the Federal Estate Tax” published last week by the Republican Staff of the Joint Economic Committee, whose vice chairman, Representative Kevin Brady of Texas, continues to make his mark as a leader of the pro-growth wing of the House GOP.  The report’s documentation of how the

The Jackson family is at war over Michael Jackson's estate, rumored to be worth about $1 billion. The rift between the Jackson family and those currently in control of Michael Jackson's estate has escalated with each side fueling a negative campaign against the other in the media.  Estate of Denial reports: Janet Jackson and two of her siblings ramped up their feud with the men who control the estate of Michael Jackson on Friday night. A statement issued on behalf of Janet Jackson, her brother Randy and sister Rebbie accused the executors of trying to divide the family and distract from questions about the legitimacy of Michael Jackson’s will. “The negative media campaign generated by the executors and their agents has been relentless,” wrote Blair

Updating your estate plan is critical, especially after major life events.  On Wall Street tells us the sad story of artist Thomas Kinkade, who failed to actually update his estate plan despite an apparent desire to do so.  On Wall Street has the story: Legacy expert attorneys Danielle and Andy Mayoras say the untimely death and shoddy estate planning efforts of renowned artist Thomas Kinkade serve as a prime example of why clients should update their wills on a regular – and sober – basis. It’s estimated that one in 20 American homes have a Thomas Kinkade painting hanging on their walls. The self-proclaimed “Painter of Light” turned his gift of rendering landscapes and other works of art into a tremendous commercial endeavor. In fact,

Today it seems like nearly everyone has some digital presence.  Whether it is Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Gmail, almost everyone has some digital assets.  When you start thinking about estate planning, you probably are thinking about the distribution of your assets: your home, car, business and other belongings.  But what about your digital assets?  NBC Chicago reports: So many of the things you plan to leave behind after death are obvious: real estate, money, jewelry. But increasingly, a number of your assets that aren’t so obvious need to be addressed in planning: your digital assets. “Your Facebook account, Twitter, that kind of stuff isn’t something you typically go talk to your lawyer about,” said financial writer Katie Hill. Still, it's an idea she recommends consumers

Forbes:  “When I would tell people that I was working on a book about estate planning, many of them looked at me quizzically because they weren’t sure what I meant. Others said, “Oh, that’s not something I need, because I don’t have an estate.” Contrary to popular misconception, you don’t have to own a big house to have an estate. Your estate consists of everything you own when you die, including your home, personal property, investments, bank accounts, retirement plans and any interests in a family business or partnership. Beneficiary designation forms control who gets retirement accounts, along with life insurance proceeds. For most other assets, you need a will or living trust that says who gets your stuff.”

Question:  I was recently divorced, but my estate plan names my former spouse in a few places.  What should I do? Answer:  Revise your estate plan!  You should always think about updating your estate plan when a major life event happens.  Divorce or legal separation from your spouse is one of these events.  There are probably a number of places in your current estate plan that name your former spouse.  These are the areas that you should consider updating: Incapacity planning.  Who did you name as your agent under your healthcare power of attorney or financial power of attorney?  If you were to become incapacitated, your current estate plan probably says that your spouse should make all of your healthcare decisions and should have the

The Street: “Individuals looking for a simple and effective way to reduce their future taxable estate should consider the annual gift exclusion. What is the annual gift exclusion and how does it work? Every U.S. citizen is allowed to give anyone $13,000 (2012 level) a year without incurring either a gift tax liability or gift tax reporting. Married couples are allowed a further benefit which allows them to split their gifts. In essence, a married couple can give any individual up to $26,000 per year. Married couples who make split gifts do have a reporting requirement. They must file IRS Form 709 on which they report their split gift. The humble annual gift exclusion can be an effective way to transfer wealth without using any

Newsobserver.com: “The end is near. The end of the Bush tax cuts that is. Are you ready? The current tax code allows an estate to pass $5 million per person, $10 million per married couple, tax free. Over that the tax rate is 35 percent. The last time the tax rate was this low was 1931, and moved to 45 percent the next year as a means of coping with the Great Depression, and was as high as 77 percent from 1942 until 1976. But on Dec. 31, 2012, the Bush tax cuts automatically revert back to 2001 levels of $1 million exemption and 55 percent for anything above that. Yes, the government can change this law. And it may seem more likely with a

California has finally joined the majority of states and recognized the tort of intentional interference with expected inheritance (“IIEI”).  This adoption was done by the California Court of Appeals based on the fact that the IIEI claim is consistent with other California laws, the fact that of the 42 states that have considered adopting an IIEI claim, 25 states have adopted the claim, that the US Supreme Court has called IIEI as “widely recognized” tort, and other public policy considerations. The ruling came out of the California Court of Appeals for the Fourth Appellate District, after the deceased's longtime partner was denied any inheritance by the California probate court.  Brent Beckwith was in a committed relationship for nearly 10 years with partner Marc Christian MacGinnis. 

Before a military service member is deployed to combat, he or she must create a will that states how they want their assets distributed should they pass away.  Service members have been posting on the popular website Reddit about the quirky bequests in their wills.  Estate of Denial shares: Over at Reddit, a servicemember posted about how he and a buddy each bequeathed one another $2,000 in their wills. Sounds standard. Except, this two grand is bequeathed so that his friend — pardon the legalese — “can throw a killer party to celebrate my life.” Yes, he got his lawyer to write in “killer party” into his will. It gets even better. The servicemember — reddit username Citisol — “would like a cardboard cutout of

Should you create a will based estate plan or a trust based estate plan?  It depends on your goals.  While a will and a trust serve some of the same functions, some of the major differences become apparent when you examine how each is administered.  A will must be entered into probate.  Probate is a court proceeding, which means that documents filed during that court proceeding become public record.  This means that when a person's will is admitted to probate, it becomes a public record, just as we saw in Joe Paterno's case.  On the other hand, trusts do not need to be admitted to probate.  This is because if a trust is properly funded (meaning a person's assets are all transferred into their trust)

Email, Facebook, Twitter, and online banking have become as normal as breathing to most people.  But what happens to these things when a person dies?  The days of sorting through the deceased piles and piles of documents has ended.  Many people today are totally reliant on their digital lives, from preparing and filing tax returns, using banking software to balance a checkbook, to getting all of their bills delivered online or via email.   With things like encryption and passwords, how does someone access all of a person's digital data after they die?  Wealth Strategies Journal reports: Increasingly, our lives are conducted online. For many of us, the lion's share of our correspondence takes place by email. Our bank, brokerage, credit card, and utilities statements

Out of all the people one could steal money from, it takes a special kind of person to steal money from a disabled veteran.  But that is exactly what is happening, and in some cases, with the implied consent of the Department of Veterans Affairs.  The VA has a fiduciary program, in which the VA appoints a family member or even a stranger to manage the money for veterans that the VA considers to be disabled.  Hundreds of fiduciaries have been removed for misusing the veterans funds, yet the theft and fraud continue.  One scam, lasting over 10 years, misappropriated about $2 million.  Since 1998, thieves have stolen more than $14.7 million from disabled veterans.  But why does the VA allow this to continue?  Estate