Do you know what you plan on doing with your West Palm Beach estate? Have you considered leaving it to charity?In a recent case out of Hong Kong the Court of Appeals has refused to allow the children of a shipping magnate to intervene and get a portion of the estate.
Leaving the Estate to Charity and Will Contests
- It may surprise you (although I doubt it) that when an estate is left to charity often there are will contests.
- In fact sometimes it is the other way around.
- There is ample case law of charities chasing an inheritance by picking a will that favors them.
- That being said it is not uncommon for children to challenge the estate plan when they find out their parents are leaving the West Palm Beach estate to charity.
- These will contests like any other require proof.
- One common ground is lack of testamentary capacity.
- In other words the testator in their old age did not fully understand what they were doing.
- One set of kids found that this was not such an easy battle to win.
- Check out this probate lawsuit from Hong Kong.
No More Inheritance You Kids Have Had Enough
- All the assets of late Hong Kong shipping magnate will be left to charity.
- In 2008 the man expressed the intention that his five children get nothing out of his estate.
- He felt that the children had gotten more than enough during his lifetime.
- Do you think the kids took that sitting down?
- They actually took it all the way to the Hong Kong Court of Appeals.
- A panel of five appeal judges were left with the case to determine whether or not the kids should get a share under the will.
- The inheritance at issue were shares in a large shipping consortium.
- Do you plan on disinheriting relatives in West Palm Beach?
- This may spark will contests left and right so make sure your estate plan is up to speed and can handle those attacks.
Want to learn more about this interesting case out of Hong Kong?
Check out a recent news article by clicking here.