According to media reports: An ugly family battle over the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s personal Bible and his Nobel Peace Prize medal is to play out in an Atlanta courtroom this week…
King’s estate, controlled by sons Dexter King and Martin Luther King III, is suing daughter Bernice King to retrieve the Bible and the medal, which are in her possession, so the estate can potentially sell them to a private buyer.
- His Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to him in 1964, after he helped organize and lead the bus boycott in Montgomery, AL, becomming a nationally recognized civil rights activist.
- Martin Luther King Jr.’s Bible was one of his most personal possession, and can be seen in many photographs of the Reverend, being held close to his chest. Most recently, the Bible was used in the 2013 inauguration of Pres. Barack Obama.
- Presumably, King’s daughter, Bernice King, regards these items as too sacred to be sold to the public.
- She has taken the historical items and is refusing to return them.
The story is sad, but it is one that can be avoided. In Florida, through proper planning of your estate and discussing of your wishes with your local West Palm Beach estate planner, you can make sure that certain prized possession stay in the family. You can do this by making your gift conditional. That is, to pass down your property to a named heir, on the condition that they do not attempt to transfer it to another outside of the family. You can further explain in your Florida will that, should the heir attempt to sell the property, another heir is entitled to the property on the same condition. This type of language will all but ensure that your wishes are followed.
Your Pompana Beach Probate Litigation attorney will tell you that the best method to prevention of will contests Florida, and property disputes (West Palm Beach) is proper organization and planning of your Florida estate documents.
You can find the full story on Martin Luther King Jr. here.
See http://www.pankauskilawfirm.com/ for videos and information on Wills in Florida, Florida Probate Law, Estate Planning, and Estate Administration in Florida.