Estate of Denial: Rarely these days does anything positive come out of Washington D.C., but yesterday yielded a piece of good news. Estate of Denial® has written many times about the effort to extract assets from the estate of J. Howard Marshall II, an effort started by Anna Nicole Smith in the mid-90s and continuing since then due to her estate’s ongoing legal action.  In June, after the case’s second trip to the Supreme Court, the justices upheld a ruling that gave Smith’s estate no part of the Marshall assets.

Futurity:  Leaving Fido all your worldly goods may sound like a good way to treat man’s best friend, but what happens to the inheritance after a pet dies is a matter of debate. The issue has been in the news recently. British fashion designer Alexander McQueen, who died in February, left a sizeable sum of money to his beloved dogs—and Trouble, the recently deceased dog of Leona Helmsley, famously inherited $12 million. It’s not just wealthy celebrities leaving provisions for pets in their wills. Between 12-27 percent of owners do so.

24-7 Press Release:  Thinking about life going on after your death and how your family will cope is never pleasant. But if you do not focus on your estate plan now, there is the possibility that your loved ones will be left with nothing, and may even have some unwanted bills after you pass away. Without an estate plan, you leave your family with an uncertain future. As plans can differ from person to person and family to family, it is important to meet with an attorney experienced in estate planning to discuss which documents best suit your needs. If you already have an estate plan in place, make sure you regularly review it with your attorney to ensure that it still meets your goals.

24-7 Press Release:  Many people create their first will after getting married.  However, if you are now divorced or going through a divorce, it may be time to look again at your estate plan. A married person will usually plan his or her will together with the spouse, and often has many provisions regarding the spouse in the will.  After divorce, it is likely that plan is no longer appropriate.

Estate of Denial: Katherine Jackson’s former attorneys are continuing their legal battle against her son’s estate and in their latest filing, have asked the court to award them $350,000 for costs and fees they say were run up in the days immediately following Michael’s death in 2009. In the court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, the fees and costs the firm of Rosenfeld, Meyer & Susman are requesting are termed “reasonable under the circumstances,” of Katherine briefly taking control of Michael’s estate, and even include $18,000 incurred in connection with Michael’s funeral!

Examiner.com: You have a lot of options when it comes to planning your estate. You can consult an attorney, sure, but you can also do it yourself with the help of numerous services that are willing to sell pre-drafted forms. The question is not whether you have multiple options, but why you would choose anything but the best plan for your needs. The best plans include processes for customization and implementation. That means giving you exactly what you specifically need.

Smart Money:  With the current $5 million federal estate tax exemption, you may not be thinking much about estate planning.  After all, there's no way your estate would owe the tax if you happen to die between now and 2013.  So no worries, right?  Wrong. In fact, there's an important estate planning move you should probably make as soon as you finish reading this: check the beneficiary designations for your bank accounts, brokerage firm accounts, tax-favored retirement accounts, company benefit plans, life insurance policies, annuities and 529 college accounts.  If you haven't yet turned in the forms to designate beneficiaries, do it now.  If your forms are out of date, change them. It's amazing how often folks fail to take these simple steps, and the

Estate of Denial: Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) was accused in a group lawsuit of ignoring federal rules on reverse mortgages and forcing homes into foreclosure instead of giving heirs a chance to buy them. Estates and surviving spouses have the right to purchase properties at 95 percent of appraised value after the death of a borrower who took out a federally insured reverse mortgage, lawyers for a California man said in the complaint filed Aug. 3 in federal court in San Francisco. Wells Fargo hasn’t been notifying heirs of this right and has been starting foreclosures if demands aren’t met for repayment of the full mortgage balance, according to the complaint filed by the son of a California homeowner.  The plaintiff, Robert Chandler, also sued

BCRNews.com:  If you don't make $1 million a year, only own one modest home and are still driving the same car you bought six years ago, you might think you don't need to engage in “estate planning.” Or you may think your family accountant or attorney will be the only professional you need to help you with this important task. Not so on either account, says Joseph V. Falanga, a certified public accountant, Accredited Estate Planner and current president of the National Association of Estate Planners & Councils (NAEPC). “Your ‘estate' is much more than just the amount of cash you'll leave to your loved ones,” Falanga says. “Estate planning ensures your investments, retirement savings, insurance policies, real estate, business interests and cash will all be

Forbes:  The Godfather of Soul passed away on Christmas Day, 2006, and generously left his $100 million fortune to a special trust set up to help poor and needy children.  Yet, four-and-a-half years later, not one child has seen a cent.  Why? The court battle over his final wishes has dragged on … and on … and on, as court fights often do.  While most estate fights are devastating for family members, both emotionally and financially, this one has affected many more — those that needed help the most.  How did this happen? James Brown passed away with at least nine children, three ex-wives, and a woman who may or may not have been his widow.  This woman, Tomi Rae Hynie, was technically still married

24-7 Press Release:  Estate planning is not only for the super-rich, or even just moderately wealthy individuals. Wills, medical directives and trusts accomplish many things. Whether you need to set up a guardianship for your children or obtain peace of mind for future health care decisions in the event you are incapacitated, estate planning is now a versatile and straightforward way to manage end-of-life planning.

North Jersey.com: Two months ago a close family friend had a heart attack. Fortunately he came through it and is on the mend. But the experience — including concerns about who would make medical and financial decisions on his behalf, if needed — served as a reminder that he and we need to get our financial houses in order. Most of us don’t like to think about these “what if” decisions. But as more of us become eligible to join AARP or care for aging parents, it is critical that we make sure that we are ready. And that means preparing key documents — including a will, power of attorney, advanced medical directive and a medical proxy — and keeping each up to date.

Estate of Denial: Some of Alexander McQueen’s relatives may have a bone to pick with him over his will — he left them as much as he left his dogs. The late, great, far-out fashion designer bequeathed nearly $82,000 to each of his three beloved English bull terriers, Juice, Minter and Callum, “for [their] upkeep and maintenance . . . so long as [they] shall live,” according to McQueen’s hefty, $26 million will, which was made public yesterday. It’s the same amount that McQueen — who committed suicide last year at age 40 — gave to his godson and each of his nieces and nephews.

Estate of Denial:  A federal judge in New York has ruled in favor of comic book publisher Marvel Worldwide in a dispute over who owns the rights to such popular characters as the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, the X-Men, Iron Man and the Incredible Hulk. The heirs of comic book artist Jack Kirby sought to assert their rights to such iconic characters in 2009, shortly after Disney announced it would acquire Marvel for $4 billion. Kirby’s estate filed 45 notices of copyright termination, seeking to take back rights to characters created from 1958 to 1963, which they claimed were Kirby’s creations. Marvel argued that Kirby’s work constituted “work for hire” — that it was done by a freelance artist, under the direction and control of a

Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog:  Conflicts can arise when two individuals are co-agents under a power of attorney. Sometimes these conflicts require a court’s intervention before a resolution can be reached. If a co-agent suspects a conflict is imminent, the first step is to check the actual wording of the power of attorney document. If the document contains procedures for resolving disputes, the co-agent should follow those procedures. If the document is silent on conflict resolution procedures, a co-agent should consult with an attorney for guidance on state power of attorney laws. Individuals who wish to name co-agents but want to minimize potential conflict can name two agents and have them act independently. Another option is to name agents in sequence, meaning the first

Wealth Counsel:  As the rates of divorce and remarriage climb, those with recently blended families may be witness­ing the emergence of troublesome estate planning issues. The interests of a new spouse and child can create conflict with a parent’s desire to provide fairly for children from a previous relationship, causing unforeseen compli­cations, misunderstandings, and damage to the blended family unit. For those family members without a clear understanding of their new rights and obligations, the fol­lowing scenarios provide examples of common planning problems and potential solutions to these issues…

North Jersey.com: Parents who have concerns about the well-being of their special-needs child upon their passing can take legal measures to ensure that their intended wishes are implemented. Attorney James DeSantis, who handles estate planning for individuals with special needs |in the Law Offices of Christine Ann Soto (christinesotolaw.com), encourages families to set up the following: n A Will n A Special-Needs Trust n Guardianship DeSantis said creating a will and trust will make sure that the greatest amount of the parents' estate passes to the intended beneficiaries. It also will minimize taxes and probate, which is a legal process of settling the estate of a deceased person.

Barrington Patch:  Hi, Lisa. I have a 401(k) account with my employer and have named my wife as beneficiary if something happens to me. But what if she dies before me? Who would get the money?  Thank you. Dean. Dear Dean, You raise a very good question. Most retirement plans, life insurance policies, annuities and certain other types of accounts allow you to name who will receive the proceeds when you die by filling out a beneficiary designation form…  

Tulsa World: Everybody's going to die – so why not think about estate planning now and beat the rush? Even if you're not wealthy, it's still important to plan for what will happen to your valuables and property after your death. All the legal terms you'll run into along the way to understanding the estate planning process will confuse and even overwhelm you – unless you use the Federal Citizen Information Center to bone up on the lingo and get ready to protect your wealth for your family.