“Sock it to me, sock it to me” are part of the famed lyrics of Aretha Franklin’s hit song, “RESPECT”, but her lack of estate planning has landed a haymaker to the previously closely-knit heirs of the late songstress who died a little over a...
Jeffrey Epstein’s signing of a Will two days before his suicide leaves many legal issues that may take more than a decade to decide. By creating a “pour-over Will” into a trust he created, we know that he has planned for privacy on who are...
On July 17, 2019, the Uniform Law Commission passed an act allowing probate courts to validate Wills electronically signed by a testator and witnesses. Texas law does not presently permit electronic signing and witnessing of Wills due to special signing requirements to make sure the Will...
Long-term care Medicaid helps pay for long-term care costs if certain eligibility requirements such as medical necessity, Medicaid bed availability, “countable” resources being below a $2,000 limit, restrictions on most uncompensated transfers if made within five years of application, etc., are met. In this case the...
Gloria Vanderbilt’s Will provided that her son, CNN news reporter Anderson Cooper (“Anderson Cooper 360”), will receive the residue of her estate other than her Manhattan co-op and contents therein which were bequested to another son, Charles Stokowski. Since Wills and inventory are a matter...
An Italian court has ruled that the late Liana Beacci was the illegitimate daughter of the late British art collector Sir Arthur Acton and his late mistress Ersilla Beacci as a result of a DNA test. This could result in Ersilla’s granddaughter, Italian princess Dialta...
Many have the misconception that only the wealthy need or can use trusts for estate planning. In this case, an elderly couple has two children – one of the children has a drug problem and the other is a spendthrift and has creditor issues. The...
A California court has ruled that Elizabeth Hurley’s son, Damian, remain a beneficiary of the trust of his grandfather, Dr. Peter Bing, notwithstanding Dr. Bing’s attempt to change the terms of the trust that he established. Another grandchild, Kira Kerkorian, also benefits from this ruling. Dr....
An analysis from University of Pennsylvania researches of data from a study of 154,000 older patients over an eight year period indicates that patients who are given hormone-blocking prostate cancer treatment have an increased risk of Alzheimer’s Disease. Although the results are not proof, the...
The U.S. Supreme Court recently rules that “the presence of in-state beneficiaries alone does not empower a state to tax trust income that has not been distributed to the beneficiaries where the beneficiaries have no right to demand that income and are uncertain to ever...
A court has ruled an attorney was incompetent for advising his client, who was acting as agent for his brother pursuant to a power of attorney, to transfer assets to himself notwithstanding a lack of authority. Most people think (apparently, including some attorneys) that a...
Pursuant to the terms of the Last Will and Testament of a Virginia dog owner, the named executor was required to have the owner’s healthy pet dog (which is personal property in Virginia as it is in Texas) euthanized so that the dog could be...
The goal of a self-proclaimed “cat lady”, who is on Medicaid, is to make sure her 14 cats are adequately cared for after her death. However, her only assets are her home, car and a small bank account. Her home and car are “non-countable” resources...
The fate of French rock star Johnny Hallyday’s $112 million estate hangs in the balance due to his Instagram account. Hallyday, who lived in California for approximately ten years prior to his death in December 2017, was survived by his fourth wife and their two...
Parents own homestead as their major asset. Their health is beginning to decline, and neither of them have long-term care insurance or enough income or assets to pay for long-term care. As a result, if either of them needs long-term care, Medicaid is likely to...
On May 24, 2019, a Texas appeals court ruled that if an incapacitated Medicaid applicant does not have a guardian appointed, then the resources of the applicant should be considered unavailable for Medicaid eligibility purposes. Usually, the cost of long-term care (such as a nursing...
Mistakes made during the signing of a Will are frequently the cause of litigation. Some of the common mistakes are as follows: Attorney should handle the Will signing ceremony. Although it is not required by law that an attorney handle the ceremony, the probability of error is...
A recent ruling by the IRS demonstrates the importance of naming a spouse as the beneficiary of an IRA in which the surviving spouse has a community property interest. In this case, the husband (who died) named his child as the sole beneficiary of his...
Under federal long-term care Medicaid laws, there is a presumption of “guilt” if there is an uncompensated transfer within five (5) years of an application for long-term Medicaid (which helps pay for institutional care, drugs, etc.) since long-term care is “means-tested” In other words, the...
An Illinois court has ruled that a caregiver, who was charged with felony criminal neglect of an elderly person, felony aggravated domestic battery and felony assault with battery of a senior, was entitled to pursue a claim to be paid (even without a contract) for...
