What should Florida trustees know about the Stanford Ponzi scheme case ?  I’m not just talking about investment losses, or trust losses.  I’m talking about what Palm Beach trustees and trustees of Florida trusts might want to take away from the recent US Supreme Court decision.    You — a Palm Beach Trustee or a Ft. Lauderdale Trustee —- may have to sue someone else who caused harm to your Florida trust or who harmed your Florida trust beneficiaries.  Here’s what the US Supreme Court said about recovery investment losses from that Ponzi schemer and here’s what every Florida trustee should know about Florida Trusts, the Florida Trust code and Palm Beach Probate.

How does Facebook and Palm Beach probate litigation overlap?   Social media and discovery in Palm Beach trials and lawsuits collide in a recent Florida appeals case. Can one side, or a Florida court, make you produce all your Facebook postings,”likes” and dislikes? Yes!  ……….. if it’s relevant to the lawsuit.

How important are expert witnesses in  Florida litigation?  Well, The One-Eyed Witness, by Jess Wegman,  of the New York Times, February 24, 2014, chronicled a man who was convicted for murder decades ago, in part because his criminal defense attorney didn’t hire a good bullet expert. 

One of the worst things that can happen to our judicial process in Florida, indeed to our civil procedure in Florida, is for there to be a fraud on the court.    Serious, experienced – – – real – – – Palm Beach trial lawyers and Palm Beach litigators know from years of experience that fraud on the court is a serious accusation.  My time in Palm Beach County probate courts and the civil division of Palm Beach County circuit courts has suggested that a lot of inexperienced attorneys make an allegation of fraud on the court, sometimes where none exists. 

In Palm Beach probates, funeral expenses are a debt of the Palm Beach Estate.  The Palm Beach Executor — the one who administers or runs the Palm Beach Estate — also called a Personal Representative, pays those funeral expenses if they are reasonable,  depending on a Florida Probate Code Statute.  There’s an order to the payment of a Florida resident’s debts when they die:  estate adminstration expenses, probate lawyers, the IRS (for income taxes and estate taxes) and creditors of the estate, all have to be paid in accordance with the Palm Beach Probate rules:  the Florida Probate Code and the Florida Probate Rules.   A recent Forbes article discussed filial support:  when states make the kids pay their parents’ burial expenses and funeral expenses.  Sound different?  It is. Florida has no such law —-although estate debts & expenses always get paid before the kids inherit.

Spouses of   gay marriages    should be talking to their accountants and tax advisers well before April 15 to take advantage of any   income tax benefits   which may now be enjoyed by same sex couples.   When the US Supreme Court overturned DOMA (defense of marriage act) last June, it meant that same sex spouses could not get tax benefits previously only given to hetero couples.  You should also   talk to your Florida estate planning attorney   about wills, trusts and estates: and inheritance rights and probate rights.    Don’t you want to take advantage of the unlimited marital deduction for estate tax purposes?

How do you get punitive damages in a Palm Beach lawsuit? Most Palm Beach trial lawyers and those that are involved in   Palm Beach lawsuits    and trials know that you have to request (or    “move”   ) to bring a    claim for punitive damages in Florida.     Your Palm Beach litigator needs to    proffer    facts, and evidence, from which a judge may make a ruling, and permit you to bring an additional claim for punitive damages. In other words, if you’re involved in a Palm Beach trial, your Palm Beach litigator cannot simply bring a claim of punitive damages from the get-go. 

Worried about Florida trust investments  ?   Trust investment losses   a concern?   Everyone knows that a     Florida trustee must invest trust assets “prudently.”  After all, the    Florida Trust Code    regulates a Florida trustee’s conduct just as a Palm Beach Probate is ruled by the Florida Probate Code.   And everyone seems to know that Florida trustees are governed by Florida’s “prudent investor rule” of Chapter 518 of the Florida Statutes, ‘though few may actually know what it means to be a    prudent trustee   or prudent investor. Whether you choose to delegate investment functions to an   investment agent    under the   Florida Trust Code    or not, here’s a few things you can learn, or re-remember, from a recent Louisiana case which lost millions.

Marriages can be expensive ! Even if they only last 2 years and even if one spouse dies 16 years later !    This recent Minnesota probate case highlights how “busy” estate lawsuits can be after your dead.    This   probate litigation case   involves a charitable remainder trust, a revocable trust, a power of attorney and the   moving of  bonds from a trust account    to a pay on death account, and ex-wife, a friend who inherits the whole estate, and  children who are disinherited and are contesting the will —  based on undue influence and lack of capacity to make a will. Oh yes, who pays the income tax on those trust distributions?

This recent Arkansas probate litigation case shows you what type of   probate litigation   can erupt after one spouse loses another spouse and has a “friend” or “companion.”  Trust lawsuits,   changing bank accounts, buying condos, and    powers of attorney    are at the center of this inheritance lawsuit involving Dad’s companion, a trustee of his trust and 2 sons who are alledged to have taken a pay on death bank account— while dad was in hospice care.    See, these probate lawsuits don’t occur just in Florida.