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
A court should not enforce a trust in terrorem clause if its enforcement under the particular facts and circumstances would frustrate settlor intent. Assuming that the settlor intended to impress a trust upon the property,...more
Did your father give you a nominal bequest but gave his favorite daughter the bulk of the estate? Were you bequeathed the family dog and $10,000, but your mother’s boyfriend of six months was to receive the Lamborghini and...more
Understanding the significance of trustee notice, as mandated by Probate Code Section 16061.7, is crucial in trust administration. This notice is required upon the occurrence of certain events, most notably, when a trust...more
The Texas Legislature created a statute to protect parties’ rights to freedom of speech and to petition the courts: the Texas Citizen’s Participation Act (TCPA). See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. §§ 27.001-.011....more
One of the many reasons for executing a Will and Trust is to make your wishes clear and prevent animosity among family members or other beneficiaries after your death. However, there are circumstances in which it is clear to...more
Unfortunately, not all families get along. If you are having problems with one of your children, you may not want them to benefit from your estate. There are several strategies for dealing with an estranged child in your...more
No contest clauses generally are not enforceable against beneficiaries of California trusts when there is “probable cause” to challenge the trust instrument. Yet the probable cause safe harbor may disappear if the contest...more
This newsletter is intended to keep readers informed about developments in probate and fiduciary litigation in Massachusetts and New York. Our lawyers are at the forefront of this area of the law, shaping how it is handled in...more
The recent opinion by the Appellate Division, Third Department, in In re Strom Irrevocable Trust III, 2022 NY Slip Op 01356, provides a cautionary tale to estate litigators who conduct SCPA 1404 examinations in the face of a...more
Drafting an estate plan allows a person to put into writing their wishes for division of assets upon death. Sometimes this means making a choice to give more to one child over the other, or to completely write out natural...more
People handle grief differently and sometimes how a person handles the death of a loved one can be both confusing and also extremely frustrating - fighting over little things like, who gets the table and the chairs, for...more
Suing the suer is a common strategy in California civil litigation. A special motion to strike, known as an anti-SLAPP motion, can be a powerful weapon against such retaliatory litigation. We have explained the use of such...more
Recent decisions in California and Mississippi illustrate the divergence among states regarding enforcement of in terrorem clauses in wills and trusts...more
Emotions can run high at the death of a family member. If a family member is unhappy with the amount they received (or didn't receive) under a will, he or she may contest the will. Will contests can drag out for years,...more
The Probate & Fiduciary Litigation Newsletter compiles recent Trust & Estate cases. Our lawyers are at the forefront of this area of the law, shaping how it is handled in the Probate and Family Court. Goulston & Storrs is the...more
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
If you are a beneficiary in a will that contains a no-contest clause, and you don't like what the will directs, be careful before you question its validity. You just might lose everything....more
No-contest clauses (sometimes called in terrorem clauses) are extremely common in today’s litigious society. A no-contest clause essentially makes all gifts under the will or trust conditional upon not challenging the...more
Key Takeaway: In Ginsberg et. al. v. Ginsberg et. al., Judge Leibensperger ruled that a trust beneficiary could assert a trust was procured by fraud despite the presence of a in terrorem or no-contest clause. Judge...more
No contest clauses are an ever-evolving area of the probate law in California. The Court of Appeal further refined the rules governing no contest clauses in a decision issued last week, Aviles v. Swearingen (2017) ___...more
One of the most dramatic areas of California trust and estate litigation is no contest clauses. No contest clauses bring a made-for-tv excitement to the practice of trust and estate law because of the risk of...more
No-contest clauses are generally included in trusts and wills in California in an attempt to prevent challenges to an estate plan after death. Originally published in the Press-Enterprise - July 30th, 2017....more
In Ard v. Hudson, a beneficiary sued testamentary trustees and executors for breach of fiduciary duty and also sought an accounting, temporary injunctive relief, and a receiver. No. 02-13-00198-CV, 2015 Tex. App. LEXIS 8727...more
The inherent problem with safeguarding your wishes after death is that you are not here to defend them. To discourage litigation and protect your requests, most trusts contain a “no-contest” clause. The clause typically...more
Texas courts narrowly construe no-contest clauses. In Di Portanova v. Monroe, grandparents set up eight trusts for a grandchild that had a mental disability. No. 01-20-01019-CV, 2012 Tex. App. LEXIS 9859 (Tex. App.—Houston...more