Florida Probate Attorney and Florida Inheritance Lawyer Florida Probate Attorney Blog

Dr. Conrad Murray convicted of Involuntary Manslaughter. Wrongful Death lawsuit by the estate next?

ABC News Image of Conrad Murray in court with defense attorneys.

Conrad Murray Convicted of Involuntary Manslaughter as Nick Allen of The Telegraph reported this afternoon in the article linked to above. The reading of the verdict can be watched by clicking here.

Joe Jackson had filed wrong death case that was initially allowed to proceed but was being challenged  by Dr. Murray based on standing since he was not the personal representative, a trustee or a beneficiary of the estate. 

There has already had extensive Probate Litigation in the case and now it will be interesting to see if the personal represenatives of the estate bring a wrongful death case to pursue Conrad Murray for civil damages. This was done in the OJ Simpson case where a judgment was received by the estate of Ron Goldman for $33.5M although an extremely small portion of this has ever been paid. Likewise the estate will need to determine whether Dr Murray has enough assets that a judgment would be collectible as he had lots of debts prior to being hired by Michael Jackson. It will be interesting to see what happens. 

 

No Contest Clause in Will of recently deceased long time actor Jackie Cooper.

Hollywood California Actor Jackie Cooper started acting at the age of 3 and was nominated for a best actor in a leading role at the age of 9 the youngest in any category for 50 years. He then went on to work in the entertainment field for over 60 years including the role of Perry White the editor of the newspaper in Superman.

When he prepared his will having been married 3 times and having a child from a prior marriage and 3 from his current wife he wanted to make sure that there was no Probate Litigation, disputes or other contesting of his wishes and that the property just passed to his wife for her life then to the children. As a result he provided in his will that if anyone named in the will sought to contest its terms unsuccessfully that they would only receive $5. His phrasing was  "I give to such persons so contesting or objecting the sum of FIVE DOLLARS ($5.00) and no more."

Interesting to note that while no contest clauses had been valid and all types of no contest clauses had been enforeceable in California for a while the law permitting this was changed effective January 1 2010 with when new Probate statute §§ 21310–21315 was passed and signed into law repealing the prior statute. There are now restrictions regarding what types and situations a no contest clause is enforceable. Also his wife failed to survive him so it now passes all to his children in equal shares.   

In Florida where the Probate Attorney Blog is written the law is and has been that no contest clauses are specifically uneforceable by statute as against public policy. Florida Statute 732.517 states 

A provision in a will purporting to penalize any interested person for contesting the will or instituting other proceedings relating to the estate is unenforceable.

Source regarding provision in Jackie Cooper's will and photo TMZ Jackie Cooper the poison pill clause.

Osama Bin Laden Reads Will on Saturday Night Live

 

Jackson Estate reached settlement with Heal the World Foundation. Avoids estate related Litigation.

The Personal Representatives of Michael Jackson's estate reached a settlement today with the Heal the World Foundation over use of the late entertainer's image and likeness, a court official confirmed.

Attorneys representing the estate and the charity met with a U.S. District Judge just prior to jury selection in the copyright infringement lawsuit was going to start in Los Angeles federal court.

Terms of the settlement were not publicly released. But TMZ.com reported that the founder of the foundation Melissa Johnson was given the right to use the late singer's name and image in association with the charity, while Katherine Jackson, Michael's mom, has become a member of the board of directors to supervise the nonprofit's work.

The litigation complaint filed in court stated that Johnson registered the names or phrases "Michael Jackson,' "King of Pop,' "Thriller,' "Neverland' and other words or phrases with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Those applications, according to the lawsuit, "uniquely and unmistakably point to Mr. Jackson and his persona' and are intended "to cause confusion, mistake and to deceive' the public into believing Johnson's charity has some connection to the pop star.

Attorney John Branca, a personal representative of Jackson's estate, previously said the estate sued in an effort "to be vigilant in protecting Michael's legacy from  unauthorized exploitation and in protecting Michael's fans from being deceived.'

While Jackson did launch his own Heal the World Foundation in 1992, it had no connection to Johnson's organization and became dormant before the singer died of an overdose of prescription drugs in June 2009 at age 50, according to the complaint.

Johnson's foundation is described on its website as "a universal charity organization designed to improve the condition of all mankind.'

Attorney Branca is one of the top entertainment attorneys in the country and helped Michael Jackson purchase the Beatles catalog of publishing rights it owns with Sony which is likely the most valuable asset of the estate. 

See Beverly Hills Courier

US Trust Survey shows Wealthy Boomers plan to enjoy wealth. Less concerned re passing on Inheritance.

althy Baby Boomers keeping Inheritance for themselves. 

A US Trust survey of 457 high-net-wealth individuals with at least $3 million in assets they could invest released Tuesday found 51 percent said it is not important to leave their kids an inheritance.

"These are mainly self-made people," 50 percent of whom said they paid a price in personal relationships and possibly their own health when they made their wealth, US Trust President Keith Banks told CNBC. So they think "I’m going to get a return on that investment for myself, number one, and maybe my children down the road."

Among the study's other findings: 75 percent said their wealth is the result of their own focus and hard work, 52 percent have not fully disclosed their wealth to their children and 55 percent intend to actively volunteer after retirement.

  "This is the 'forever young' generation. So they don’t think like our parents did" that when you hit 65 you relax in Florida, he said. "These are people that are serial entrepreneurs, they’re looking forward to starting new businesses, they want to volunteer, they want leisure time, they want to travel. It’s almost a new beginning for a lot of them. It’s also a way, in their minds, to stay young and feel young."

While nearly all had at least a minimal plan in place most were far from comprehsive planning that they should have been doing to help protect for the long term care of their finances and values. 

Only 3% of the business owners in the survey had a succession plan in place. 

 Also interesting that of the ultra wealthy Bill Gates and Warren Buffet are recruiting to give at least half of their wealth to charity. The article does not really address the issue but it can be more helpful to provide less for the children of the very wealthy. If they have too much they will not feel the need to be productive and work for themselves. Ivanka Trump for example went to a top school and has worked in professional capacity and not merely earned money from being famous or partying. This point is made in the movie Arthur. Although he is wealthy it delays his growing up and he relies to heavily on the family and others to care for him. Funny for a movie but for real life it is sad when a child's ambition is taken away by never needing to work. 

U.S. Trust found that many children of these first-generation wealthy families are not receiving the guidance and support they need to handle either the emotional aspects or financial responsibilities associated with family wealth. Among wealthy parents surveyed:

• Only about one third (34 percent) strongly agree that their children will be able to handle any inheritance they plan to leave them.
• Nearly half (45 percent) do not believe their children will reach a level of financial maturity to handle the family money they will inherit until they are at least 35 years old.
• About half (52 percent) of parents surveyed have not fully disclosed their wealth to their children, and 15 percent have disclosed nothing about the family wealth. When asked why they haven’t, one in three (31 percent) parents said they had never thought to do it.

Other reasons cited were fear that their children would become lazy (24 percent); would make poor decisions (20 percent); would squander money (20 percent); or would be taken advantage of by other people (13 percent).

Though 84 percent of parents think their children would benefit from discussions with a financial professional, nearly six in 10 (59 percent) have never introduced their children to the professionals managing their financial affairs.

 

See Margo Beller - CNBC April 19 Boomer Wealthy saving for themselves

 See also Business Wire.com Info re the US Trust Survey

 

Estate Litigation Rick James estate dispute regarding Digital Royalties v Universal Music.

The Estate of funk and R&B singer Rick James who died in 2004 and was popular in the 70s and 80s best known for the song Super Freak is suing Universal Music Group (UMG) for half of all the digital royalties. 

By Back in 2009, Eminem and his FTB Productions launched a successful $1.3 million lawsuit argument was when his music was sold on iTunes, this fell under the umbrella of licensing and not a regular sale. This meant that all digital profits should be split 50/50, rather than the artist being given a standard sales royalty (around 12 to 15 percent). Eminem lost at the trial court but won on appeal.

The estate litigation is citing the FTB case as precedent for why it should treat digital music sales as a licensing agreement. Further the James estate filed the estate litigation as a class action lawsuit, so that other artists with similar claims could join in the case. 

Universal has claimed that the previous FTB case has no bearing on its digital sales agreements with other artists. James's estate disagrees saying that the FTB case means that Universal now owes money based on that previous lawsuit's outcome. The Estate Litigation says "[UMG] has systematically violated its contractual obligations to plaintiff and other members of the class."

Most modern music contracts clearly state how digital sales will be split Billboard reports. Musicians who agreed on contracts before the rise of iTunes, though will very likely be paying close attention to this estate litigation on behalf of the Rick James estate and others with similar claims. 

Source: Exclaim.ca - Alex Hudson

Probate Attorney Blog among the best. Selected as a top 25 Probate, Estate and Elder Law Blog

As the Florida Probate Attorney and Florida Wills Lawyer writing the Probate Attorney Blog I am honored to have been selected as one of the 25 best probate estate and elder law blogs. 

The full list of the best probate attorney, best estate lawyer and top elder law firm blogs can be seen by clicking here.   

Time Value of Money - $319 Million lottery winners give up about 37% to get upfront payment

The Probate Attorney blog previously discussed the $319 million lottery win in New York. Today just relaying that they could have had $319 million if they had taken an annuity type payment over a period of decades however the winners decided to take a one time lump sum payment which was just over $202 million based on the time value of money. Video of Lottery winners

Since there were 7 winners they will each receive a little over $28.97 million then interesting to note they will end up with about $19.13 million after around another third is taken out for taxes. 

Nice story of Karma as well that while someone cut in front of the winner when they grabbed a Snickers and were about to get the ticket and they did not say anything but just decided to buy whatever the next ticket was and would likely not have won had that not happened. 

Also good to see that at least outwardly the guy who typically participates with them in buying lottery tickets but was not feeling lucky that day so he did not pay the $2 to join the group had a positive attitude and just said it was not his day, he was happy for them and he was going to move on. 

 

Elizabeth Taylor Probate started. Notice to creditors filed with the court. She had a trust from 1998

RadarOnline.com is reporting that Elizabeth Taylor established her trust just four months after a near-death experience at her Bel Air, Calif., home when she suffered a fracture in her lower back.

The Hollywood legend's move was revealed in court papers filed March 25 with the Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Taylor, who died March 23 at age 79, created the trust on June 23, 1998.

The trustees of Taylor's estate, Barbara Berkowitz, Christopher E Wilding and Timothy R Mendelson, told the court creditors must advise them within four months if they'll file any claim. Paul Gordon Hoffman is the attorney for the trustees who filed in probate court. A copy of the notice to creditors can be seen by clicking here.

The creditor period in California is similar to that in Florida than although unknown or creditors who are termed not reasonably acertainable are only given 3 months absent the judge extending the time for good cause shown while in California apparently they are given four months. Creditors for a Florida trust or estate that the trustee/personal representative knows of or should know of need to get actual notice to creditors instead of just publishing notice to creditors which they may not see. They are given the greater of 3 months after publication or 1 month after serving them in Florida. The publication runs once a week for two consecutive weeks in a publication authorized to post legal notices. In California the forms show that the known or reasonably ascertainable creditors get the greater of 4 months after publication or 2 months after actual service. 

With a funded trust the assets do not go through the probate process but in order to run the creditor period a probate is needed to be opened. If the property passes through transfer on death designations it passes outside the trust or estate and entirely avoids the probate process in Florida. If no notice to creditors were given the creditors period runs for two years after the date of death After that term the unsecured creditor claims are barred and the time cannot be extended. 

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  

Michael Jackson's estate settles with probate creditor re Las Vegas home.

Probate cases allow for creditor claims to be either paid, denied or settled. If there are sufficient assets in the estate and the claim is not disputed and a claim is filed within the statutory time frames after publication of notice to creditors or actual service on the creditors. If it is fully disputed as not legit or not recognized for the amount claimed the personal representative can indicate what if any portion of the claim they do not recognize. The creditor then must either abandon the claim or bring an independent action - a lawsuit to enforce the claim. From there the parties can agree on a settlement of the claim and how much will be considered owed or pursue estate litigation in the probate court. 

A homeowner filed a claim against the Michael Jackson estate stating that he had done $234,000 worth of damage to a Las Vegas home then had filed a lawsuit to pursue the claim but the estate and homeowner agreed to an undisclosed settlement. It is merely the latest issue in what has seen a large number of creditor claims and probate litigation. 

 

 

Largest Probate Litigation case ever of $12 Billion ends with Nina Wang's will being ruled a forgery.

Nina Wang’s former feng shui adviser and lover Tony Chan lost a bid for her $12 billion estate, with Hong Kong’s Court of Appeal dismissing his attempt to overturn an earlier ruling that the fortune should go to charity. 

The judge described it as a throughouly dishonest case. Chan was arrested on charges of forgery as a result. He says he will appeal to Hong Kong’s highest court, adding a further chapter to the world’s biggest probate litigation. Chan claimed Wang left him her fortune after a 15-year intimate relationship that began when he was hired to help find her kidnapped husband Teddy, with whom she built the Chinachem Group into one of Hong Kong’s biggest closely held developers.

She had provided a 2002 will leaving her property to charity but then he presented a 2006 will to the court which purported to give him everything but the court found it to be a forged documents and charged him criminally. He has pledged to file an appeal to the highest court.

The 2002 will, which the appeal judges said was indisputably valid, devised the estate to the foundation that she established with her husband,Teddy in 1988. The foundation would award Chinese prizes of worldwide signficance, similar to that of the Nobel Prizes, according to the judgment.

The estate dispute described by the Probate Litigation Attorneys as the world's biggest probate dispute was similar to a will contest Nina Wang had with her father in law regarding her husband Teddy's billions and control of the company. 

Wang had also been arrested during her will contest and probate dispute regarding forgery of her husband's estate for a will she claims he made just prior to the second time he was kidnapped in 1990. The police dropped the charges after the court of Final Appeal ruling.

Wang, died in 2007 at 69 with no children. She married Teddy in 1955 at the age of 18.

The couple turned a Shanghai paint and chemical business, started by Teddy’s father, into a property developer with extremely valuable properties. 

The case is between Chinachem Charitable Foundation Limited and Chan Chun Chuen and the Secretary for Justice, CACV62/2010 in the Hong Kong High Court of Appeal.

The prior courts opinion can be found here.

source Kelvin Wong and Debra Mao Nina Wangs ex lover loses bid for 12 Billion dollar estate. 

 

US Millionaires do not feel wealthy

More than forty percent of American Millionaires do not feel rich. The Fidelity Investments survey 

shows that many would need at least $7.5 million to feel rich. 

Those involved in the survey needed at least $1m in investable assets excluding real estate or retirement accounts. 

"Every person in the survey is wealthy," said Sanjiv Mirchandani, president of National Financial, a unit of Fidelity. "But they are still worried about outliving their assets."

The average age of respondents was 56 years old with a mean of $3.5 million of investable assets. The threshold for "rich" rose with age.

"They compare themselves to their peer group ... and they are also thinking about the long period they will have in retirement and want more assets" to fund their lifestyle, said Michael Durbin, president of Fidelity Institutional Wealth Services.

Still, millionaires are slightly more optimistic now than they were in 2009, when 46 percent did not feel wealthy.

Most of those surveyed were optimistic about the U.S. economy. While they thought the current U.S. economy remained very weak, they think it will improve by the end of this year.

Fidelity noted the wealthiest 5 percent of Americans hold more than 55 percent of the nation's wealth.

See Helen Kearney  US Millionaires say $7 million not enough to be rich. 

 

Elizabeth Edwards will excludes husband provides for children.

The Wife of former Democratic Vice Presidential Nominee and Presidential Candidate John Edwards was released today and showed that she provided for her children to share equally in her estate. She did not provide anything for her husband who she separated from but never divorced following his admission of infidelity and fathering another woman's child. In North Carolina as in Florida and most states a spouse has an elective share which means if they are not provided to a certain extent in the will they can elect to take a certain portion such as 30% (in Florida) regardless of what the will says. Some states this can be as high as half of the estate. Given John's wealth and public relations though it is extremely unlikely that he would make this election to not have his wife's wishes respected which would also essentially take money from their children. Additionally the will was written just days prior to her death from cancer so if the facts were different where it was not going to his children otherwise or he did not worry about the bad public relations he could potentially challenge the lack of mental capacity at the time she executed the will. If she failed to have mental capacity at the time it could be considered invalid. 

See Huffington Post - January 5 Elizabeth Edwards Will Released

 

Dennis Hopper Estate rejects wife Victoria's $45 Million dollar claim.

TMZ reports that she had filed a claim for over $45 million which the court rejected but indicated their child will be provided for and she could seek some money if she showed that some property was hers and provided documentation but they checked a box saying they agreed to give her $0 and rejected over $45m. Shortly prior to his passing and since the estate and he have had disputes with her regarding a number of issues and estate litigation and probate disputes are likely going to continue for a while. 

Lawsuits against Mark Madoff will continue against his estate now that he is dead.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Irving Pickard will continue the lawsuit against Mark Madoff seeking return of money from him and his family despite his suicide. He will now sue the estate of Mark Madoff. 

Mark Madoff son of convicted ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff killed himself today

The Wall Street Journal reported today that he emailed his wife who was staying with their older child in Florida at the moment that they should look in on their 2 year old who was at the home with him and his father in law went to the home and found that he had used the dog leash to hang himself. 

He was 46 years old. Today - December 11 2010 was 2 years since his fathers arrest. He had not been criminally charged yet although himself, his brother and Bernie's brother among others were being criminal investigated and the trustee pursuing the case of getting the money back for the victims Irving Pickard had civilly sued the children and brother seeking millions returned. Bloomberg news  reported that Mark Madoff  was accused of using $66 million he received improperly to buy luxury homes in New York City, Nantucket and Connecticut. 

Adding to pressure on Mark was the November 18 arrest of Annette Bongiorao a longtime aid of Bernie who was being sought to cooperate telling what she knew about the sons and others closely involved in the business.  It is argued that while the trading desk the sons ran which was legit was also part of the fraudulent part of the business that is at the center of the ponzi scheme and they operated as one business. The manual said that when Bernie was not available that the sons were to see that policies were properly carried out. 

 

Will Contest involving manager of the sex pistols. Lack of capacity claimed.

Malcolm Mclaren died in April of 2010. He had been the manager of the punk / alternative rock group the Sex Pistols and other bands, a performer, and businessman in the United Kingdom where he will be buried.  

He had a rocky and relatively absent relationship from his son Joe Corre although Joe was at his side upon his passing. Joe was not even given his name as he was unwanted and Joe's mom was told to have an abortion since Malcom did not want to be a father or think he would be a good one and his mother did not care for Viviene Westwood who would become a punk fashion designer and businesswoman and gave her money to abort who changed her mind on the way there then they named the child after his mother as a joke. 

For most of their lives they did not have much to do with one another according to articles although at times that changed. 

Malcom was in his 60s and had a girlfriend who was in her 30s that he was with for 12 years and lived with for 9. He did a deathbed will to provide for her. However his mental capacity while he was in the hospital dying of cancer was questionable and he had no prior wills so if that will was the product of undue influence it would pass intestacy which meant the girlfriend would receive nothing in his sole name without a beneficiary designation and it would pass to his son regardless of his intent. 

Joe Corre is a millionaire himself having been a part founder of agent provocateur a lingerie company but said he felt an obligation to bring the will contest and make it known whether his dad had capacity at the time the will was made. He said he was also acting on behalf of Malcom's brother who was also interested. 

A will can leave a persons property to anybody they want for any reason they want. However the person who makes the will must be of legal age being 18 or an emancipated minor, have the document properly executed for example 2 witnesses and a notary with the testator signing then the others watching them do so and being there and each paying attention to the others signing and witnessing. They must also be free of undue influence where another pressures them to make provisions they would not have otherwise have done and have mental capacity. 

While mental capacity also known as testamentary capacity is a reasonably low standard the will can be successful. The person must know who the natural object of their bounty are (their heirs such as their children) the approximate or general extent of the property in their estate not thinking they have $10 if they are a millionaire, able to understand their actions and its effect on their estate plan and related issues. 

While this case is outside the US the lesson is the same as if it would be in Florida that people should designate who they want to receive their property and if they do not have beneficiary designations hold property jointly with right of survivorship or provide early enough in their wills when they clearly have capacity it allow an opening for others to challenge the capacity and validity of the will. The state or country will decide who gets his property through intestacy if it is determined that there was no capacity. 

See Daily Mail UK Alison Boshoff September 17 2010

Manager of Sex Pistols will is contested.

$14.3 million dollar Lottery winner blows money and returns to garbage collector

      
 
 

Michael Carroll was a trash collector in 2002. He then won the equivalent of $14.3 million dollars. Sadly this turned out to be a curse as many prior lottery winners have found. He developed a problem with drugs which caused his wife and daughter to leave him. He then continued with drugs and extensive parties. To keep him company after his wife left he hired around 2,000 prostitutes as many as 4 different ones a day. He had to declare bankruptcy after several problems with the drugs, paying to be with woman, spending large amounts on cars and bad business deals. He is now happy to be returning to work as a garbage man and just $300 a week. He said it is a lot easier to live with that amount of money than being a millionaire and that when he was very young and rich having won at just 19 a lot of vultures came out and they enjoyed the situation far more than he did. He is just happy to have it over. 

See Tom Barlow Wallet Pop June 2010 Lottery winner blows over 14 million in just 8 years

reporting a story from Daily Mail 

98 year old frugal woman left $4.5 million to her hometown.

Yahoo News reported about the 98 year old frugal millionaire Verna Ollner who recently passed away in the small town of Long Beach Washington. She had never gone to get her hair cut doing it herself instead. Did not buy new clothes but went to the thrift store and chopped her own firewood into her 90s. She also had a low paying hourly job into her 70s then retired and no formal education but what many did not know is she had been a great investor and as a result died with an estate of $4.5 million dollars. She wanted to provide for her town and had directed in her estate planning that the first pool that the town will ever have for the public be built and that the remainder of the funds be used for local scholarships for students and grants for teachers.

A link to the few minute vide can be found by clicking on below

Frugal Millionaire Leaves fortune to hometown.

Charity Lunch with Warren Buffett goes for over $2.6 million.

 
CNBC reports that the annual lunch with Warren Buffett to raise money for charity set another record this year. Each year he agrees to have lunch with someone and up to 7 of their friends to help raise money for charity. A charity named Glide that is in San Francisco and helps fight poverty in the area is the beneficiary. Previous lunches began with much more modest winning bids with 2001 for example being only around 18,000 but this year someone who does not want their name disclosed agreed to pay nearly $2.63 million for the lunch. As an investing guru and running Berkshire Hathaway over the years Warren Buffett has developed a net worth of tens of billions of dollars and is the 3rd richest person in the world this year. Although as previously mentioned still lives a modest lifestyle living in a home he bought for just $31,500 over 50 years ago.

See CNBC Alex Crippin June 12, 2010 Charity Lunch with Buffett sets record.

Gary Coleman Will

TMZ.com reported of Gary Coleman's will it provides that he wanted to be cremated and have a wake organized by those with no financial interests in him and he specifically requests that the media not be permitted to attend. He leaves all of his property to the Millennium Edge Trust. The document can be seen by clicking the link Gary Coleman's will 

His former agent and friend was named as the Personal Representative. It was a very short will just one page plus the 2nd page having the witnesses and notary and was done back in 1999. 

The court was petitioned to immediately appoint the PR so he could speak to the funeral home and the attorney pointed out that his ex wife had taken property from the home that had not been inventoried yet or scheduled to pass to her. 

Murder Suspects Dad opens Probate case - sisters of deceased plans to contest the will.

 
TMZ.com reported tonight that David Beresford-Redman has petitioned the probate court to open the probate case and validate the will of his murdered daughter-in-law. 

The probate petitioner his son Bruce Beresford-Redman is now charged with the murder of Monica -- is named in Monica's 2008 will as an executor of her estate also known as the personal representative of her probate estate.  

Monica's sisters have said they will challenge the validity of the will.

Under the will, David and his wife Juanita would inherit Monica's interest in a house she owns.  The remaining property goes to Bruce.

As previously reported by Probate Attorney Blog.com in Florida if a person is merely proved to have more likely than not intentionally and unlawfully brought about the death of another they are unable to inherit anything from the estate. However in California where the will contest is going to occur and the probate case was filed in the LA Superior Court Probate Division the standard is higher and requires a felony so there likely needs to be a conviction although it appears that the sisters are going to seek to contest the provisions going to the father as well or his being personal representative. As far as personal representative the position may be to argue whether he could be fair and impartial as the son is the primary beneficiary currently but that will be challenged but the provisions to him should pass to him unless either he was involved with the murder in some way which seems highly unlikely or there is another legal claim. She had mental capacity though and undue influence is not often made for a case of a woman of her age. While the evidence has appeared to show that the son likely did murder her and he will not receive his share if that is proven to be the case while the writer of this blog is a Florida Probate Attorney and not licensed to practice law in California most slayer statutes do not bar relatives of the slayer who are named in the document and had nothing to do with the wrongful act from inheriting so it will be interesting to see what the legal arguments are in this case. The father had told the children that their mom died in a car crash when they got them as temporary guardians instead of telling them the truth than barred them from going to the funeral and there is likely to also be continuing guardianship litigation regarding who gets the children and what is in their best interests given how their mom passed.

See June 4 2010 TMZ Murder Suspects Dad Opens Probate Case

John Wayne Estate Litigation - Kids Duke it out in Probate Court

 

TMZ.com reported today that the actor John Wayne's family is battling over the millions in his estate. His daughter Aissa Wayne wants to sell her share of the estate and another child Ethan Wayne will buy her out but needs to come up with a fair market price to do so. They are unable to agree on what that is. 

He says $10,704,000 while she says 15,400,000. The case is being heard in LA County Superior Court. 

There have been quite a few celebrity Probate Litigation, Will Contests, and Trust Disputes recently in the LA County Superior Court Probate Division. 

See June 4, 2010 TMZ John Wayne's Kids Duking it Out over Estate. 

Trust Distribution terms for Jackson children made public

 
 TMZ Photo Jackson children

It had previously been announced that the children of Michael Jackson will receive 40% of his estate with his mom receiving 40% and charity receiving 20% share. However a more complete and accurate description of the children's beneficiary rights were made public. The 40% share with Kathryn Jackson will receive is an income only interest for her life. The principle will pass on the children after her passing. 

The children will each receive their share 1/3 at 30 1/2 of the remainder at 35 years of age and the rest at the age of 40. This is relatively standard for trust distribution ages. 

See TMZ May 30 2010 Michael Jackson's Trust Lacks Trust in Kids. 

Two richest Presidents wealth came from Inheritance. They were President Washington and JFK.

 

The Atlantic had an interesting article about the wealth of those who have served as US Presidents. 

They computed the net worth in 2010 terms and determined George Washington to be the richest President ever reaching $525 million. This was from a study from 24/7 Wall Street  President Washington had vast amounts of land. He had little prior to marriage but his wife Martha had married a much older and very wealth man who died young and she inherited his fortune which George then controlled and built upon. 

James Madison owned 5,000 acres of land. 

President Washington received a salary of 2% of the US Budget in 1789. 

President John F. Kennedy became the second richest president ever through inheritance from his parents. 

Other interesting facts from their study Richard Nixon made more money for the interviews with David Frost which later became a movie than he had during his entire term in office. 

The first dozen Presidents tended to be very well off but tied to commodity speculation and real estate and were not entirely stable figures with James Madison for example reaching $100 million than seeing significant depreciation. 

Then there was a depression in 1837 for 6 years 

For the full article see The Atlantic May 18 2010 Derek Thompson 

Who was the richest President?

Frugal Billionaires

 

As a Forbes article points out billionaires are often perceived as driving new Ferrari's and Bentley's, living in Mansions, and flying in private planes. However some multi billionaire who could easily do all of that and more are instead quite frugal. Among the Billionaires they mentioned one cuts their own hair and rides his bicycle 14 miles to work every day. 

Among other multi billionaires Warren Buffet worth around $50 Billion still lives in the same house he paid just $31,500 for around 50 years ago. 

Jim Walton worth around $21 Billion in 2010. As of the time of the article he was driving a 15 year Dodge Dakota pickup truck. The founder of Ikea (selling affordable furniture) also was driving a 15 year old car - a Volvo and worth $33B when the article was written. 

For more Information and frugal billionaires See Forbes.com article by Asher Hawkins 11-14-07  Frugal Billionaires

Probate Litigation, Estate Dispute and Will Contest on tonight show last night.

 

I saw part of a Charles Barkley interview last night and was expecting obviously to hear about the NBA and not a topic that would be appropriate for the ProbateAttorneyBlog.com  but surprisingly the towards the start of the interview Estate Litigation came up. Jay Leno commented about his weight loss and he responded that he just had his annual physical and was told that he was 100 pounds over weight and needed to lose a lot of weight or he would die early. Barkley followed up that with all the money that he has he could not die since there would then be serious fighting over his will and all the property that he has in his estate so he is committed to losing 80 pounds so he could stay alive and prevent his beneficiaries from having a family fight disputing the property in his estate. 

Advanced Estate Planning Seminar - Estate Planning Attorneys NBI online seminar

The National Business Institute is having an online seminar with some nationally known estate planning attorneys June 30 with the topic being advanced estate planning techniques. To RSVP or for more info call 800 930-6182. 

Flyer for 22nd Annual Advanced Estate Planning Techniques webcast

Their description of the estate planning seminar is below. 

Make better use of IDITs with practical tips from seasoned attorneys.

Review the most common personal insurance planning mistakes and learn how to prevent and/or correct them.

Delve into the benefits of lifetime and testamentary charitable giving and allow clients to prudently plan - while helping others.

Master Chapter 14 rules: learn how they affect planning and explore generation skipping planning so you can advise clients on all their options.

Safeguard your clients' estates by understanding fractional and pecuniary amount formulas.

Protect the person closest to your client by exploring spousal beneficiaries and spousal rollovers of retirement assets.

Take a detailed look at how a qualified personal residence trust can preserve assets.

Help your clients carry on their legacies through the use of dynasty trusts.

 

Probate Court hears Strange Life Insurance Request in Survivor Murder.

Probate Attorney Blog previously wrote a blog post about the former survivor producer whose wife was murdered while on a family vacation in Mexico and trying to reconcile with her husband. The Prior post from the Probate Attorney blog can be found here. 

An development just came up in the context of her sister opposing his parents being permanent guardians of their children and which could potentially have an impact on his right to serve as personal representative if a probate were to be opened. As previously mentioned though in California where they were domiciled a felony is required in order to be unable to inherit while in Florida it is merely the greater weight of the evidence similar to the difference between the criminal not guilty burden from the OJ case with the civil wrongful death verdict which found him liable. 

The murdered wife had told the nanny just days before they had gone to Mexico that the husband had asked that life insurance be taken out on her life prior to the trip and the children be named as the beneficiaries and that she found it strange as they had never taken any similar steps for prior trips. See TMZ Strange Life Insurance Request in "Survivor" murder  

Following Probate and Trust Litigation defeats Anna Nicole Smith's possessions being sold off

When Anna Nicole Smith died in Hollywood Florida in February of 2007 and the highly publicized funeral trial was presided over by Broward County Probate Judge at the time Larry Seidlin it was believed that her daughter and sole beneficiary of her estate would be a multi millionaire. Anna Nicole had been awarded multi millions in a long running trust and estate litigation through probate and several other courts since the passing of her billionaire elderly deceased husband. However as the most recent court held that her estate would not get a penny from that probate dispute and the trust and estate litigation would end with a total loss for her estate her daughters father now is selling some of her property to provide for her financial security in the future. He points out that they have enough to get by on but that she needs private schools, extra security and has other expenses beyond a typical child so he is seeking to get additional money to set aside in a trust for their child. Also some of it will go to charity which she set up after her son passed away. 

The ABC news article about what Larry Birkhead is doing to provide for their daughter (and charity) following the Estate Litigation defeat click here.

Supreme Court nominee appointed

The next nominee for the US Supreme Court Will be solicitor general and former Harvard Law School Dean Elena Kagan. 

If the Anna Nicole Smith Probate Litigation and Trust Dispute case returns to the Supreme Court next term or any other contested estate related claim reaches the Supreme Court if confirmed she would be one of the 9 justices presiding over the case. The court does not receive many trust and estate cases although a related one is likely to come before the court in what would be her lifetime tenure regarding whether there is a constitutional right to gay marriage. If there was a person who died intestate while with their partner would pass as if they were married in the same way that an estate now passes when a typical spouse passes away. Florida law does not recognize gay marriages from an inheritance rights perspective or for Florida intestate succession although if the Supreme Court found that there was a federal legal right and states could not prevent that it would have a significant impact on estate planning and probate estates in Florida and throughout the country. 

As a 50 year old woman when she likely is appointed it will be a lifetime appointment so she could serve up to 4 decades on the court so there would be trust and estate disputes which come before her during that time and other estate related issues. One other related issue which may arise in the near future would be whether the estate tax could be retroactively revised for 2010 if the government sought to do so. As the year progresses without action it is appearing less likely it will occur although it has been a hotly discussed issue of whether is no tax as there currently is none for estate tax whether it could be revived retroactively.  

For a Wall Street Journal article about her with her voicing her opinions on the issues see Ashby Jones May 10 Elana Kagan, in her own words.  

Here is a link to a 2 minute video and article of various news stations discussing the selection from Politico.com  Click the video button on the left of the screen to see the video. 

 
 

Estate Sells Car for up to $40 Million.

Dr. Peter Williamson died as a very wealthy man with a significant car collection. The of supply and demand made the one his estate just sold by far the most valuable. The car is a 1936 Bugatti type 57SC Atlantic and there were only 3 ever made. Only 2 of them remain in existence and Ralph Lauren owns the other. While the identity and exact amount of the estate sale are not known reports indicate it sold for between $30 Million and $40 Million dollars reaching a significantly higher value than the prior record of $12.2 Million that a 1957 Ferrari 250 Testarossa had sold for in Italy in May of 2009. The car was sold by an auction house Gooding and Company during an estate sale. It had been in the trust estate of the doctor and was being sold in order to distribute shares to the beneficiaries now. 

See Dan Neil Wall Street Journal May 4 2010 The World's most expensive car sold.  

 

Probate Slayer statute

 

Monica Burgos Beresford Redman the wife of a guy who had been a producer for the show Survivor and other shows her will has now been filed with California probate court as TMZ reports. Link for a copy of her will. It leaves all her property to her husband and names him as the personal representative. It also mentions one child as it was prepared in 2004 although they had 2 children at the time of her passing. 

This raises the issue of a pre termitted child. Most states have a statute which states what would happen if a child is born after the will is prepared. Since I am not a California Probate Attorney and this blog focuses on Florida Probate Law and Florida Will Law I will mention that in Florida it is Florida statute 732.302 which would control. Basically the child gets an intestate share regardless of what the will says unless it appears that it was intentional they were not provided for or there were one or more children at the time of the will and substantially all of the property was left to the parent of the pre termitted child. Although she had left all her property to the father of such child it will be interesting to see as they may receive everything. If he were to be convicted of killing his wife he would not be entitled to receive anything and would be treated as pre deceased so it would all pass to the children with her someone else looking out for the children's property while they are minors. 

Currently he is a "person of interest" and has not been charged or arrested with anything. However she was found in a sewer nearby where they were staying on their vacation having appeared to have been strangled. Emails that a close friend of his wife sold to an online website Radar Online and which had been given to authorities by her mom purport to show that he was having a long term affair and that he was only happy with his mistress so he would leave the family for her. Another website reported that she had taken out a lot of money from joint bank accounts shortly before the trip. While entitled to presumption of innocence authorities had prevented him from leaving the country for a while and have been closely investigating his involvement the kids had been staying with her sister but then were temporarily given to his parents.  

As the LA Times mentions he seen violently and loudly arguing with his wife shortly prior to her death then had scratch marks on his arms when seen just after she was found strangled during which she likely would have scratched the attacker. 

An interesting distinction in California Probate Law code section 250 it says A person who feloniously and intentionally kills the decedent is not entitled to any property interest or benefit under a will of the decedent. The code also prohibits any killer to serve as executor or personal representative as they are known for Florida probate purposes or as a trustee. For this case the California statute will apply. Unless he were convicted of a felony he will receive his share of the probate estate and any survivorship rights pursuant to California law. 

For Florida Probate cases however section 732.802 of the Florida Probate Code would control. 

Unlike in California a felony is not required. It merely requires a finding that by a greater weight of the evidence the person unlawfully and intentionally killed or participated in procuring the death of decedent. If so they are treated as pre deceased and not entitled to anything under of the will or trust or anything that would pass by right of survivorship or similar manner. 

Michael Jackson Probate Estate another $40m+ claim denied

The Probate Attorneys in the Michael Jackson estate have denied a $44 million dollar creditor claim  entirely. His publicist/manager/friend Raymone Bain had filed for back wages and profit sharing. 

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. 

Will Contest - Undue Influence and lack of capacity alleged in change of Billionaire Melvin Simon's estate and trust.

Melvin Simon was around the top 300 richest people in the Forbes 400 (# 278 when he was 79 years old). He died around 82 years of age. His estate was worth around $1.3 billion dollars.  

Dana Hunsinger of the Indystar.com provided an update of the probate and trust litigation. The judge dismissed part of the case in which his daughter Deborah Simon stated fraud as the claim but was not specific enough in nature. It is allowed it to be refiled. The Probate court Judge failed to dismiss the estate dispute claims against her stepmom Bren Simon which argued undue influence and lack of mental capacity.

While I am not familar with Indiana Probate case law or statutes in Florida can't really merely rely on presumptions to prove an undue influence case against a spouse however she appears to be seeking to prove it directly and using evidence of lack of capacity or diminished capacity.

She indicates that not only were the documents changed just months before he died and was a significant change from prior wills which then gave her stepmom hundreds of millions more while vastly reducing what was going to charity or to herself and her siblings she also indicated that her father Billionaire Mel Simon was suffering from significant neurological problems at the time which impaired his memory, understanding and communication. It is undisputed that he had difficulty even signing the documents although his spouse Bren says that is from Parkinsons and that he signed freely, voluntarily and knowingly.

As I tell clients who inquire about Florida Probate Litigation Information a person can leave there property to anybody they want for any reason they want. However, that is subject to them having mental capacity and there not being evidence of undue influence that they were coerced into doing so and the result was the other persons influence and not their own. The article does not provide many details of undue influence although based on the time line and the capacity issue along with the large change in disposition it seems questionable that he even formed an intent to change the document and undue influence is often combined with diminished capacity which was clearly present here so this will be an interest case to see where it goes. When discussing a potential challenge to contest a will or trust and dispute the intent I do like to see some of the facts that Deborah appears to have here he had a previous plan which she was provided significantly more for, then there is the alegation of significant neuroglogical problems and he was not even able to sign and he was somewhat elderly as well as died just months after signing the document so the timeline looks good. The facts will need to be established to prove the case though was it his intent to provide more for his spouse and did he know what he was doing and act voluntarily will ultimately decide the issue. However with this much money involved and a reasonably good timeline but with it being the spouse and difficult to win unless they can do so on the capacity issue or have direct facts proving undue influence they should settle it would seem in both sides best interests. While sometimes principle is important and it may be worth fighting until the end in a case like this both sides can be sufficiently provided for in a settlement and factoring in the time and saved expense in court costs and attorneys fees it may be a smart move. Anna Nicole Smith estate suing the estate of her deceased billionaire husband and opposed by the estate of his son shows how extended cases of this size can become if each side has a fight to the death mentality. All the initial participants literally did in that case and it is still going on after 15+ years and numerous appearances in multiple different types of courts. She has been awarded $474.5 million around around 89 million and most recently nothing but her side has said they may seek to be heard a second time by the US Supreme Court on a different issue.

On a final note back to the Melvin Simon case it is best that his daughter brings the challenge regarding lack of capacity or diminished capacity and potential undue influence since frequently talking with and seeing her father she could likely present any facts which existed to the court more easily than a charity who may not have had much contact with him. However if a representative of the charity were to know of his condition at the time of execution and chose to join the suit they would be an interested party given the millions of dollars less they would be receiving under the revised will and trust.

Warren Buffet $10k invested for 45 years would be worth $80 Million

Given the track record of Warren Buffet and Berkshire Hathaway no wonder he is one of the World's richest and allowed others to build vast wealth and leave behind nice inheritances for their loved ones.

As MSN.com reported $10,000 invested with Warren Buffet for 45 years now worth $80 Million If a person had invested $10,000 on October 1 1964 (equivalent of $60,000 in todays dollars) it would now be worth $80,000,000. Annualized 20% compounded gain a year.

Only two mutual funds are anywhere close with Fidelity Magellan Fund having a return of 16.3% and Templeton 13.4%. However the difference in returns is substantial that gain on Fidelity would still be impressive but $9 million instead of $80 while the Templeton gain being $2.9. Shows the time value of money and value of compounding gains. Also by comparison the S&P 500 had the same investment been made in it would have returned $560,000.

Buffet has preached low turnover of stocks with a buy and hold mentality and has expressed the idea of being fearful when others are greedy and being greedy when others are in fear in order to get the best values.