Florida Probate Attorney and Florida Inheritance Lawyer Florida Probate Attorney Blog

Elizabeth Taylor Estate worth around $1 Billion. Will Probate or Trust Litigation be required?

Elizabeth Taylor was well known as one of the most famous actresses Hollywood has ever produced after seven decades in show business she became a major worldwide celebrity and icon. Sadly she passed away Wednesday at 79.

During those seven decades she built a huge fortune through gifts from eight different husbands and numerous boyfriends as well as major success as an actress and business person through building her brand as Elizabeth Taylor which she was one of the first to do. Her overall wealth including the rights to her image, her jewelry and business interests may reach a billion dollars. It is estimated to be worth between $600 million to $1 Billion dollars as estimated by a Businessweek Diane Brady senior editor on The Early Show on Saturday morning.  

 "But, you know, clearly, they're auctioning off her jewelry collection. They think that's going to be about $150 million. She had real estate that was worth at least $130 million.

"But a lot of the money she made was actually in her perfume business. She had costume jewelry.

"This was an entrepreneur. So it wasn't just an actress who amassed a fortune. She was one of the first people out there basically branding her personality."

"But the perfume business was where she made a lot of her money - even last year, $77 million in sales.  

She was the first woman to get $1 million for a movie. But, the reality is, she made most of her money as an entrepreneur."

So what happens to that money now?

"That's a very good question. You've heard, 'Will it go to the dog?' 'Will it go to the manager?' 'Will it go to the kids?' There is a sense a lot of her money will go toward AIDS. That was obviously something that was a big cause of hers. She raised more than $270 million for that through her foundation. Four children, I'm sure she'll give some of it to them. But realistically, I think that a lot of it will go toward the research that she felt was very important."

 I think we'll see a lot of money made for and from Liz Taylor for years to come."

 Another good question will be whether the family will fight over it and force probate and trust litigation to consume the probate courts and much attention. The 4 children were from 3 different fathers and there were many grandchildren and some great grandchildren who came from her 8 marriages. 

Elizabeth Taylor is nearby in the same funeral home as Michael Jackson. While there is only one Graceland possibly if permitted by the facility charges could be taken to come to her final resting place. 

It will be interesting to see if her estate planning efficiently passes her property and is as astute as she was or is a mess like Elvis Pressley and other celebrities which squanderd a large amount in poor estate planning. 

With 8 different marriages, charities likely being involved and such a blended scenario it will also be interesting to learn whether the beneficiaries will dispute the terms each is probate for and contest the terms of a will or trust or it passes smoothly. 

Sometimes when the family is not in harmony or with greedy beneficiaries when there are non titled assets such as jewelry some beneficiaries try to get their hands on the property and sell or take for their own benefits prior to even seeing what the terms of the will says. In her case there was around $150 million dollars worth of jewelry alone nearly all of which was given to her as gifts.  

The US Treasury can be relieved she passed away in 2011 while there is a $5 million exemption and not in 2010 when George Steinbrenner and at least 4 other billionaires passed on with no estate tax.  

See also CBS News Elizabeth Taylor's Estate may be around $1 Billion

3 minute video discussing her $150 Million Jewelry collection. 

Liz Taylors Estate and Yours Market Watch Video regarding documents people should have. 

Elizabeth Taylor Death Certificate  

Steven Spielberg's $200 million Yacht

Movie producer,Director and writer, Steven Spielberg has bought a Megayacht named the Seven Seas (pictured above), a 282-footer fitted with every imaginable luxury.

Its has an infinity pool with a 15-ft. glass wall that doubles as a cinema screen so Spielberg and his guests can view movies while swimming or lounging poolside.

The Seven Seas has accommodation and luxury amenities for 12 guests along with a crew of 26, including a private owner's deck centered on a large master stateroom with a study and private deck area with a Jacuzzi. Other luxury touches include a helipad, fully equipped gymnasium, a spa and massage room and another, indoor cinema. Special stability systems allow the yacht to travel smoothly in any weather at 20 knots so the director doesn't have a bumpy ride while viewing his latest movie.

 

Source: Jared Paul Stern - Luxist

 

Rockefeller impostor now charged with a 1985 LA area murder

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction as the case with Christian Karl Gerhartreiter who had pretended to be a member of the ultra wealthy Rockefeller family, served time in jail for kidnapping his daughter and been the subject of a made for tv movie. 

On Tuesday, the West German-born man was also charged with the 1985 murder of his former landlord for whom he lived in the guest house of. 

Los Angeles prosecutors formally brought that charge against him, and they are seeking to have him extradited from Massachusetts, where he is serving a sentence of more than four years in prison for kidnapping his daughter in 2008 in Boston.

He was long suspected him in the 1985 murder, but the evidence took a long time to develop. 

The LA police spokesperson Steve Whitmore said "It was a very difficult case on many levels," 

The victim, John Sohus, went missing in 1985 but his body was not discovered until 1994. He was conclusively identified only recently with the help of new technology, Whitmore said.

"The district attorney decided that now is the time to file the murder charge, we have enough evidence to get a conviction," Whitmore said.

Gerhartsreiter's wanted a life a wealthy person in the US and merely assumed that identity after coming to the US as a student in the 1970's. For most of the past few decades he had called himself Clark Rockefeller. Eric McCormack played him in the made-for-TV movie "Who Is Clark Rockefeller?" on the Lifetime network. 

The 50 year-old Gerhartsreiter's is accused of using a blunt object to kill Sohus, who went missing along with his wife, Linda, in 1985.

Linda's body was never discovered, and as a result Gerhartsreiter has not been charged in her death, Whitmore said. Investigators believe, however, that she is dead.

John Sohus was found buried in the backyard of his home in San Marino a city near Los Angeles prosecutors said. It was in 1994 that someone else who had owned the home at the time chose to have a swimming pool installed and when that was built the body was found but technology did not exist to identify who it was until just recently. 

Gerhartsreiter's, claimed the identity of Christopher Chichester at the time of the murder. 

"It's basically shoe leather police work combined with technology, as the technology advanced we were able to review and review again," Whitmore said.

For at least 16 years, Gerhartsreiter passed himself off as a Clark Rockefeller and pretended to be a member of New York's Rockefeller oil dynasty. The family has denied any relation. He was successfully living in high society for a long time though. 

He married Sandra Boss for 12 years herself a Harvard grad. In the 2007 divorce she accused him of lying of being a Rockefeller. 

The following year, he kidnapped the couple's young daughter, leading to a manhunt that ended with his arrest in Baltimore and the girl's rescue.

Los Angeles prosecutors will ask that bail be set at $10 million for Gerhartsreiter's in the 1985 murder case. If convicted, he faces 26 years to life in prison.

Likely every state has a slayer statute that basically says a person cannot inherit from a person that they murder in order to prevent improper conduct of people seeking to gain wealth in that way. The Florida slayer statute says if the greater weight of the evidence shows someone intentionally and unlawfully acted to bring about the death of another than they would be prohibited from inheriting from them. A conviction or even criminal charge is not necessary in Florida and the standard would be more likely than not whether the slayer statute requirements were satisfied. 

He was able to pretend to be a member of one of the countries wealthiest families and fool a Harvard graduate and many others for well over a decade but as typically happens the truth eventually came out. 

See Tori Richards Murder charge Adds New Twist to Saga of 'Rockefeller' Impostor 

 

Spider-Man comic sells for $1.1 million

The first Spider-Man comic which was released in 1962 and sold at the time for 12c was just sold at auction for $1.1 million. The second highest a comic has ever sold behind the 1938 first edition of Super Man comic. The comic was in excellent condition and sold through ComicConnect.com. Easy way to create a nice sized estate selling a 12c item for well over a million dollars. See Spider Man Comic Sells for $1.1 million from Yahoo News. 

 

Dennis Hopper's wife is trying to kill him says his assistant in divorce dispute.

As reported here Dennis Hopper's assistant has stated that his wife has tried to kill him and has looted his estate of millions of dollars already as he is seriously ill and dying of cancer. They are currently going through a bitter contested divorce dispute. During the litigation the assistant is helping his side and discussing what she has observed. Dennis Hopper was in the movie Easy Rider and many others.  

 Fortunately it appears that he had properly planned in advance with a prenuptial agreement. The terms can be read by clicking here. He keeps all of his real estate, artwork, bank accounts and all his property pursuant to its terms with the exception that if they were both married and living together at the time of his death his wife Victoria would receive a life insurance policy worth $250,000 and 25% of everything in his will and trust which apparently would have amounted to around $6.25 million. They are not living together so pursuant to the terms of the pre nup unless she challenges it she should not get anything. 

In Florida absent the pre nup she would have all the rights of a spouse if the estate had not completed and he had passed away even if he wanted her to have nothing and was just days away from the divorcing going through. However his estate may seek to invoke the slayer statute depending on his manner of death and if she had taken intentional and illegal actions that brought about his death she could be barred from receiving anything from his estate. 

Hollywood Dispute Settled for $10 following Litigation

The Hollywood Litigation I heard about today was re the movie Swing Vote. The following was reported from Wikipedia regarding the dispute. 

Bradley Blakeman, a former deputy assistant for appointments and scheduling to President George W. Bush, filed a lawsuit on August 7, 2008, stating that he gave Kelsey Grammer a copyrighted screenplay titled Go November in 2006. The lawsuit, filed at the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York in Long Island, New York, is against Grammer, Kevin Costner (co-financier), The Walt Disney Company (owner of the film rights), Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group Inc. (production company) and Touchstone Pictures (distributor), and claims that the plot and marketing elements of Swing Vote were stolen from him. 

The case was dismissed against all defendants except Kelsey Grammer and Brad and his litigation Attorneys thought the case was going so poorly that they agreed to settle for merely $10 which the actor gave them to go away. Ironic that merely paying to see a movie these days is at least that. While the description above sounds more plausible for a lawsuit then some similar Hollywood type lawsuits I have heard of before it must have been a case with no chance of success at that point. While it is important to pursue ones rights when they believe they have a cause and as a matter of public policy in Florida statutes say that a no contest clause in wills or trusts are not enforceable. However a legal cause of action is still needed and if a case is going badly enough and considered to have been brought without any merit to the case the party bringing the lawsuit could potentially face having to pay the other sides attorney fees if they do not withdraw. That and the high cost of pursuing disputed cases on an hourly basis can motivate people to fail to pursue cases which they and their attorneys realize they cannot win. Bradley may have considered this to have been a "win" and clearly not having to continue to pay hundreds of dollars an hour to defend the case or take anymore time on it paying $10 to make the case go away was appropriate for Kelsey. Presumably he paid with no admission of any wrongdoing. 

While this does not have anything to do with Probate law, estate settlement, trusts and estates or Probate Litigation Information that this blog typically writes about but funny to think of a disputed situation resolved with merely a payment of $10. Typically any contested or litigation matter costs thousands of dollars or more to pursue and when dealing with Hollywood and movies or their stars worth millions it is funny to think of a settlement for merely the cost of one person to go to the movie. 

The amount involved brings to mind another lawsuit which ended in a small amount paid although completely different facts. The USFL sued the NFL and received $1 in damages which were then tripled for anti trust reasons. The league had lost $163 million and sought nearly $570 million in damages which then would be tripled although "won" the case but only received the $1 judgement. To read more about that case click here. 

Selling a comic book not typical way to being Millionaire but its happening.

As MSN.com mentioned the record for the highest figure a comic book ever sold for has just been broken for the 3rd time this year all for at least a million dollars. The most recent millionaire sold a copy of the 1938 Superman comic for the first edition to have come out. This time receiving $1.5 million dollars with the same comic having received $1 million to a different seller earlier this year then a batman comic book for a little over a million dollar now someone who must not be feeling the effects of the current recession just bought a Superman Comic book for $1.5 million.