Forbes: The once-troubled pop star sure has been in the news a lot lately. Settling lawsuits, postponing her wedding, negotiating to be a judge on The X Factor, putting one of her mansions up for sale. It makes you wonder … is Britney Spears making any decisions about her life, or does her father, as her Conservator, decide everything? Several months ago, we wrote how her father, Jamie Spears, was using the conservatorship to insulate Britney from lawsuits, including one by a company called Brand Sense. The company had sued Britney for breach of contract, after Team Britney cut Brand Sense out of profits from her perfume deal with Elizabeth Arden. Because Britney had been declared mentally incompetent, which justified the conservatorship, her father and

ABA Journal:  A bill pending in Nebraska would make the state the second to give estate representatives the power to handle social media accounts after the death of state residents. The bill would treat Facebook, Twitter and email accounts as digital assets that would be managed by appointed representatives, according to the Associated Press and the Omaha World-Herald. The representative could access or close the account, or even post messages. Continue reading about Nebraska's pending legislation about social media access for estate representatives.

AZCentral:  When Karen Williams' son died in a motorcycle crash, the Oregon woman turned to his Facebook account in hopes of learning more about the young man she had lost. Williams found his password and e-mailed the company, asking administrators to maintain 22-year-old Loren Williams' account so she could pore through his posts and comments by his friends. But within two hours, she said, Facebook changed the password, blocking her efforts. “I wanted full and unobstructed access, and they balked at that,” said Williams, recalling her son's death in 2005. “It was heartbreaking. I was a parent grasping at straws to get anything I could get.” Now lawmakers and attorneys in at least two states are considering proposals that would require Facebook and other social

Estate of Denial:  If Whitney Houston’s heirs are counting on royalties from her record company Sony, they may soon feel like paupers. On Wednesday, music-industry blogger Wayne Rosso quoted a label executive “familiar with Sony’s accounting” who said the late singer’s estate probably won’t see any royalty checks from her record label “in our lifetime” — and maybe longer — thanks in part to the number of advances and loans she took from the $100 million deal she cut with Sony Music in 2001. On Wednesday, Rosso, an outspoken veteran of the music business who has consulted for CBS, Island, MCA, Arista and RCA Records, to name just a few labels, posted a report in his Wayne’s World blog titled, “Whitney to Sony: I Will

It's hard to believe that someone would purposely starve a parent in order to collect the inheritance.  I recently read an Estate of Denial article called Slowly Starving Her Mother to Get the Inheritance. Unfortunately, elder abuse cases are not uncommon throughout the country.  Money is a powerful motivator and unfortunately, some people will stoop to the lowest of levels just to collect. In the article, a woman was making medical decisions on behalf of her aging mother.   The woman, who had suffered from drug and alcohol problems, had very little income.  Her mother, however, had assets worth over $500,000.  When the woman moved in with her mother to act as the mother's caretaker, the woman began starving her mother.  As time went on,

Forbes:  Estate planning doesn’t often make it to the Academy Awards. But that’s happened this year, with The Descendants nominated for Oscars in five categories, including best picture, best actor (George Clooney) and best director (Alexander Payne). Based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings (see related story here), it’s a multi-layered story about Matt King (played by Clooney), a rich trial lawyer in the throes of a midlife crisis and personal tragedy. His wife Elizabeth has been injured in a boat race accident and lies in a coma, leaving him to care for his two daughters—the precocious 10-year-old Scottie (Amara Miller) and rebellious 17 year-old Alexandra (Shailene Woodley). Meanwhile, he discovers that his wife has been having an affair and planning to divorce him.

Sierra Sun:  The federal estate tax is levied upon a person's estate at the time of their death. Currently estates under $5 million are not taxed; estates above $5 million are taxed at a rate of 35 percent. Estate planning now is difficult because we are at a time of real uncertainty about what the future holds for estate tax rates, which may make 2012 a good year to do some gifting if you're fortunate enough to have a sizable estate. For 2012, the lifetime gift and estate tax exemption will rise to $5.12 million for singles and $10.24 million for married couples. The gift tax exclusion had been frozen at $1 million for many years, so this could make 2012 an excellent opportunity to

Investopedia:  The estate-planning process should be an integral part of everyone's financial plan. The benefits are obvious, including tax savings, efficient disposition of assets, end-of-life decisions, financial security for heirs and general peace of mind. For married couples, the planning rules are fairly straightforward. For unmarried couples, however, whether same-sex or opposite-sex, the issues concerning financial and estate planning are often quite complex, and the rules cumbersome. This article will highlight some key planning strategies that unmarried couples should consider in order to protect both partners. (To keep reading on this subject, see Marriage, Divorce And The Dotted Line, The Tax Benefits Of Having A Spouse and Relationship Money Matters.) Background Statistics On Unmarried Couples According to the 2000 U.S. Census Bureau, it is estimated

Findlaw:  Whitney Houston's unexpected death at age 48 is tragic, but it also offers lessons in estate planning: It's never too early (or too late) to create a will, and it's also a good idea to create a separate document to spell out funeral and burial plans. Whitney Houston's funeral is set for Saturday in New Jersey, at the church where the singer first took to the stage, Reuters reports. But there was a family dispute about Houston's burial plans: Some wanted her buried in New Jersey, others in Atlanta, according to the website TMZ. Such disagreements may have been avoidable, had Whitney Houston left her final wishes in writing — and not just in a will. Indeed, Whitney Houston did leave a will, which

Investopedia.com:  Pets have become an increasingly important part of modern life. Many pet owners view their animal companions as members of the family and treat them as such, but it has only been in the last 15 years where pets were given a legal upgraded status. It was 1993 when the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws and the American Bar Association added Section 2-907 of the Uniform Probate Code to the books. Previous to this the law treated pets like any other piece of property upon the death of their owners. In this article, we'll show you how to set up a trust for your pets, so that when you pass on, they will still be able to have a full life.

Estate of Denial:  The secret legal agreement designed to settle the brawl over the estate of civil rights leader Rosa Parks is a secret no more. The confidential seven-page document — signed by Parks’ 15 nieces and nephews, Parks’ longtime friend and caregiver Elaine Steele and an official of the institute Parks and Steele founded — turned up in a Jan. 18 filing with the Michigan Supreme Court. The agreement — struck during a late-night bargaining session in February 2007 in order to avert a trial in Wayne County Probate Court — spells out how the parties are to divvy up the proceeds from the sale of Parks’ belongings, said to be worth up to $8 million because of their historic value. Under the agreement,

Estate of Denial:  John Goodman is the 48-year old multimillionaire from Palm Beach, Florida who recently made headlines when it was publicly revealed that he adopted his 42-year old girlfriend to help protect the family fortune. Goodman did this in the midst of criminal and civil legal proceedings pending against him. They arose from the February, 2010 drunk driving incident during which Goodman reportedly ran a stop sign, killed a 23-year old man, and fled the scene. When it was recently revealed that Goodman, in October of last year, had legally adopted his girlfriend, people across the country were outraged. Goodman’s lawyer issued a statement defending the adoption. He states that the adoption was done to protect Goodman’s children, not to shield assets from the

Estate of Denial:  A long-running legal battle over the fate of 1960s country singer “Gentleman” Jim Reeves’ music royalties ended this week with a ruling that his wife’s second husband isn’t entitled to claim a share. Terry Davis married Jim Reeves’ widow, Mary, in 1969, five years after Reeves and his piano player were killed in a Brentwood plane crash. Mary Reeves Davis died in 1999. Davis is not entitled to any further share of his late wife’s estate than the $100,000 she specified in her will, Judge Randy Kennedy ruled at the end of a legal fight that has gone on for more than a dozen years. That money was distributed years ago. Davis had sought a percentage of the estate and a year’s

Bankrate.com:  Life in the digital age is both easier and more complicated. The same is true when it comes to estate planning. Not too long ago, a physical safety deposit box at the bank was all it took to safeguard important financial documents. Now, much of that information is online and guarded by numerous passwords — setting up a potential mess for heirs to sort through. At death, a person's estate goes through the probate process and can't legally be accessed until an executor is named, according to Leanna Hamill, a Massachusetts estate-planning and elder-law attorney. However, things get more complicated if you become incapacitated because someone will need entry to your financial life — online and on paper — to make sure things run

Asset protection attorney Jay Adkisson writes in Forbes:  “For some reason, planners are compelled to title things in their client’s names. Be it the John Doe Trust or the John Doe LLC, or even the John Doe Family Limited Partnership, client’s names are showing up in legal documents that are publicly filed or publicly referenced in one form or another.  From an asset protection planning viewpoint, this practice is remarkably stupid.”

Lowell Sun:  Q: I am an elderly gentleman thinking about granting power of attorney to my son, so he can handle my financial affairs now and after my death. What issues should I consider? A: Among numerous considerations in granting someone power of attorney (or POA) over your assets, I will discuss some major issues. Please allow me to first correct a common misconception about a POA form and its ability to be used after death. Rights granted under a POA, terminate upon the death of the grantor. However, while you are living, a POA can be a great tool for convenient financial management. When you give someone the rights of a power of attorney, you authorize the named person to make financial decisions on

NJ.com:  Q. Our daughter was very young when my wife and I had wills prepared. Our daughter is now married with a different last name. Is it necessary to change our will to reflect this? If yes, must we use a lawyer to make the change? – BB A. No, but it might be a smart investment anyway. Your executor is charged with identifying and notifying your intended beneficiaries, said Frederick Schoenbrodt, an estate planning attorney with Neff Aguilar in Red Bank. “If there is no ambiguity regarding who you meant when you referred to your daughter in your will – and there probably isn’t – then your executor will make the gift to your daughter, even if she has taken a new surname,” he

Examiner.com:  The type of trust we most commonly discuss is, without a doubt, the revocable living trust. While revocable living trusts are certainly effective in making sure that your estate avoids a lengthy and expensive probate process, they aren’t an effective way to protect your assets or accomplish other goals. The truth is that trusts and other estate planning tools serve all sorts of purposes. Today we are going to discuss a few of the objectives served by different types of estate planning vehicles. Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts If you have a life insurance policy and die, the proceeds will be part of your estate. In some circumstances, this can result in an unnecessary tax liability. You can remove proceeds of life insurance from your

Sacramento Bee:  Can I take a fee for handling my family's living trust? What if my son doesn't want the home that's left to him in a will? This week, those questions get answered by our “Ask the Experts” estate planning attorney, Michelle Goff. She's part of our new team of local experts answering readers' questions online at www.sacbee.com/ask. Go there for free advice on wills and trusts, as well as to ask questions of our other local experts. I have been trustee of our family's living trust for four years. I have an elderly stepmother who has dementia and was recently moved from the family home into a skilled nursing facility. I have never taken any trustee's fees but have heard that a trustee's