News & Analysis as of

Appeals › Inheritance › Trusts

Lathrop GPM

Minnesota Appeals Court Rules on Property Disclaimers - An Unheralded But Key Estate Planning Tool

Lathrop GPM on

On April 28, 2025, the Minnesota Court of Appeals issued its opinion in In re Estate of Bogren. The court addressed a matter of first impression in Minnesota – whether a disclaimer of property must clearly state the value of...more

Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani

Kositzka v. Fick: Key Lessons on Trustee Fiduciary Duty in Virginia Trusts

Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani on

In a recent decision, the Court of Appeals of Virginia upheld a lower court’s ruling that Kositzka, Wicks and Company (KWC) breached its fiduciary duty to Edward Joseph Ryan, awarding his estate $999,050 in damages, attorney...more

Downey Brand LLP

Daughter Liable for Interfering with Stepmother’s Inheritance

Downey Brand LLP on

Intentional interference with expected inheritance (IIEI) was recognized as a legal claim in California about eight years ago in Beckwith v. Dahl (2012) 205 Cal.App.4th 1039. Last week, the Court of Appeal issued the first...more

Downey Brand LLP

Showdown at the O.K. Corral – The Battle of the Omitted Heirs

Downey Brand LLP on

Providing for your children is one of the primary purposes of estate planning, but what happens to your carefully crafted trust if you had children you did not know about when you created the trust? Or, what if you have...more

Downey Brand LLP

Mind Your Notice in California – Even Remote Contingent Beneficiaries May Need to Be Served

Downey Brand LLP on

It’s unremarkable that California courts require that notice be given to affected beneficiaries in trust and probate proceedings. After all, the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees that no person will be deprived of life,...more

Downey Brand LLP

Your Slice of the Pizza – Only Directly Inherited Asset Qualifies as Separate Property

Downey Brand LLP on

It is widely understood in California that inherited assets, unlike assets earned from labor, are the separate property of the receiving spouse.  But what if the assets do not come directly from a parent and instead pass from...more

Downey Brand LLP

California Probate Administration Is No Time for Napping

Downey Brand LLP on

In the absence of a trust that allows assets to pass without opening probate, the California probate process lasts for at least six months and can run much longer depending on the size of the estate and the nature of assets....more

Downey Brand LLP

When Defending Becomes Offensive: California Court Expands No Contest Clauses to Defense of Invalid Amendment

Downey Brand LLP on

No contest clauses are included in wills and trusts to discourage dissatisfied beneficiaries from challenging the document’s validity. Because enforcement of these clauses results in disinheritance, the California Probate...more

8 Results
 / 
View per page
Page: of 1

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
Sign up Log in
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
- hide
- hide