On June 3rd, the American Bar Association will offer an online seminar about estate trials & probate trials regarding undue influence.  Palm Beach probate litigator John Pankauski was asked to lead a panel of probate litigators from across the country, to develop the topics and offer this unique insight into will contests, gifts of family wealth and estate lawsuits.  Pankauski is joined on the panel by two highly regarded probate litigators from New Jersey.  The seminar is intended for probate lawyers and those that handle estate litigation from all over the country.  The seminar is titled:  Trying an Undue Influence Case.  Pankauski noted that much of the work which he completes from his West Palm Beach probate litigation law firm office will be of interest to the national audience.

If you deal with wealthy Palm Beachers or retired executives who move to Palm Beach Gardens or Jupiter, you may want to subscribe to Barron’s financial publication. www.barrons.com.   Each quarter, Barrons has a piece on family wealth, called Penta.  Penta deals with personal & financial issues for families with money.  So, if you are a Palm Beach probate lawyer who has an estate planning practice, or are a CPA or wealth advisor on PGA Blvd or Royal Palm Way, you may want to check out Barron’s.   If nothing else, I’m sure that your Palm Beach beneficiaries, clients and heirs will appreciate a copy of recent articles.  Many include topics about estate planning, wills, trusts, succession planning and dealing with transferring family wealth.  …. something a lot of Palm Beach clients can use insight on.

Palm Beach estates are interesting enough and God knows that probate litigation is very interesting here in our boutique West Palm Beach probate litigation firm.  But check out yesterday’s (May 15, 2014) article in the Wall Street Journal, www.wsj.com.  The Journal article involves a deathbed will, an estate of priceless art and one’s desire to try to get it to a museum.   Our Palm Beach probates have involved deathbed wills and Florida wills signed right before death.  But this Wall Street Journal article is quite a story. http://online.wsj.com/public/page/news-arts-movies-music.html  

A 2 day will contest trial set for May 19 and 20th in the Delray Beach Probate Court has been postponed.  Heirs were attacking a will of a wealthy woman from Boca Raton who left all her money to charity.  I pushed the will challenge case to trial, and survived three attempts by other probate lawyers in Delray Beach Probate Court to delay…..until the last one.

WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA —  The Pankauski Law Firm PLLC won a trial on attorneys fees and a Florida charging lien this past Monday, in the downtown Probate Court in West Palm Beach, Florida.   For more on charging liens and attorneys fees, please read on.

Palm Beach County — The Pankauski Law Firm PLLC, a West Palm Beach probate law firm, was successful at a charging lien trial on Monday, May 12th, 2014 in the Palm Beach probate court.   The trial , or evidentiary hearing, was held in the Main Courthouse, in West Palm Beach, before the sitting probate judge. John Pankauski, the senior trial attorney and a probate litigator at the firm, gave testimony.   The firm was successful in perfecting a valid charging lien regarding fees owed.   For those involved in a charging lien case, you may want to consider the important bullet points below.

The West Palm Beach probate litigation law firm, the Pankauski Law Firm PLLC, is again a sponsor of the Probate Trivia Night to be held Thursday, May 22, 2014 in Boca Raton, Florida.   The Palm Beach probate event is attended by probate lawyers from Palm Beach Gardens to Boca Raton, as well as by the judges sitting in the probate division of the Delray Beach courthouse.   The event is coordinated by the South Palm Beach County Bar Association.

If you are involved in a Palm Beach damage lawsuit,  you may want to read the February 12, 2014 opinion of West Palm Beach’s appellate court, the 4th District Court of Appeal.   This was a real estate or slander of title case which was “a mess” at the trial level (judge’s words, not mine) and which was reversed on appeal.   And don’t forget the interest calculation when you are adding up damages and quantifying the amount owed if you win your Palm Beach lawsuit.

This is literally a BILLION dollar estate lawsuit from Florida’s 2nd District Court of Appeal.  It involves a lawsuit by the personal representative of a Florida estate against a nursing home and related entities over the purported wrongful death  of a resident.   The Florida estate brought this lawsuit and got a Billion Dollars in damages  including punitive damages.  If you are involved in estate litigation or estate trials, you may want to read this case issued February 14, 2014

West Palm Beach probate litigator John Pankauski will lead a national panel on trying an undue influence case on June 3, 2014.   This national e-CLE is a continuing legal education course sponsored by the American Bar Association’s Real Property, Probate & Trust Law Section. Pankauski will discuss a host of the legal, evidentiary & procedure issues involved when he tries an undue influence case in Palm Beach probate court.  For more on this undue influence seminar, which is ideal for probate attorneys and those dealing with wills, trusts and estates, including lifetime gifts, click below, or check out the link to register for this seminar.