Holland & Hart: “As The New York Times recently reported, the will of Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird, was recently unsealed in connection with a lawsuit seeking access to the document. Ms. Lee died a resident of Monroeville, Alabama, and, as in Colorado, wills in Alabama are typically considered to be public documents.”
Fox News: “Just one day after the shooting massacre last week at a Florida high school, the woman who cared for the alleged shooter and his brother reportedly filed court papers seeking control of their inheritance, which could total up to $800,000. Roxanne Deschamps also had Zachary Cruz, the brother of shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz, involuntarily committed to a mental facility shortly after the massacre, the New York Post reported, citing a family source.”
JDSUPRA: “The rest and residue of my estate, both real, personal and mixed property of every kind and character whatsoever I may own or have any interest in at my death, is hereby bequeathed to my husband, ARTURO HERNANDEZ, to do with as he desires. Upon the death of my husband, ARTURO HERNANDEZ, I give, devise and bequeath any of the rest and residue of my estate both real, personal and mixed property of every kind whatsoever that he may own or have any interest in to my son, ERIC H. FARLEY.”
Trials & Heirs: “Would comedian Richard Pryor be laughing or rolling over in his grave? When Quincy Jones sat down for a recent interview with Vulture, he casually inferred that Marlon Brando slept with both Marvin Gaye and Richard Pryor.”
Forbes : “I read the latest summary sheet of our law firm’s disputed probate, estate and trust cases and came across an insight that should have been obvious (but wasn’t): About 50% of our active disputed-estate cases involve litigated differences between stepmothers and their stepchildren.”
Aaron Spelling died leaving an estate valued at over $500 million dollars. Spelling left the vast majority of his fortune to his wife and left a little less than a million dollars to each of his children. Despite the fortune he left behind and the small value left to each child, there was no contest over the value of Spelling's estate between his family. This illustrates the value that can be found in having an estate plan prepared by an estate planning lawyer.
Daily Mail: “Tom Benson, the self-made billionaire who owns two of the NFL and NBA's wealthiest franchises, has broken his silence over the vicious row that has torn his family – and potentially his fortune – apart. The 87-year-old owns the New Orleans Saints football team and the New Orleans Pelicans basketball team and is considered the richest man in Louisiana, worth an estimated $1.9 million. However in January he announced plans to cut his children and grandchildren out of their ownership of the teams once he dies, and transfer everything into the name of his third wife, Gayle Benson, causing the family to immediately file lawsuits against him.”
A will or trust contest can derail your final wishes, rapidly deplete your estate, and tear your loved ones apart. But with proper planning, you can help your family avoid a potentially disastrous will or trust contest.
If you are concerned about challenges to your estate plan, consider the following:
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 G. Brown, a Washington, D.C., attorney for Janet Jackson.
Allegations that the siblings were holding their 82-year-old mother against her will in Arizona made international headlines last week and resulted in a new custody arrangement in which the family matriarch shares guardianship of Michael Jackson’s three children.
In the statement, Brown disputed reports that the siblings were trying to enlist their mother in a battle over the will for their own financial benefit.
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, his numerous corporate holdings reportedly topped $100 million in annual sales some years, primarily due to mass reproduction of his works.
But the “Painter of Light” was not without his demons, primarily alcoholism and a failed marriage. He died suddenly at age 54 in April, an early and untimely demise reportedly caused by “acute intoxication” from alcohol and valium.
His wife, Nanette, had filed for divorce two years before and the couple was legally separated. Kinkade died while living with his girlfriend of 18 months, Amy Pinto-Walsh.
The girlfriend and estranged wife began fighting almost immediately after Kinkade died. Pinto-Walsh was kept from the funeral and slapped with a lawsuit for breach of a confidentiality agreement. The family wanted her to remain quiet and not share any personal details with the media.
Pinto-Walsh did not go away quietly. She went to probate court to enforce two handwritten wills (called “holographic” wills) […]
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. MacGinnis had no living family members other than his sister, Susan Dahl. But MacGinnis was estranged from his sister.
At one point, MacGinnis showed Beckwith a will on his computer that divided his $1 million plus estate between Beckwith and Dahl. MacGinnis never signed the will. MacGinnis wanted to print and sign the will, but was never able to do so. MacGinnis later fell ill. He asked Beckwith to print the will. When Beckwith couldn't locate the will, MacGinnis asked Beckwith to prepare a new will, based on the distribution plan MacGinnis had already discussed with Beckwith. When Beckwith called Dahl to discuss the will, Dahl claimed that she had friends who were attorneys and she would have them draft a trust for MacGinnis, which she claimed was more appropriate for her brother. She told Beckwith not to give the new will to MacGinnis for signing. A few days later, MacGinnis went in for surgery. […]
For more than 26 years, a probate battle has raged over the estate of wealthy Connecticut businessman Francis “Hi Ho” D'Addario. Before D'Addario died in 1986, he prepared a will that distributed his estate, valued as high as $162 million, to his wife and five children. Between lawsuits and probate laws that fail to protect against abuse, 26 years later the D'Addario will is still pending before a probate court. Even worse, when the case was unsealed last fall, it was found to be insolvent. But where did $162 million go? Estate of Denial ponders this question:
On a rainy and foggy March night in 1986, a small plane crashed outside of Chicago, killing F. Francis “Hi Ho” D’Addario, one of the most prolific and colorful industrialists of the 20th century in Connecticut.
Successful and wealthy, D’Addario was a 63-year-old Bridgeport businessman who had a will that distributed his substantial estate – valued at as much as $162 million — among his wife and five children.
It was a complicated matter. D’Addario Industries was diverse, from construction and paving to real estate, television and gambling to the Brakettes, a professional women’s softball team. That was nothing, however, compared to the mess that awaited in Connecticut’s probate courts.
Estate of Denial: “For nearly a year, Farmington Hills attorney Steven G. Cohen has publicly hammered Wayne County Probate Judge Freddie Burton Jr. over his handling of the estate of civil rights icon Rosa Parks.
But Burton has finally fired back.
In a two-page order Monday, Burton dismissed Cohen’s recently filed lawsuit against Burton and two probate lawyers Burton put in charge of the estate. Cohen had accused of them of conspiring with Burton to loot Parks’ estate through excessive and unnecessary legal fees.
Burton also dismissed Cohen’s request for a default judgment against Burton and the two lawyers — John Chase Jr. and Melvin Jefferson Jr. — and as well as Cohen’s request for a subpoena to depose all three of them for the lawsuit.”
Probate Lawyer Blog: “We've written extensively about the efforts by Eliza Presley to prove that she is half-sister to Elvis Presley and daughter to Vernon Presley, based on DNA and other evidence. Much of this same evidence also supports Eliza's claim that Elvis Presley is actually alive. You can get caught up to speed starting here, if you haven't followed this case before.
It's been more than a year since we last wrote that Eliza's case was dismissed on jurisdictional grounds. This meant that the court in which she filed her lawsuit was not able to hear the case; rather, the case had to go to a different court. Because of this and other legal hurdles, Eliza has never had her “day in court” to present her evidence to a judge or jury.
As we wrote then, Eliza was at the end of her road — emotionally and financially — and was not able to continue with the case. Trying to re-write the history books, which is what Eliza was literally trying to do, is no easy task. This is especially true when there are those who will go to extraordinary means to try to stop her.”
Estate of Denial: “In documents filed in Federal Court on Friday, Aiken attorney and former James Brown trustee Robert Buchanan alleged that Brown’s companion Tommie Rae Hynie joined Brown’s son Terry and grandson Forlando in a conspiracy to destroy James Brown’s estate plan.
The allegations were filed in a counterclaim related to a five-year-old lawsuit, originally brought by Brown’s grandson Forlando against Buchanan and Newberry attorney Adele Pope.
Buchanan and Pope served as co-trustees of the Brown will and trust from November 2007 to May 2009. Only six weeks after they were court appointed, in Jan. of 2008, Forlando filed suit against them, asserting that Buchanan and Pope would not follow James Brown’s noble plan to dedicate his entire music empire to education. In the suit, Forlando asked for the return of original trustees David Cannon, Albert Dallas and Al Bradley.
Bradley died in 2010. Dallas lost an appeal to the S.C. Supreme Court. Cannon entered an Alford plea in Oct. 2011 to indictments that alleged he took $12 million from James Brown between 1999 and 2007, and that he forged a document in 2008 to cover up his takings.
Forlando’s claim that Buchanan and Pope would not defend Brown’s estate plan proved inaccurate. In 2009 Buchanan and Pope “vigorously” defended the estate plan with their opposition to and appeal of a settlement deal that Tommie Rae, Terry and others made with former Attorney General (AG) Henry McMaster. The McMaster deal takes away more than half of Brown’ $100 million music empire and gives it to some of Brown’s disinherited, claimed relatives. McMaster also gave Brown’s son Terry—Forlando’s father—a right to buy the music empire at fair market value.”
Estate of Denial: “A legal showdown over the estate of civil rights icon Rosa Parks came and went this morning without a decision by Wayne County Probate Judge Freddie Burton Jr. about whether to disqualify himself from continuing to preside over the Parks’ estate fight.
Burton told lawyers in a five-minute hearing that he would issue a decision on the disqualification motion in 30-45 days without hearing legal arguments from lawyers in the case. Then, he ended the hearing, leaving lawyers to argue their positions with newspaper reporters.
‘It’s outrageous that Judge Burton needs 30-45 days to decide a completely unopposed motion for disqualification,' said attorney Steven G. Cohen, of Farmington Hills, who sued Burton last week on the grounds that he conspired with probate lawyers John Chase Jr. and Melvin Jefferson Jr., allowing them to bankrupt Parks’ estate with unnecessary and excessive attorney fees. ‘He obviously can’t serve as a presiding judge in a case where he is the defendant.'”
ABA Journal: “Nurses, doctors, a hospital, a lawyer and an accountant for reclusive heiress Huguette Clark coerced or influenced her out of more than $44 million in gifts, the executor of her estate said in a court filing Tuesday.
The executor, who doesn't deny that Clark authorized nearly all of those gifts, is asking the court to order all of the money to be repaid, msnbc.com's Open Channel blog reports.
The petition is an attempt to return to the estate millions of dollars that the executor claims was bled away from the heiress by fraud or undue influence. Two other petitions were expected to be filed by the executor Wednesday, one accusing her lawyer and one accusing her accountant of malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty.”
Wealth Strategies Journal: “A wise person once observed that a wreck on the shore serves as a beacon at sea.
Perhaps the estate planning errors of others can also serve as instructive examples. But one must concede that the most egregious train wrecks of bad planning can be mesmerizing.
Without further adieu, here is a collection of testators who left behind estates with notable errors, issues, and messes.”
Examiner.com: “That’s a headline to grab attention in Austin, Nashville, L.A. and for entertainers across the country – as it should. Growing use of probate instruments like wills, trusts, guardianships and powers of attorney is putting at risk both individual liberties and property rights. An ongoing legal battle involving the “Godfather of Soul” James Brown’s estate helps illustrate this point as also does the case of Nashville rocker Danny Tate who in past years fought a questionable conservatorship (guardianship) and now is targeted in what appears a series of retaliatory actions for speaking out against the perpetrators of his alleged probate abuse and the “justice” system that allows it to continue. The general public may read or hear of such actions while continuing to enjoy an “it can’t happen to me” mindset, but such confidence is misplaced as a reality emerges in which people at all levels of wealth – be it worth $50,000 to $100,000, $1 million or far more – are targeted for Involuntary Redistribution of Assets (IRA) actions. Wealth is relative and in today’s world – there’s always someone happy to take yours.”