Constitutional Law › Wills, Trusts, & Estate Planning › Civil Procedure

A Not-So-Good Domestic Asset Protection Trust Case

Several states have adopted asset protection trust statutes that allow a grantor to establish a trust that is protected from the grantor’s creditors, even though the grantor is a discretionary beneficiary....more

Sanctions Are Issued Where Court Determines That Special Motion To Strike Was Filed For Improper Purpose

In Kleveland v. Siegel & Wolensky LLP, 2013 DAR 4961(2013) the California Courts of Appeal for the Fourth Appellate District affirmed the denial of a special motion to strike and the award of costs and attorney fees as...more

Whose Standing Is It, Anyway?

Does the trustee of a revocable trust ever have a duty to account to the remainder beneficiaries of the trust? The Supreme Court of California says yes, but not until after the death of the settlor. In a recent decision, In...more

Illinois Supreme Court to Hear Five Civil Cases In May

On Tuesday, the Illinois Supreme Court announced its oral argument calendar for the May term, and it includes arguments in five civil cases. The cases, with the questions presented in each, are...more

Estate Tax Marital Deduction Allowed For Same-Sex Couple

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has ruled that same-sex couples can take advantage of the estate tax marital deduction provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. This ruling has...more

Judicial Restraint in the Early Days Following Stern v. Marshall

Over five months have passed since the United States Supreme Court entered its landmark decision of Stern v. Marshall, 131 S. Ct. 2594 (2011) [2011 BL 165774] the Court’s first key ruling in decades on bankruptcy court...more

No Surprise Here

There has been quite a bit of buzz about a recent bankruptcy case involving an Alaska asset protection trust. However, the case merely confirms a weakness in the use of domestic asset protection trusts that was obvious even...more

Stern v. Marshall: A Jurisdictional Game Changer?

During her lifetime, Vickie Lynn Marshall, publicly known as Anna Nicole Smith (“Vickie”), was hardly a stranger to the prying eyes of the media. Today, the late Vickie is again the subject of media coverage, this time in the...more

Stegeman v Lillig

Appellant's Brief

After three and a half years to file an Appeal, a disabled, pro se litigant, filed the instant Brief. Since the matter had to do with fraud upon the court by officers of the court to obtain rulings in their favors, we really...more

Probate Proceedings in Tennessee & A Look at the Notice Requirements Applicable to Estate Creditors

PROBATE PROCEEDINGS IN TENNESSEE & A LOOK AT THE NOTICE REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO ESTATE CREDITORS December 14, 2005 (submitted by Vanessa Cross in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Tennessee Procedure Seminar...more