Florida Probate Attorney and Florida Inheritance Lawyer Florida Probate Attorney Blog

Funeral plots around Michael Jackson become more expensive

 As this article - Funeral Plots - mentions the Forest Lawn Memorial plots have risen in value since Michael Jackson was burried there. It used to be $7k for a plot but is now around $10k for a similar space in surrounding space and some neighboring owners are seeking to receive even higher figures to sell their spaces.

New York Probate Litigation - $100 Million Dollar Estate in 1931.

Long before the Estate of Vincent Astor was the subject of signicant estate litigation in 1959 or Brooke Astor trust and estate litigation issues brought criminal charges for will and trust issues and caught national headlines Thomas Patrick Morris was jailed for fraud in claiming to have been the child of her brother and have a will making him entitled to the assets of her estate. Ella Von Echtzel Wendal a wealthy Fifth Avenue heiress and last child in the Wendel family that had accumulated a vast real estate empire. Interestingly her grandfather was the step brother of John Jacob Astor and was advised to buy New York real estate. In a detailed story claimed to be the sole heir of the estate worth estimated at as much as $100 million of dollars in 1931. (although some say above $100 million estate and others say a range of $30 million up to that it would be very large even without inflation making that considerably larger in todays money) The estate was represented by John Marshall Harlan II a future Supreme Court Justice. With some good litigation ability he exposed Mr. Morris story and will as frauds for which was subsequently arrested arrested and jailed and also defended the will against around 2300 who filed claims against the estate. Nearly all of the claimants were fraudulent although he eventually negotiated a settlement with 9 distant relatives note mentioned in the will who collectively received $2.125m during the 1933 settlement in the New York Surrogate Court which resolves Probate Litigation and all disputed matters. The remainder of the money went to various charities as provided by her will despite some challenges to her testamentary capacity.

Her brother John Gotlieb Wendel prevented his six sisters from marrying other than one later in life since they did not want to split up the real estate and have less in the family. 

There was a book written about this case with the title Forgery, Perjury and an Enormous Fortune   2303 Claimants to the 1931 Ella Wendel Estate there is also an online Time Magazine  article regarding this case.  

An interesting article regarding the family and the case can also be viewed by clicking here. One interesting note is that the New York Probate Litigation in the surrogate's court and related litigation concerning estate related matters appeared in the New York Times 67 times in 1931 alone showing that high profile probate litigation and probate settlement issues have been heavily covered for nearly 80 years now. Recently there have been a lot of these types of cases concerning celebrity or high profile indviduals with the just starting Michael Jackson situation in which custody is in dispute and some aspects may be contested if the no contest clause of the trust would not apply as has already asked for an interpretation regarding that, Brooke Astor criminal litigation case is ongoing with the direct trust and estate litigation cases likely to follow. The James Brown probate and trust litigation issues were finally settled earlier this year and  Anna Nicole Smith still has her estate suing the estate of her much older husband Mr. Marshall which has been going on nearly 15 years now despite the death of all parties initially involved and last years estate settlement  of Luciano Pavarotti's among many other celebrity trust and estate litigation issues. The media coverage or existence of this high profile estate and trust litigation is unlikely to end anytime soon either. There is already an article of tension regarding the children of Walter Cronkite and his companion the last four years the sister of singer Carly Simon.  

Michael Jackson Revocable Trust

According to TMZ.com the trust estate will be divided: 

Katherine Jackson will get 40% of the assets.
Michael's 3 kids will get another 40%.
Remaining 20% goes to several children's charities. Charities have not been designated yet and are not specified in the trust.

Katherine Jackson granted temporary guardianship by probate court.

As this article mentions Michael Jackson's mother was given temporary guardianship of all three of Michael's children. For Debbie Rowe the mother of two of the children her address was listed as "unknown". Strangely instead of unknown regarding who the mother of the 3rd child was the Jackson petition had said none regarding the mother.

A court hearing is schedule for August 3 to determine where the who is best for the children to have as their guardianship. Ms. Rowe's attorney has indicated she would likely contest custody of the children and guardianship of her two children with Michael based on being the natural parent but gave no further information.

Estate Tax Issues concerning the right of publicity

Paul L. Caron a law professor at University of Cincinatti had reported about a Supreme Court case concerning the Estate of Andrews in 1994 which held that based on Internal Revenue Code Section 2033 that the right of publicity was includable in the estate of the decedent. He also proposed the idea that estate planning to resolve this issue could be done. He suggested gifting the right to a trust towards the start of the individuals career or fame so the increase in value would not be includible in their estate. Although it was not specifically mentioned the transfer would of course need to go to be gifted to an irrevocable trust so that the celebrity had no rights to alter, amend, or revise their gift as they would if it were to a revocable trust for which they would likely be a trustee in which case it would be includible just as a life insurance policy would be if transfered to a revocable trust but not if properly devised to an irrevocable life insurance trust. Additionally he discussed how it is important that the rights of a celebrity be respected if it was someone who valued their fame and sought the spotlight that it may be used more extensively in the estate while someone who shun the spotlight during life would likely not want the right of publicity used to the contrary after their death although the IRS values the right at its fair market value not taking into consideration how it is intended to be used and a validly executed disclaimer could sometimes make sense he mentioned. A link to his comments can be found here. As there does not appear to have been any estate planning for Michael Jackson and a will cannot even be located yet although the value of the estates right of publicity will be quite extensive and estate taxes are due within 9 months following the date of death. This will cause a potential disaster for an estate which has debts of around a half a billion dollars already, numerous disputes and litigation issues which will need to be resolved and assets worth up to around a billion dollars prior to the value of the right to publicity but with no spouse his estate will receive just a $3.5 million estate tax exemption and while Paul McCartney or someone may buy the Beatles catalog which is the largest estate asset but it is not marketable in the same way that 100 shares of IBM stock would be and liquidating assets within the time period to pay estate taxes could be problematic. The valuation issues concerning some of the assets will also be an interesting situation to deal with as he had some unusual assets.

Right of publicity - IP Attorneys ready for disputes in Jackson estate

National Law Journal reports that there will be a number of intelectual property attorneys overseeing whether anything from the moonwalk to Jacksons face, image or other rights of pubilcity are being violated and that the estate is likely to protect his image aggressively from those who are seeking to make a quick dollar including even those who come out with shirts having his face on them which already began. 

Michael Jackson family to fight for control of estate and children

As  Indiana News Center reported the family of Michael Jackson plans to fight for control of his estate and his children in Probate Court and will pursue any estate disputes that arise.  

Yahoo reported that Katherine Jackson the mother of Michael Jackson will seek control of the estate and had filed documents to do so shortly after having filed documents to serve as the guardian of the three children of Michael Jackson. California Probate court will have jurisdiction regarding these matters. 

California law provides if there is no will as he was not married it would pass to his children and the guardian of the children would control. Debbie Roe the mother of two of the children may seek to contest who receives custody regarding the children. She had terminated her rights to the children but then had subsequently sought to regain rights. The judge will determine what is in the best interests of the children. The 3rd child of Michael Jackson was from a surrogate who had no relationship to the child and in that case seems clear it will go to the Jackson family as they have a relationship with them and the woman never acted or was intended to be a mother to the children. The judge may determine that the interests of the mothers were waived and they belong together and with the Jackson family.

As a Fox News Fox News article points out this has some similarity to the Anna Nicole Smith situation in which a relative who had been distant was seeking custody and there was a dispute from another relative although in that case it was a lot easier decision given that there was a father who had not waived his rights. They also point out that there are rumors of Michael's mom who is in late 70s being in poor health and the court having thrown out the agreement in which Ms. Rowe waived all rights on a technicality although it was never further pursued and the consensus in this situation was given the closer relationship the family had with the children and keeping the siblings together as well as the contract it was more likely than not the Jackson family would prevail if they were considered fit. Also a former family attorney Debri Opri who assisted Larry Birkhead mentioned even if there was no will that Jackson may have otherwise legally documented who he wanted to have his children. That is a frequent reason for people with minor children especially in his situation to prepare a will though is to provide a preference for whom the guardian should be. A final note of interest was that stores have noted that his record sales have surged since his death last week and this may help the estate to pay off some of the massive $400-500 million in debt it faces.

This video on Yahoo is of a forensic pathologist who discusses what the autopsies are likely to show regarding Michael Jackson.

James Brown Trusts and Estates Litigation Settled

After years of disputes and litigation regarding the terms his trusts and will contests a settlement to distribute the trust and estate assets was reached.

His charitable trust will receive 50% of the assets and help needy kids in South Carolina and Georgia.

Tomi Rae Hynie Brown was determined to be his wife which had itself been litigated since it was argued she had not been properly divorced from her prior husband so it was argued that the marriage with James Brown should have been invalid. She however received 25% share along with her son James Brown II who was a minor and there had been questions of whether that had even truly been James Brown son. Neither one had been provided for in prior wills and trusts which they contested and were disputing in the litigation. They had rights as pretermitted heirs since the marriage was after the will and so was the birth of the child. This would allow them to receive their intestate share. Even if the will had not provided for her and was done after the marriage she would have rights to his property as an elective share unless there had been a prenup she would have elective share rights as a spouse.

James Browns 6 adult children split the remaining 25%.

The estate reportedly has limited assets currently though and had held an auction which raised $850,000 in order to help pay debt of the trusts and estates.

There have been reports of breach of fiduciary duty by the trustees who reportedly have not given full accountings and are said to have mismanged the trust assets. They did not approve of the settlement and are appealing. 

His wife and her attorney mentioned that the family and charity were happy to move forward after the trust litigation battles of the past few years and just wanted to work together to continue to enhance his image. The image of the godfather of soul will likely be the most significant estate asset. The estate of his friend Elvis Presley for example earned $52 million last year despite his death decades ago. By contrast even some of the biggest celebrities who are alive and actively earning such as Justin Timberlake and Madonna made ten or more million less according to the annual list of top earning deceased celebrities in Forbes.  

This trust and estate settlement proposal had been worked out months ago and submitted to the probate  court for approval although the probate judge in South Carolina overseeing the case finally reviewed and approved it. Unless it is impacted by the appeal of the trustees all the litigation concerning the trust and estate can finally be put to rest. In this case as with some other large celebrity cases there had been numerous lawsuits which needed to be resolved as well as determining what the will and trust said then all the parties agreeing to settle the disputes.

As James Brown liked to say and those who have finally been able to settle the trust and estate litigation disputes that had been in probate court would likely have said "It feels good".

Estate related litigation concerning Brooke Astor in criminal court

New York Times article - Litigation update regarding criminal breach of fiduciary duty to Brooke Astor

In advance of the will contest, estate litigation and trust litigation disputes in civil court the criminal case against Brooke Astor's son Anthony Marshall and her former attorney Frances Morrisey Jr. continued. This case had been battled in Probate court through guardianship and other issues concerning how she was being cared for even prior to the death at 105 year old multi millionaire socialite.

Today testimony was not allowed from her social security that Anthony Marshall's wife said that Ms Astor is killing Mr Marshall he may have a heart attack and she got nothing if he died before her back in 2002 as the court found it not relevant. The prosecutions theory of the case is that Mr Marshall was taking advantage of his mother and criminally exploiting her dementia and Alzheimers in order to get more money from the estate and allow himself to pass it to his wife. As things had been after he died it would pass to charities and not his wife. The defense argues however that his mom saw his wife made him happy and she knowingly and willingly made the changes to allow the property to pass to her son outright and allow it to go to the wife if he chose and they assert there is now fraud or criminal elderly abuse. They will surely be making similar arguments in probate court seeking to defend will contests and trust trust litigation that will be upcoming. 

The case has a number of different aspects that will contest and estate litigation cases have arguments of undue influence, lack of capacity, breach of fiduciary duty and in this case even fraud. It is different from most cases though that this is a criminal cases as well that typically not in criminal court regarding criminal exploiting the elderly or seeking the revision of the will does not typically end in criminal court but is far more often just a civil matter handled in probate court. In probate court the case is to determine who is entitled to the assets and what if any civil damages are to be paid such as surcharge of a personal representative or return of property to an estate while this phase of the trial is guilt or innoncence. Given it is famous family which is regularly reported on in the New York Times and elsewhere also makes it different from a typical case.

It is an interesting criminal trial and will be an interesting Probate Litigation case and Trust Dispute matter which this probate blog will be following.

Will and Trust Distributions - Unusual provisions

As an estate planning attorney I have been requested to draft some unusual provisions in clients documents as well as hearing and reading about other provisions.

Below is an amusing article of some strange distribution provisions in wills and trusts. The link to the site this information is from is here.

So, what will you leave behind and to whom.......

Sandra West, a wealthy 37-year-old Beverly Hills socialite, left most of her $3 million estate to her brother - provided he made sure she was buried "in my lace nightgown and my Ferrari, with the seat slanted comfortably." That's how she was buried. The Ferrari was surrounded with concrete so no one would be tempted to dig it up and drive away.

Ms. Eleanor Ritchey, the unmarried granddaughter of the founder of Quaker State Oil, died in 1968 with an estate worth around $12 million. According to Scott Bieber in Trusts and Estates magazine: "Under her will, she left over 1,700 pairs of shoes and 1,200 boxes of stationery to the Salvation Army. The rest of the estate went to the dogs." Real dogs, he means - a pack of 150 strays that Ritchey had adopted as pets.

When American patriot Patrick Henry died, everything he owned was left to his wife - as long as she never married again. If she did, he forfeited the whole thing. "It would make me unhappy," he explained, "to feel I have worked all my life only to support another man's wife!" She remarried anyway.

Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island, tried to leave his birthday. He willed it to a good friend who'd complained that since she was born on Christmas, she never got to have a real birthday celebration.

An attorney in France left $10,000 to "a local madhouse." The gentleman declared that "it was simply an act of restitution to his clients."

An Australian named Francis R. Lord left one shilling to his wife "for tram fare so she can go somewhere and drown herself." The inheritance was never claimed.

A woman in Cherokee County, North Carolina left her entire estate to God. The court instructed the county sheriff to find the beneficiary. A few days later, the sheriff returned and submitted his report: "After due and diligent search, God cannot be found in this county."

Edgar Bergen, famed ventriloquist, left $10,000 to the Actor's Fund of America - so they could take care of his dummy, Charlie McCarthy, and put him in a show once a year. They went along with it.