Bill Graham Estate Battles End Up in Federal Court: What about the Federal Probate Exception?

Uncategorized • Oct 14, 2015

Are you a fan of Bill Graham? The famous musician was a trendsetter for pop music for over a quarter of a century. What is strange is that his estate’s matters are still in Court even though he died in a helicopter crash almost twenty four years ago! Why is the Graham estate’s actions being reviewed by a Federal judge? I thought that Federal judges did not touch probate and will administration issues? Check out this interesting probate dispute before you file your probate lawsuit in West Palm Beach.

The Probate Exception

As a general rule the Federal Courts do not like to touch on probate administration issues.
These are best left to the probate courts of the State such as the one that sits in West Palm Beacha and serves Palm Beach County.
That does not mean that a probate related lawsuit never gets into Federal Court.
Are there other exceptions when it comes to Federal Court in West Palm Beach?
When do these actions get to Federal Court?
As a lay person just trying to get justice, why do you even care which Court the case is in?
The answer is that it matters, alot.
What Court you are in changes the rules that your lawyer has to operate under.
For example the chance to actual get an oral hearing in Federal Court is much slimmer than in State Court so that attorney of yours may have to make their case entirely on paper.
Why else does it matter?
Federal Judges unlike those in West Palm Beach are unelected.
Do you think that changes how they make decisions?

The Graham Estate is in Court Again in 2015

Billy Graham’s children have filed a lawsuit against his estate’s executor.
This comes over two decades since the estate was probated.
The suit was actually instituted back in 2010 and was just recently dismissed, although you can expect an appeal of that decision too.
What was this all about?
Essentially the children were upset about the sale of various personal effects of Billy Graham that the Court decided were legitimate.
In fact the Federal Judge essentially said that Billy Graham Inc. owned all of those effects and that they were legitimately sold.
How can you be sure the difference between family heirlooms and the company collectibles when the company is the person?
Experienced Palm Beach probate litigators know this issue comes up again and again during West Palm Beach probate.
How and why?
Different family members may all want the same heirlooms.
In the alternative some family members may feel a sale is the efficient and proper way to deal with certain property while others disagree.
It can be hard to find middleground.

Want to learn more about this interesting federal case that surrounds a probate dispute?

Check out a recent article on the matters by clicking here.