Empowerment Through Hero Generation with Nicole a`Beckett and Dr. Shruti Roy
Navigating Solo Aging with Dr. Gerda Maissel
Law School Toolbox Podcast Episode 503: Listen and Learn -- Present and Future Estates (Part 2)
Mamma Mia!: Common Estate Planning Issues for Blended Families
Once Removed Episode 38: The Legacy Mindset: What It Is and How to Build It
Next Generation Legacy Management - The Essence of Developing, Managing and Implementing a Plan for Future Generations
Once Removed Episode 13: It’s 5 o’Clock: Do You Know Where Your Will Is? A Lesson From Aretha Franklin
Authorization for Final Disposition
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 Renoir Spelling Bee
Basics of Estate Planning
What You Need to Know About NFTs - Digital Planning Podcast
The Case of the Laughing Heirs
Protecting Your Estate Plan from Challenges: No-Contest Clause Explained
The Secret Child
Welcome to 'Splitting Heirs'
Interview with Cody Barbo - Digital Planning Podcast
Too often, litigants (and sometimes attorneys) treat prenuptial agreements as documents that either don’t have to be followed and/or should be attacked as a matter of course to try to get the party who entitlements are...more
In In re Estate of Earnest E. Clifton, an applicant offered a copy of a lost will, and the trial court denied the application via a zoom hearing without a court reporter. No. 05-24-00079-CV, 2024 Tex. App. LEXIS 7071 (Tex....more
In In re Est. of Prieto, the contestant’s mother executed a will in 2008 leaving her property to a trust. No. 04-22-00038-CV, 2024 Tex. App. LEXIS 6336 (Tex. App.—San Antonio August 28, 2024, no pet.)....more
In Monariti v. Monariti, a will contestant filed a motion for summary judgment, alleging that the will should be set aside due to undue influence. No. 14-23-00062-CV, 2024 Tex. App. LEXIS 6476 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.]...more
In Halderman v. Ivy, the decedent’s will stated: “I give, devise and bequeath my 66.977 acres located on FM 1848 in Freestone County, Texas, including all livestock and farm equipment located thereon to my two children . . ....more
In In re Estate of Wright, decedent’s son appealed an order finding that his mother died intestate. No. 13-23-00043-CV, 2024 Tex. App. LEXIS 8078 (Tex. App.—Corpus Christi November 21, 2024, no pet. history)....more
What constitutes undue influence sufficient to invalidate a deed? In Erikson v. Erikson, 105 Mass. App. Ct. 1115 (February 24, 2025), the Appeals Court of Massachusetts affirmed the Land Court’s invalidation of a deed on the...more
In In re Estate of Johnson, an administrator and a third party appealed the trial court’s judgment setting aside the probate of the decedent’s will, removing the administrator, and voiding the sale of an estate asset to the...more
In an article for STEP Journal, Carey Olsen partner Helen Wang TEP looks at a recent case assessing the treatment BVI company shares as property and which governing law should apply for succession purposes. In Al Thani v Al...more
A unique aspect of practicing before the probate court is the “interested person” concept. Someone who qualifies as an “interested person” is entitled to be served with filings and receive notice of hearings in proceedings...more
In In re Est. of Wheatfall, a trial court entered an order admitting a will to probate and denying a will contestant’s claims. No. 01-22-00920-CV, 2024 Tex. App. LEXIS 5503 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] August 1, 2024, no...more
In Gaddy v. Fenenbock (In re Est. of Fenenbock), a probate court entered an order directing the independent executor of an estate to make a partial distribution of assets from the residuary clause in the decedent’s will into...more
The January 2025 Section 7520 rate for use with estate planning techniques such as CRTs, CLTs, QPRTs and GRATs is 5.2%, an increase from the December 2024 rate of 5.0%. The January applicable federal rate (“AFR”) for use with...more
In Castello v. Ex’r of the Est. of Castello, the decedent died leaving a will that left his property to his wife “for life” and then to his three children by a prior marriage. No 03-22-00012-CV 2023 Tex. App. LEXIS 4454 (Tex....more
In Estate of Long, the plaintiff sued trustees and alleged that she was the only child of the decedent and asserted a cause of action for a will contest and a cause of action for a declaratory judgment action in which she...more
In Allebach v. Gollub, the decedent had three children, and after he died, one of them filed a will contest and a claim that the decedent’s marriage to his second wife was void. No. 14-22-00272-CV, 2023 Tex. App. LEXIS 3469...more
Typewritten wills in California generally require the signatures of two witnesses to be found valid, but the harmless error rule can save the day. Probate Code section 6110(c)(2), as recently discussed, provides that a will...more
Offshore Trust and Estate Litigation Update Series – Part II - Following on from Part I of this series which summarised the Cayman Court’s consideration of a trustee’s application for the “blessing” of a “momentous...more
In In re Estate of Hogan, a father executed a new will, leaving his estate to one of his sons (Harold) and disinheriting his other son (Gary). No. 11-20-00170-CV, 2022 Tex. App. LEXIS 3863 (Tex. App.—Eastland June 9,...more
As part of our series looking at recent BVI and Cayman Islands cases affecting the Middle East we look at the recent case of Sheikha Amena Ahmed H.A. Al-thani et al v Sheikha Aisha Mohammed Ali Abdullah Al Thani et al, in...more
On May 3, 2022, the North Carolina Court of Appeals issued a large batch of opinions. By my count, twenty-two were published and thirty were unpublished. While history may prove me wrong, none of the published opinions...more
In Flores v. Branscomb PC, before her death, the decedent hired counsel to prepare a new will. No. 13-18-00411-CV, 2021 Tex. App. LEXIS 4612 (Tex. App.—Corpus Christi June 10, 2021, no pet. history)....more
Recently, the Indiana Court of Appeals decided the case of Wilson v. Wilson. The case involved the last will and testament (“Will”) of decedent Terrel Wilson, Sr. (“Terrel Sr.”), which purported to create a trust....more
In In the Estate of Johnson, an applicant to be an independent administrator appealed a court’s decision to not appoint him due to his being unsuitable. No. 02-20-00133-CV, 2021 Tex. App. LEXIS 7138 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth...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