News & Analysis as of September 22, 2024

Wills

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Estate Planning is a process where individuals prepare or plan for the settlement of their personal affairs in the event of incapacitation or death. Estate plans typically include provisions relating to the disposition of assets, guardianship of minor children, and appointment of representatives to make medical and financial decisions. Effective estate planning can decrease tax liability and facilitate the probate process. less -

What is Undue Influence in the Context of a Will Contest?

Stark & Stark on 3/14/2024

During a Will contest, a party challenging a Will may assert that the Will was the product undue influence being exerted over the decedent by the party who benefited by the disputed Will. The question arises: What is what is...more

A Probate Checklist For Executors Of A Will

Dunlap Bennett & Ludwig PLLC on 1/9/2024

Probate, the legal process of administering a deceased person’s estate, can be complex and challenging. During this process, a court determines whether a Will is authentic and valid and then distributes the estate to heirs or...more

Why Should I Work With A Probate Litigation Attorney?

Dunlap Bennett & Ludwig PLLC on 1/9/2024

If you expect to face disputes over the allocation of your loved one’s estate, retaining a probate litigation attorney might be the right choice. Here’s what you need to know about hiring an experienced attorney who can help...more

Alternatives to Litigation in a Will Contest or Probate Dispute

Hendershot Cowart P.C. on 1/8/2024

When conflict arises in the settling of an estate – especially a high-net-worth estate – the parties involved may look to the courts to help resolve the dispute. Litigation is one way to settle probate disputes, but it is...more

Strict Notice Is A Must To Trigger Deadlines For Will Contests

Patton Sullivan Brodehl LLP on 10/30/2023

It is a standard requirement in Probate Court disputes that the parties strictly adhere to the rules regarding notice of relief sought to all potential heirs and beneficiaries. The recent decision of Bailey v. Bailey...more

Aretha Franklin Makes Us “Think” About Handwritten Wills

Downey Brand LLP on 7/18/2023

Earlier this month, a Michigan jury considered whether handwriting in a spiral notebook found under a couch cushion at singer Aretha Franklin’s home constituted her valid last will. Franklin had written and signed the...more

When to Include a No-Contest Clause in a Will or Trust

Bowditch & Dewey on 4/4/2023

One of the many reasons for executing a Will and Trust is to make your wishes clear and prevent animosity among family members or other beneficiaries after your death. However, there are circumstances in which it is clear to...more

Challenging a Will: What We Can Learn From Priscilla Presley

Burns & Levinson LLP on 3/31/2023

Elvis Has Left the Building - In 1977, when Elvis Presley died (to put a complicated situation very simply), his estate and any future royalties generated by his intellectual property, including his music, passed into a...more

Ambiguities in a Will - The Doctrine of Probable Intent

Stark & Stark on 10/12/2022

In rare instances, during the administration of an estate, there might arise an ambiguity within the language of the decedent’s Last Will and Testament as to how the decedent wished to dispose of his property pursuant...more

Appellate Court Affirms Findings That Decedent’s Will Was Not A Product Of Undue Influence And That He Had Mental Capacity

Winstead PC on 10/3/2022

In In re Estate of Hogan, a father executed a new will, leaving his estate to one of his sons (Harold) and disinheriting his other son (Gary). No. 11-20-00170-CV, 2022 Tex. App. LEXIS 3863 (Tex. App.—Eastland June 9,...more

Will Your Will Be Contested?

Adler Pollock & Sheehan P.C. on 6/13/2022

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

Court Holds That Initialing A Will Is Sufficient To Meet The Execution Requirement

Winstead PC on 5/24/2022

In Jones v. Jones, the decedent’s wife filed an application for probate of an attested will for her husband, and the decedent’s son from a previous marriage filed a petition contesting the will. No. 01-20-00073-CV, 2022 Tex....more

Red Flags Indicating a Potentially Invalid Will

Stark & Stark on 3/31/2022

When considering whether to contest a decedent’s Last Will and Testament, an individual should consider whether red flags might be present which may point to a successful basis to challenge a disputed Will. The purpose of...more

Are an Estate Planner’s Notes Protected by the Attorney Work Product Doctrine?

Downey Brand LLP on 3/1/2022

California law is surprisingly unclear as to whether the notes of an estate planning attorney are protected from discovery by the attorney work product doctrine. This can become a big issue in a will or trust contest when the...more

My Sibling is a Narcissist: Strategies for Fiduciary Litigation

Burns & Levinson LLP on 5/21/2021

So, your sibling is a narcissist. Could this affect your inheritance under your parents’ estate plan? Here are some common intrafamilial disputes and possible strategies to avoid being disinherited as a result of your...more

Contested Estates – When Is The Right Time To Go To Court?

Cole Schotz on 3/24/2021

In a contested estate situation, family members are mad, often fighting mad. A common client question is, “When are we going to court?” Perhaps surprisingly, our usual answer to this is, “Only when everything else has...more

[Webinar] Representations of Wealth Planning and Conflict in Film and Literature: What Can We Learn from Such Depictions? -...

Robins Kaplan LLP on 9/23/2020

Producers, writers, and reporters have long been fascinated with high-stakes wealth, estate and trusts, and shareholder disputes. Whether tragic or comic, the drama between clients, families, business partners, as well as the...more

Court Reverses Summary Judgment On The Issue Of Whether A Testatrix Had The Mental Capacity To Execute A New Will

Winstead PC on 2/13/2020

In In the Estate of Mahaffey, a testatrix executed a new will nine days before she died of cancer. No. 04-19-00122-CV, 2019 Tex. App. LEXIS 11171 (Tex. App.—San Antonio December 27, 2019, no pet. history)....more

Court Holds That Will Contestant Was Not Estopped From Challenging The Will Due To Accepting Assets

Winstead PC on 1/2/2020

In "In the Estate of Johnson," a decedent’s daughter filed a will contest after accepting over $146,000 from the estate. No. 05-18-01193-CV, 2019 Tex. App. LEXIS 9646 (Tex. App.—Dallas November 4, 2019, no pet.). ...more

Preventing a Will Contest

Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel, P.C. on 8/30/2019

Emotions can run high at the death of a family member. If a family member is unhappy with the amount they received (or didn't receive) under a will, he or she may contest the will. Will contests can drag out for years,...more

How to Contest a Will

Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel, P.C. on 6/28/2019

You had a loving relationship with your mother and she always said she would leave everything to you and your siblings, but after she died, you discover she had recently written a new will, leaving everything to her...more

Courts Must Apply Relevant Factors When Awarding Counsel Fees In Will Contests

Cole Schotz on 6/12/2019

In a recent unpublished opinion, the New Jersey Appellate Division summarized the factors a trial court must consider when awarding attorneys’ fees in Will contests. In Matter of the Estate of Fornaro, 2019 WL 2172791, the...more

The Texas Supreme Court Holds That The Only Consideration In Probating A Will After The Four-Year Limitations Period Is Evidence...

Winstead PC on 4/15/2019

In Ferreira v. Butler, a husband and wife divorced, and the husband married a second wife. No. 17-0901, 2019 Tex. LEXIS 375 (Tex. April 12, 2019). The second wife died, and the husband never probated her will, which left...more

“Que Je T’Aime”: L’affaire d’heritage de Johnny Hallyday

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP on 8/21/2018

As a battle rages on in Nanterre, west of Paris, over the estate of Johnny Hallyday, who is best known as the “French Elvis”, and spills out across the pages of the tabloid press in France, we offer a view from Hallyday’s...more

Proper Estate Planning May Prevent a Will Contest

Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel LLP on 4/4/2017

Will contests are a sad reality and while there is no guarantee, with proper planning a contest may be avoided. A will contest occurs when a disgruntled potential beneficiary of an estate challenges the validity of a Will. ...more

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