The Importance of Beneficiary Designations
The Secret Child
Estate Planning 101: The Five Most Important Clauses for Wills and Trusts
Ruder Ware's Elder Law Team Recognizes National Special Needs Law Month - Part 2
Everything You Need to Know About Beneficiary Designations
The Wonder Years - Rediscovering the Magic of Split Dollar Life Insurance
If your estate has to be probated, in a perfect world everything will go without a hitch and the assets are distributed to beneficiaries in a timely manner. Everyone is satisfied with their inheritance and family harmony is...more
In January 2021, I wrote about Broome County Surrogate David H. Guy’s decision in Matter of Ryan, in which Surrogate Guy addressed the admission of a remotely witnessed will to probate in New York State. Recently, in Matter...more
Last week the California Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion in Barefoot v. Jennings (2020) ___ Cal.5th ___, ruling that a trust beneficiary disinherited in an amendment may contest the amendment’s validity in the...more
Can a disinherited person contest a trust amendment under California Probate Code section 17200? No, said the Court of Appeal last August in Barefoot v. Jennings (2018) 27 Cal.App.5th 1. The Barefoot opinion put pending...more
In some will contests, lawyers will speculate that the decedent may have misled people as to his true estate plan, either out of weakness, to keep the peace, to measure reactions, to avoid uncomfortable conversations, and...more