On March 12th, 2014, the appeals court for Palm Beach probate & guardianship cases issued a VERY important opinion involving joint bank accounts & Palm Beach Guardianships.   Anyone who is involved in a Palm Beach guardianship and is concerned with the care of the incapacitated person & how you  are going to pay for the services and care should read this.  But more so, two spouses who are on a joint account should read this Palm Beach probate appeals case if the spouses may be adverse to each other.   This is one of the most important joint bank account cases in years for Palm Beach probate.

Should Palm Beach trustees buy Twitter www.twitter.com & Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pankauski-Law-Firm-PLLC/223065554446549?ref=br_tf  now?   Are these two US companies merely high-flying speculative stocks chased by momentum investors?  Or are they something historic, defining the new technology & services of social media–and our future? Do their recent stock prices represent a unique &  very special buying opportunity for Palm Beach trusts which, 5 -10 years from now Palm Beach trustees will look back on and ask “Why didn’t I buy more?”   Or is the recent downdraft in their stock prices  a harbinger of more bad news?   Here are some thoughts for Florida trustees when considering social media stocks and what may be prudent for Palm Beach trusts under Florida trust law.

John Pankauski, a West Palm Beach estate litigator, will address the Boca Raton Community Foundation and the Northern Trust Roundtable of wealth professionals this coming Thursday, April 17th, 2014 in Boca Raton.  In attendance will be Boca Raton probate lawyers, Palm Beach estate planning attorneys, Delray Beach estate accountants and money managers.

John Pankauski is a West Palm Beach, FL probate litigator and founder of the Pankauski Law Firm PLLC and author of the upcoming book Pankauski’s Trustee Book, An Individual’s Guide to Money, Misfits, Marriages and Mismanagement.  He practices estate & trust law on the intracoastal in downtown West Palm Beach, Florida.

The Pankauski Law Firm PLLC, a Palm Beach estate & trust litigation boutique in West Palm Beach, Florida successfully represented the owner of a high six figure investment joint account in Palm Beach probate court and at mediation.

The Pankauski Law Firm PLLC, a West Palm Beach estate litigation firm, successfully resolved an inheritance lawsuit set for trial in June in the downtown West Palm Beach courthouse.  This Palm Beach estate lawsuit included a St. Lucie County probate, a private Florida business, a corporate buy-sell agreement, Florida stock certificates and a Boca Raton personal representative.

Palm Beach estate litigation firms are used to “chasing the money” for their estate clients after winning damages at a Palm Beach probate trial. Once the winning side gets a judgment against a beneficiary or executor, you need begin to satisfy that judgment:  getting your Florida probate clients paid.  What if the defendant or “bad guy” transferred assets before or during the Palm Beach estate lawsuit in an attempt to hide assets?  That’s fraud in Florida and fraud in Massachusetts.  Can you sue the family members who the bad guy transferred the assets to? You betcha!

Does a Palm Beach lawfirm need to turn over its records regarding a medical expert or doctor which the Palm Beach law firm has hired ?  If the doctor can’t testify well about his relationship with the Palm Beach lawfirm that hired her or him, then yes.  So said a Palm Beach appeals court on March 5th, 2014.  Palm Beach probate litigators hire doctors to advise on and testify to opinions about UNDUE INFLUENCE &  lack of mental capacity to write a will in Palm Beach will contests. You may want to read this 4th District Court of Appeal legal opinion where a Palm Beach estate, and the Palm Beach personal representative were a party.

Are you involved in a Palm Beach lawsuit where you are chasing money?  Perhaps you won a judgment after a Palm Beach trial and the Palm Beach lawsuit gave you damages—now you have to get paid, right?  So, you conduct Florida proceedings supplementary to try to satisfy your final judgment.  You want to discover where the money is so you can be paid, right?  If you are a creditor or one who is involved in a lawsuit where you expect to get damages from the Palm Beach trial, you may want to read this March 5, 2014 opinion of the Palm Beach appeals court.  Can someone keep money offshore and keep it from creditors ?

How does inherited wealth affect your heirs?  Does leaving an inheritance to adult children help them in life or does it remove incentive and a desire to be productive?  Anderson Cooper, the CNN newsman, and host of the news show AC360, http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/, was in the news himself lately.  Yahoo reported that Cooper, son of Gloria Vanderbilt, told Howard Stern, http://www.howardstern.com/, that he would not be inheriting from his mom’s wealth.