A February 3rd Illinois trust litigation case shows you how involved Estate Litigation can get. This case involved two Illinois estates, claims of punitive damages, misappropriation of the estate funds, a daughter suing her father and aunt over granddad’s money and a trust inheritance, two family trusts, a trust clause which required beneficiaries to marry within the faith, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in trust attorneys fees.
Revocable trusts in Florida are very popular. It seems everyone has a Last Will, a Power of Attorney and a Florida Revocable Trust, also called a Florida Living Trust.
A recent Florida appeals court opinion, issued just days ago, had a Florida probate & a Florida divorce proceeding work hand-in-hand after the death of one of the parties to the Florida divorce. This case is a good example of how Florida divorce law and Florida probate law intersect and overlap.
Under what circumstances does a Florida trial judge go too far on Facebook, such that the Florida trial judge should be disqualified from hearing a case? Q: When can you disqualify a Florida trial judge from hearing your case?
Okay, so you’re in the middle of some Palm Beach County trust litigation. Maybe you’re suing the trustee. But the person you’re suing is using trust funds to pay his or her attorneys.
I’ve coined the term “guardianship wars” to describe the guardianship litigation that’s going on across America, as family members, second and third spouses, in-laws and outlaws, neighbors and nasties fight over someone’s person and purse.
Who gets the money from the house sale ? The TRUST BENEFICIARY, the successor TRUSTEE, or the bank …… ? That’s the basic issue faced by a Palm Beach Probate Court –and , also the Ft. Lauderdale Probate Court — involving a Broward County, Florida estate, a Florida Revocable Trust, a Palm Beach house, and trust beneficiaries. Why are TWO Florida Probate Courts involved ? Read on …………..
Did Mom or Dad marry someone under odd circumstances that you did not like? If you believe that a marriage was obtained by fraud, duress or #UndueInfluence, can you dis-inherit the #FloridaWidow from the #FloridaEstate?
How are #PhilipSeymourHoffman and the Florida probate code linked? Lots of questions about someone’s mysterious death. The untimely death of this Oscar-winning star, #PhilipSeymourHoffman, reportedly from a heroin overdose, will no doubt lead to questions of “who is responsible?” There is an #EstateLaw which prohibits anyone who participated in someone’s death from ever inheriting from that victim.
John Pankauski, www.johnpankauski.com, a #PalmBeachProbateLitigator, has agreed to give a 1.5 hour presentation on “Trying An Undue Influence Case“. The e-cle will be an online continuing legal education course for #ProbateLawyers and those who engage in #EstateLitigation.