Choosing a Trustee: Navigating the Complexities and Key Considerations
Law School Toolbox Podcast Episode 509: Listen and Learn -- Third-Party Rights in Contracts (Part 2 - Beneficiaries)
Law School Toolbox Podcast Episode 508: Listen and Learn -- Third-Party Rights in Contracts (Part 1 - Rules)
Mamma Mia!: Common Estate Planning Issues for Blended Families
Once Removed Episode 38: The Legacy Mindset: What It Is and How to Build It
John Wick - What You Need To Know about the Corporate Transparency Act
Once Removed Episode 24: Expressing Goals and Intent for the Trust
Once Removed Episode 23: Naming Guardians for Minor Children
Once Removed Episode 22: Building Flexibility into the Estate Plan
Once Removed Episode 20: Helping a Beneficiary Purchase a Home
Life After Love Gone Wrong Podcast: Season 3, Episode 6 - Reshaping Your Legacy: Estate Planning After Your Divorce
Charitable Planning With Guest Stephanie Hood: Navigating Complex Rules and Traps for the Unwary
A Primer On Trusts - A Podcast with Janathan Allen
Once Removed Episode 13: It’s 5 o’Clock: Do You Know Where Your Will Is? A Lesson From Aretha Franklin
Once Removed Episode 12: SLATs and the Case of McKim vs. McKim
Once Removed Episode 11: Spousal Lifetime Access Trusts, or SLATs
Digital Planning Podcast Episode: Family Office Technology Solutions
Digital Planning Podcast Episode: The Uniform Electronic Estate Planning Documents Act
What is a self-proving affidavit?
The Importance of Beneficiary Designations
The Restatement (Third) of Trusts, specifically §104, lists four general areas in which the beneficiary’s actions may lead to an assumption of internal liability to the trust estate: (1) A loan or advance to the beneficiary...more
In California, trustees have a fiduciary duty to act impartially and in the interest of all beneficiaries. But what happens when a trustee uses trust funds to finance litigation that benefits only certain beneficiaries—or...more
Have you been asked to be a trustee or executor? A trustee or executor has substantial financial and legal liability, and the trust or estate will pay an attorney to guide them through the process....more
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
As discussed in a previous blog, prior to an executor making distributions from an estate he/she must produce an accounting which the beneficiaries of an estate are entitled to review. Provided that the accounting is...more
BX v T Limited and AX and JX and CX and OX and PX and QX [2024]GRC066 (27 September 2024) - In a recent supplementary judgment on costs, Lieutenant Bailiff of the Royal Court of Guernsey, Hazel Marshall KC (the "Judge"),...more
Equity’s maxims have many jurisprudential functions, one critical function being to sinew the equitable principles that regulate the law of trusts. A court that is saddled with sorting out the rights, duties and obligations...more
David F. Johnson presented his paper titled “Trustee’s Ability To Retain And Compensate Attorneys In Texas” to the Texas State Bar’s 48th Annual Advanced Estate Planning and Probate Course on June 13, 2024, in Houston, Texas....more
Dear Jonathan: I am thinking about preparing my own estate planning documents, including a will, powers of attorney and a trust. A close friend of mine just went through this process and it cost her thousands of dollars and I...more
In Mendell v. Scott, a decedent had a trust that named him as primary beneficiary, and upon his death, the trust would continue for a niece provided that she did not commit a prohibited act. No. 01-20-00578-CV, 2023 Tex. App....more
This update will address the following issues: whether a party has a right to jury trial in trust modification and other similar actions, what are the standards for pretrial receivership and injunctive relief in trust...more
In In the Est. of Lemme, an administratrix of an estate hired her boyfriend to do legal work. No. 07-21-00300-CV, 2022 Tex. App. LEXIS 8829 (Tex. App.—Amarillo December 1, 2022, no pet. history). ...more
As demonstrated in our Gold Medal Bakery case, with corporate fiduciary claims, there can be thought-provoking challenges and issues presented by the question of whether a claim is direct or derivative. Probate and trust...more
In an opinion released last week, the Minnesota Court of Appeals rejected a petition to modify the terms of a trust to allow for the early distribution of trust assets to the beneficiaries. The court also denied the...more
We “ring” in 2022 with a recent case that again shows the long reach of statutory financial elder abuse claims in California trust and estate litigation. In Ring v. Harmon (2021) ___ Cal.App.5th ___, the Court of Appeal...more
In a recent Pennsylvania Supreme Court case, In re: Estate of William K. McAleer, the state high court addressed the issue of whether Pennsylvania law recognizes the fiduciary exception to attorney-client privilege....more
In In re Estate of Stewart, siblings filed claims regarding the administration of their father’s estate. No. 04-20-00103-CV, 2021 Tex. App. LEXIS 3897 (Tex. App.—San Antonio May 19, 2021, no pet. history)....more
Section 2030 of California’s Family Code provides an important safeguard to ensure the fairness of marriage dissolution proceedings. It allows the Court to order a more financially well-off party to pay some or all of the...more
Many family member trustees are uncertain about whether and to what extent they can use trust assets to obtain legal representation. For example, when two parents choose their daughter, upon their incapacity or death, to...more
Representing the Estate Executor – Ethical Duty – Confidentiality – Withdrawal - New York State Bar Association Ethics Opinion No. 1194 - Risk Management Issue: Does a lawyer for an estate executor have an ethical duty...more
Individual trustees often fail to fulfill the duties imposed on trustees, not only by the trust instrument, by also by the trust statutes applicable in the jurisdiction. It is often the case that the individual trustee is a...more
Areas of Discussion: - In this Presentation, we will discuss the following: - Duty of loyalty; - Authority for trustee compensation; - Factors for reasonable compensation; - Other issues arising from trustee...more
American courts (including our California state courts), in contrast to courts in England, do not typically award attorneys’ fees to a lawsuit’s “victor.” There are, of course, exceptions to this so-called “American Rule.”...more
In In the Interest of K.K.W., an ex-wife sued an ex-husband and the trustee of a trust that they created for breaches of fiduciary duty and sought to remove the trustee, among other claims, arising out of the trustee’s...more
In re Nunu, an estate beneficiary sued the executrix to have her removed due to alleged breaches of fiduciary duty and also sought to have the court refuse to pay her attorneys in representing her in a removal action and/or...more