One common thread running throughout this blog since its inception has been the issue of competency, i.e., the ability of a person to make informed decisions. Conflicts often arise when ill or elderly people are claimed to have made signficant decisions regarding disposition of their property shortly before they died—sometimes the decision will be legitimate, the culmination of some long, thought-out [...]
Archive for the ‘Will contests’ Category
Arkansas Court Of Appeals Rejects Cousin’s Attempt To Set Aside Gifts To The Decedent’s “Yardman”
Posted in Interpretation of wills/trusts, Powers of attorney, Recent Arkansas appeals, Rights of beneficiaries, Will contests, tagged competency, deceased, impairment, incompetent, mental capacity, power of attorney, quitclaim deed, revocable trust, undue influence, will on March 13, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Court Rules Testator Was Not Under Insane Delusions When He Revoked His Will
Posted in Interpretation of wills/trusts, Recent Arkansas appeals, Rights of beneficiaries, Will contests, tagged Arkansas lawyer, intestacy, intestate, revocation, revoke, will, will contest on February 25, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
It has been estimated that well over 1/2 of all Americans do not have a will. I personally know many attorneys that do not even have a will, even though virtually every Arkansas lawyer passed a bar examination covering wills and trusts and more than likely also took a decedents’ estates class in law school. Whether [...]
Court Rules Handwritten Note Found By Deceased’s Mother Did Not Result In Change Of IRA Beneficiary
Posted in In the news, Interpretation of wills/trusts, Recent Arkansas appeals, Rights of beneficiaries, Will contests, tagged arkansas, Court of Appeals, handwritten, holographic, IRA, will on February 11, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
As previously discussed on this Blog, a common fact scenario in estate, trust and probate lawsuits involves an eleventh-hour change in a dying person’s final wishes regarding their property. Quite often the last-minute decision appears legitimate, although occasionally there is an aura of suspicious facts and circumstances surrounding the event which arises to the level of an “inheritance theft.” [...]
Billionaire’s Former Lover’s Shenanigans Fail In Will Contest
Posted in In the news, Interpretation of wills/trusts, Misappropriation of assets, Will contests, tagged arkansas, executor, fiduciary, Nina Wang, Tony Chan, trustee, will contest on February 7, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Most estate and trust conflicts for which our law firm is retained, either to represent the fiduciary (executor, trustee, etc.) or the beneficiary to whom the fiduciary duty is owed, involve anywhere from several hundred thousand dollars to several million dollars. The fact is that the substantial time and expense associated with litigating smaller amounts in dispute can often [...]
UPDATED: Dispute Erupts Over Wealth Of Deceased Billionaire Shopping Mall Developer
Posted in Duties of executors, In the news, Interpretation of wills/trusts, Misappropriation of assets, Rights of beneficiaries, Will contests, tagged Baby Boomer, Bren Simon, Central Arkansas, Melvin Simon, Park Plaza Mall, Parkinson's, shopping mall, Simon Property Group, trust, University Mall, Wall Street Journal, wealth war, will on January 29, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Pretty much anyone who has lived in Central Arkansas over the last few decades has been aware of if not actually visited University Mall in Little Rock’s midtown area. While it used to be the hot spot for shopping many moons ago, in more recent years it became better known for its empty stores and the litigation that resulted from disputes [...]
Arkansas Court Of Appeals Affirms Trial Court’s Ruling In Will Contest
Posted in Recent Arkansas appeals, Will contests, tagged appeal, Arkansas Supreme Court, Crawford County, will contest on December 12, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Earlier this month the Arkansas Court of Appeals ruled in an appeal from the Crawford County Circuit Court that the trial judge did not err in denying a motion to dismiss and finding that the statutory formalities for execution of a will had been satisfied. Specifically, in Baxter v. Peters, No. CA 09-594, a dispute arose between [...]
Videotaping As Possible Way To Preclude Estate, Trust & Probate Litigation
Posted in In the news, Interpretation of wills/trusts, Will contests, tagged beneficiary, conflict of interest, estate, estate planning, Michael Keaton, My Life, Nicole Kidman, trust, Wall Street Journal, will on December 8, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
You may remember a movie from 15 or so years ago called “My Life,” starring Michael Keaton and Nicole Kidman, in which a terminally ill man films a video for his unborn child to watch after the man passes away after a fight with cancer. The father essentially wanted the child to know who the father [...]
New Book And Television Series Coming Out About Estate, Trust & Probate Battles
Posted in Breach of fiduciary duties, In the news, Misappropriation of assets, Rights of beneficiaries, Will contests, tagged book, conspiracy, documents, estate, fortune, fraud, lawsuit, money, movie, probate, prominent, television, Trial And Heirs, trust, TV on December 3, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The estate, trust, and probate disputes and lawsuits that one reads about in the newspapers and which we commonly see in our law practice can seem like a television or movie drama. Common threads running through these battles frequently include prominent characters in the community, tales of large sums of money flying around, allegations of complex conspiracies, questions regarding [...]
Avoiding Estate, Trust & Probate Litigation
Posted in Accounting actions, Breach of fiduciary duties, Duties of executors, Duties of trustees, In the news, Interpretation of wills/trusts, Misappropriation of assets, Rights of beneficiaries, Self-dealing, Will contests, tagged Abraham Lincoln, beneficiaries, bypass, distribution, estate litigation, estate planning, fraud, intentions, no-contest, probate litigation, surprise, trust department, trust litigation, trusts, U.S. News, undue influence on November 30, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Since one of my areas of practice is estate, trust & probate litigation, it is obviously not in my economic self-interest to counsel against getting involved in this type of litigation in the first place. However, first and foremost is a lawyer’s duty to his or her client, which while sometimes involves filing or defending a [...]
