Will and trust contests continue to produce interesting stories, whether among the rich or the ordinary. This past February, a judge in Hong Kong ruled that the estate of billionaire Nina Wang will not go to her feng shui consultant but to the charitable foundation she and her husband Teddy…
The Illinois Supreme Court recently held that a Jewish couple’s wish to disinherit any of their grandchildren that married outside their faith was lawful. The particular will had provided that upon the death of the surviving Trustor, if any grandchild had married outside the Jewish faith, their non-Jewish spouse had…
There are many reasons why a will or a trust may be challenged and set aside as invalid. Here are some of the more common grounds to contest someone’s will or trust. 1. Coercion – If someone coerces the testator (the person creating the will or trust) to make changes…
In the estate planning world we used the term “fiduciary” a lot. Trustees, administrators, executors, and agents under a power of attorney are all “fiduciaries”. What does that term mean? A fiduciary is an individual who undertakes to act for and on behalf of another in a particular matter. A…
A family allowance is a amount of money which the Probate Court can order the estate of a decedent to pay to persons who the decedent was obligated to support or who the decedent was in fact supporting at the time of his death. Priority goes to family members such…
Modern technology has altered many things in our society. Can technology improve the area of estate planning? How about an electronic or video will or trust? A client recently contacted our office to ask if he could videotape his father who was in failing health explaining orally how he wanted…
In the 1950’s there was a TV program called “The Millionaire” where an anonymous millionaire gave away a million dollars each week to people he never met. The money was conditioned on the donee not revealing how he got the money or how much he received. I guess no one…
With the recent downturn in the economy, San Diego has been one of the hardest hit with declining property values and unemployment. According to the Feds, the states in a full recession are California, Florida, Arizona, and Nevada. California has reached 11%unemployment and San Diego is in the top five…
Many wills and trusts include language to deter future disputes or contests over the provisions of the will or trust. These “no contest” clauses typically provide that if someone challenges the validity of a will or trust, they take nothing under the instrument. As an example, suppose a parent has…
This blog entry is the first in a series of blogs about probate, what is is, who is involved, how long does it take, and what does it cost. Estate planning lawyers use a lot of terms in probate that most laymen do not know the meaning of unless they…