The sad saga of former millionaire Marie Long who is now destitute continues, but now it involves other players in the affair.  The Maricopa County Superior Court is not sure how to handle allegations that Judge pro tem Lindsay Ellis may have done something improper in connection with the Marie Long case in her court.

Arizona Republic:  “A Maricopa County Superior Court judge on Monday questioned whether he has the authority to determine if another judge violated conduct rules when she sent a draft of a key ruling to lawyers for only one party in an ongoing case. . . . Superior Court Judge Robert Budoff suspended the probate case of Scottsdale resident Marie Long, in which Ellis had ruled that a group of caregivers and attorneys were justified in collecting nearly $800,000 from Long's estate.”

NY Daily News:  “Dennis Hopper will be buried . . ., but the fight over his estate, estimated at $40 million, is just getting started.  On one side stands Hopper's estranged wife, Victoria Duffy, who, at 42 was 21 years young than the late “Easy Rider” star.  On the other, his eldest daughter, 47-year-old Marin . . . .”

See “Dennis Hopper's wife to continue fight into probate court.”

The Probate Lawyer Blog:  “Guardianship and conservatorship proceedings exist to help those who are incapacitated, usually due to age or disability, and can't make proper decisions for themselves.  While these court cases help many thousands of people each year, they can also expose people to fraud and abuse.”

The Probate Lawyer Blog:  “Melvin Simon was one of the richest men in the Midwest until he died last year, at age 82. . . . His assets have been estimated to be worth close to $2 billion. That vast fortune is tied up in a nasty legal battle over his will and trust . . . .”

Estate of Denial:  “Recent Today Show segments featuring Larry Birkhead and 3-year-old daughter Dannielynn seemed to be launching a new campaign that appears an attempt to deflect the latest legal blows suffered by the estate of Anna Nicole Smith in the pursuit of assets from the estate of J. Howard Marshall II.”

Adelaide Now: “THE death of Mt Gambier trucking magnate Allan Scott's death has sparked a family split over his estimated $600 million estate.”

The Probate Lawyer Blog:  “Battles over the assets of those who have passed are far too common, for millionaires and non-millionaires alike. . . . But some fights aren't about money. “

Denton Record Chronicle:  “The battle between oil heirs Al Hill Jr. and his son Al Hill III over hundreds of millions of dollars of family money grows increasingly ugly, but neither side appears ready to wave a white flag.  The conflict, which started 2 ½ years ago when Al Jr., the grandson of H.L. Hunt, disinherited his son and his son sued most of his relatives . . . .”

The Phoenix New Times has a lengthy story on Arizona attorney Grant Goodman, his background and the three lawsuits he filed on behalf of people he claims were ripped off by attorneys and other people.  The alleged “victims” Mr. Goodman filed lawsuits for are Edward Ravenscroft (a millionaire who had drug and mental problems), Marie Long (her $1,3 million in assets quickly evaporated leaving her destitute) and Helga Mallet (her $1 million was gone in a year).  Goodman voluntarily dismissed the three lawsuits, but says he will refile them.

Nevada News & Views:  “After more than a decade winding through every crevice of our nation’s legal system, it appears that Marshall v. Marshall – the famous case involving Anna Nicole Smith and her late husband’s estate – is finally drawing to a close. . . . So, after fifteen years of litigation, the clocks were wound all the way back to a decision that came almost ten years ago. Why, then, did the case go on for so long?”

Arizona Republic:  “A [Maricopa County] Superior Court judge has ruled that a phalanx of probate attorneys were justified in collecting $576,000 from an 88-year-old widow the court was (supposed to be) protecting.  The judge rubber-stamped half of the fees without even holding a hearing into whether they were reasonable. . . . [The ruling was in] the astounding case of Marie Long, an old lady worth $1.3 million when she came under the protection of Maricopa County's probate court in 2005. Today, she's destitute and depends on taxpayers for support.”

See also “Probate court asked to sanction attorneys in Marie Long case.”

The Probate Lawyer Blog:  “Given MJ's eccentricities in life, and the craziness that has surrounded his estate since he died, it is no surprise that Michael Jackson's estate executors are busy denying wild claims left and right.”

Joanna Grossman, a professor of law at Hofstra University, wrote an article that explains the history of Anna Nicole Smith's fifteen year lawsuit against her former billionaire husband and why her daughter Dannielynn will not get any money from the billionaire's estate.

The dark side of conservatorships.  Nashville Scene:  “Danny Tate wasn't in court in early December to plead for the return of his constitutional rights. He couldn't be — not unless he wanted to be handcuffed and thrown into a lockdown psychiatric ward at Vanderbilt University Medical Center a third time, or shipped to some out-of-state in-patient rehab.”

The Probate Lawyer Blog:  The trustee of Farrah Fawcett's trust, Richard “Francis sued Hollywood producer Craig Nevius accusing him of embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from Fawcett's company and botching production of a television documentary showing her struggles with cancer.  Nevius is not taking the lawsuit lying down.”

Pamela J. Black wrote an article in which she discusses issues that arise when a person makes changes to a will or estate plan when the person is near death under circumstances that might lead to charges of undue influence.  The article states,

A classic element of procurement of the will by someone who stands to benefit from it “is the situation where the child takes the parent to the child’s lawyer or a new lawyer and says, ‘Mom needs a new will, . . . That person presumably has benefited from the change and literally walked mom down the lawyer, who being new to the client won’t know something’s up.”

The Probate Lawyer Blog:  John Branca, and John McClain, the executors of Michael Jackson's estate, “just hit the mother-load. It was widely reported yesterday that they brokered a deal worth up to $250 million dollars (that's right — one quarter of a billion dollars!). . . . Yes that means that Branca and McClain earned $12.5 million each for one deal.”

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Estate of actress Anna Nicole Smith gets nothing from the Estate of deceased billionaire J. Howard Marshall.  Anna rose to fame after she married the elderly billionaire in 1995 when they had an 84 year age difference.  See the court's opinion.

The Probate Lawyer Blog:  “The successful comedian and star of Sanford and Son ([Redd Foxx] whose real name was John Elroy Sanford) died October 11, 1991.  Apparently, the Estate has no assets.  Even if it did, there's an outstanding tax bill owed that's a bit hefty — a whopping $3.6 million as of the day he died.”  Despite the apparent lack of assets, there are people fighting over “nothing.”