A recent ruling serves as a good reminder of the importance of assessing all aspects of a claim before taking the decisive action of filing a complaint. Particularly, when evaluating a potential claim against a corporate fiduciary, which often has more resources than most beneficiaries (whose legal fees may or may not be paid from the estate or trust), a beneficiary considering litigation must identify a legal cause of action; determine the evidence available to support each cause of action; plan how to obtain additional evidence that is required but may not be readily available; and, as the ruling emphasizes, understand the effect of any exculpatory language in the will or trust. » Read More

Outside the legal setting, “caveat” generally means a warning or caution. As addressed in our previous blog post, “It May Be Up To You To Prevent Exploitation,” it is also a simple and effective way to prevent a Will from being probated. » Read More

The COVID-19 pandemic has altered our daily lives. Social distancing measures advanced by the CDC (i.e., maintaining six feet of distance, no group gatherings, wearing masks outside, setting aside documents traveling in the mail for 2-3 days to allow the virus to die on surfaces) are designed to slow the spread of the virus by flattening the curve and keep us safe. » Read More

We have all heard the expression about the “poor man’s will” being created by adding children or spouses as joint owners of one’s assets, including bank accounts.

The rationale is that this avoids the judicial probate process by having all of one’s assets pass outside of probate, according to the joint designation. » Read More

Let’s face it, forcing yourself to contemplate your own demise and make a Will is, to most of us, unsettling at best.  Add to that the need to plan your own funeral and it’s enough for many people to avoid all of it entirely.  » Read More

We all know how important it is to have a will.  Yet, we see one celebrity after another, with substantial estates and who could pay to receive the best advice, die without one.  Until recently, the law viewed the issue as an “either/or” – either you had a validly executed will when you died, or you did not, in which case your assets passed by the laws of intestacy, which were intended to reflect traditional expectations of how a person would want his assets to pass (first to his spouse, then to his children, etc.). » Read More

It’s a common scenario- a couple gets married, each having children from a prior relationship.  They each set up their Wills to provide for the surviving spouse and then for all their children, collectively, when they are both gone.  The understanding is that when one dies, the survivor will not modify or revoke the survivor’s Will in a way that diminishes the inheritance of the children of the spouse who dies first. » Read More

Following our post about vampire blogs, as the calendar turns to October and we approach Halloween, we’ll take a quick look at another other-worldly topic: how the decedent’s voice is admissible in estate litigation from beyond the grave.

Parties and other witnesses in estate litigation will frequently rely on or reference conversations they claim to have had with the deceased; and the attorney who drafted the document at issue, such as the decedent’s will or trust, is often viewed as a critical witness.  » Read More

One of the most enduring myths about Wills is that if you leave someone $1 (or some other nominal amount) in your Will, that person cannot contest it. Implicit in this reasoning is that the Will also contains a so-called “no-contest” clause, sometimes known by its more sinister label, the “in terrorem” clause, which says that any provisions for someone who contests the Will are revoked. » Read More

Prior blog posts (here and here) have addressed the limits of a Will by identifying numerous assets that pass not by Will upon death, but by some other means.  For example, life insurance, retirement benefits, and annuities pass not according to the provisions of a Will, but based on the named beneficiaries in the applicable beneficiary designation.  » Read More