Mamma Mia!: Common Estate Planning Issues for Blended Families
An Executor’s Guide to Administering an Estate
Interview with Lisa Grayson - Digital Planning Podcast
Inheritance Data - Digital Planning Podcast
The Restatement (Third) of Trusts, specifically §104, lists four general areas in which the beneficiary’s actions may lead to an assumption of internal liability to the trust estate: (1) A loan or advance to the beneficiary...more
In California, trustees have a fiduciary duty to act impartially and in the interest of all beneficiaries. But what happens when a trustee uses trust funds to finance litigation that benefits only certain beneficiaries—or...more
As discussed in a previous blog, prior to an executor making distributions from an estate he/she must produce an accounting which the beneficiaries of an estate are entitled to review. Provided that the accounting is...more
U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals - Horton v. Gilchrist - prisoner, amending pleadings - USA v. Archie - search and seizure...more
The Michigan Court of Appeals recently issued an interesting ruling regarding the ability of a litigant in probate litigation to recover attorney fees from the trust in dispute, even if all parties agree to such payment. In...more
This update will address the following issues: whether a party has a right to jury trial in trust modification and other similar actions, what are the standards for pretrial receivership and injunctive relief in trust...more
As demonstrated in our Gold Medal Bakery case, with corporate fiduciary claims, there can be thought-provoking challenges and issues presented by the question of whether a claim is direct or derivative. Probate and trust...more
We “ring” in 2022 with a recent case that again shows the long reach of statutory financial elder abuse claims in California trust and estate litigation. In Ring v. Harmon (2021) ___ Cal.App.5th ___, the Court of Appeal...more
In Estate of Luce, the court of appeals affirmed a trial court’s admitting a will to probate where the decedent did not personally sign it and only communicating his desires by blinking. No. 02-17-00097-CV, 2018 Tex. App....more
In the past month, there were three decisions of note. First, in the case of Caffrey v. U.S. Trust, Case No. 15-P-920, 2016 Mass. App. Unpub. LEXIS 454 (Apr. 27, 2016), the Appeals Court was confronted with the question...more
In In re Estate of Kam, an elderly man executed a new will to omit any gift to one son after the man discovered that his life insurance had been altered to name his son as the sole beneficiary. No. 08-14-00016-CV, 2016 Tex....more
In re Estate of House, 2014 Wash. App. LEXIS 3006 (Wash. Ct. App. 2014) - A release waiving any and all claims that the parties may have or may acquire, bars recovery for unknown claims existing at the time the release...more
As 2014 came to a close, Massachusetts state and federal courts issued decisions concerning a number of issues of interest to estate planning attorneys and probate litigation attorneys, including testamentary capacity,...more
Litigating disputes in probate matters is just as expensive and time-consuming as litigation in other types of cases. However, because most probate lawyers do not handle contested matters in probate courts on a regular basis,...more