This week’s issue of the Arkansas Times contains a sad but fascinating story written by Mara Leveritt, who is well-known for her writing about so-called “true crime,” including but not limited to her book about the West Memphis Three, Devil’s Knot. Specifically, Ms. Leveritt tells the tale of an older gentleman living in Washington state whose trust assets were [...]
Posts Tagged ‘undue influence’
“Murder, Fraud, $2.2 Million Somewhere”
Posted in In the news, Misappropriation of assets, tagged arkansas, fraud, lawsuit, litigation, trust, undue influence on August 5, 2011 |
Stealing From Grandma And Grandpa—Inheritance Theft
Posted in Breach of fiduciary duties, Duties of executors, Duties of trustees, Misappropriation of assets, Powers of attorney, Rights of beneficiaries, Self-dealing, tagged accountant, attorney, Bob Sullivan, elder abuse, elder financial abuse, Elder Justice Act, elder law attorney, elder theft, financial abuse, financial exploitation, Huguette Clark, power of attorney, undue influence on August 28, 2010 |
A recent lengthy but interesting series of stories (Part I and Part II) on the odd heiress, Huguette Clark, appeared to prompt a good article yesterday from Bob Sullivan, who covers Internet scams and consumer fraud for msnbc.com. Mr. Sullivan’s posting focuses upon allegations and situations involving elder financial abuse, which is a significant portion of my own law practice. I suggest that you read the [...]
Arkansas Court Of Appeals Rules Dying Woman Not Competent To Execute Deed
Posted in Breach of fiduciary duties, Misappropriation of assets, Recent Arkansas appeals, Rights of beneficiaries, tagged competent, confidential, deed, duress, incapacity, invalid, mentally impaired, Pulaski County, trust, undue influence on May 2, 2010 |
Sorry for no posts as of late—I’ve been tied up preparing for, and then engaged in, a lengthy trust litigation case in which the jury, after a 6 day trial in Pulaski County Circuit Court, returned a significant verdict for our clients. I’m just now trying to catch up on other work, but hope to resume regularly [...]
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 |
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 [...]
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 |
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 [...]
