Posted on November 6th, 2008 by Roy Newman
The dust has begun to settle after the election - and both the legislative and executive branches are controlled by the Democratic Party. If Obama’s estate tax plan becomes law, the $3.5 million exemption of 2009 would be retained, but amounts in excess of that would be taxed at 45%. The top tax rates of [...]
Filed under: Current Events, Estate Planning - Generally, Tax | No Comments »
Posted on October 2nd, 2008 by Roy Newman
Heath Ledger’s daughter Matilda will apparently inherit his entire $16.3 million estate. The actor executed a will (What Are the Advantages of a Will?) that left nothing to his daughter, but left everything to his parents and three sisters. Those family members have allegedly gifted those distributions to Matilda.
Filed under: Current Events, Estate Planning of the Rich and Famous, Probate, Probate Litigation | No Comments »
Posted on September 26th, 2008 by Roy Newman
A Wisconsin court has ruled that giving a loaded shotgun to a suicidal parent is not the proximate cause of the parent’s death (although it is the actual or but-for cause), so that a wife and daughter of the man may inherit his $500,000 estate. The man was terminally ill with lymphoma and his [...]
Filed under: Current Events, Probate, Probate Litigation, San Diego Estate Planning, Will Contests, Wills | No Comments »
Posted on September 22nd, 2008 by Roy Newman
The executors (See “What is a California Personal Representative?“) of Superman’s estate – Joanne Siegal and Laura Siegal Larson – have successfully reclaimed the estate’s half of Jerome Siegal’s copyright of Superman by terminating its grant to Warner Brothers, Time Warner, and DC Comics.
The opinion is an interesting read on the creation and promotion of [...]
Filed under: Current Events, Estate Administration, Estate Planning - Generally, San Diego Estate Planning, Will Contests, Wills | No Comments »
Posted on September 18th, 2008 by Roy Newman
In a previous article, “Eight Signs Your California Tax Shelter or Offshore Asset Protection Trust Is Actually Tax Evasion,” I pointed out that several partners were in trouble at Arnold and Porter for promoting abusive tax shelters. The current state of charges, indictments, and investigations against other firms are almost too numerous to count.
Indictments [...]
Filed under: Asset Protection Trusts, Current Events, Offshore Trusts, San Diego Estate Planning, Tax, Trusts | No Comments »
Posted on September 17th, 2008 by Roy Newman
If San Diego estate planning is anything like the rest of the nation, it is in pretty bad shape. The National Association of Estate Planners & Councils has planned the third week of October for a National Estate Planning Awareness week. The reasons for the promotion?
70% of Americans do not have a [...]
Filed under: Current Events, Estate Planning - Generally, Powers of Attorney and Living Wills, San Diego Estate Planning, Trusts, Wills, Wills and Trusts | No Comments »
Posted on September 16th, 2008 by Roy Newman
A California probate court [See "What is California Probate?"] correctly ruled that a widow was not entitled to her dead husband’s frozen sperm, held the California Court of Appeal (Third District). Estate of Kievernagel, C055516 ( 9/11/08). The issue was whether Joseph Kievernagel would have wanted his wife, Iris Kievernagel, to have the sperm [...]
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Posted on September 13th, 2008 by Roy Newman
Asset protection may come in many forms, but what if your tax shelter was built by God? That is the claim of an Iowa resident who believes he resides in heaven, the ultimate off-shore asset protection trust. The man’s logic seems to be that heaven is not within the jurisdictional reach of the [...]
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Posted on September 11th, 2008 by Roy Newman
Michael Ray Jennison was found guilty of second degree murder of a real estate agent hired by a local San Diego probate lawyer. [See the first report here and the second report here.] Jennison inherited part of a condominium from his grandmother (see “What Will Happen If I Die Without A Will?“). Probate agent [...]
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Posted on September 5th, 2008 by Roy Newman
A neighbor witnessed Michael Ray Jennison shoot probate agent and realtor James Magot twice in the head after a brawl involving the sale of a condominium. Magot was apparently hired by a San Diego probate lawyer to handle the sale of the property, but instead attempted to buy it himself through a competing bid [...]
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Posted on July 22nd, 2008 by (author unknown)
“The price tag for the nation’s housing crisis escalated again with reports Tuesday that a record number of Californians lost their homes to foreclosure in the last three months and that a potential bailout of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could reach $25 billion.
The figures were released as the House prepared to vote [...]
Filed under: Business Planning, Current Events, Estate Planning - Generally, Wills and Trusts | No Comments »
Posted on July 2nd, 2008 by Tort
The New York Probate and Estate Litigation Blog reports that “[t]oday’s New York Times reports that the late Leona Helmsley has left a mission statement in connection with a testamentary trust valued as high as eight billion dollars. In it, she directs that virtually the entire fund be applied to the welfare of dogs.
From [...]
Filed under: Charities and Charitable Giving, Current Events, Estate Planning of the Rich and Famous, Trusts, Wills and Trusts | No Comments »
Posted on May 11th, 2008 by Roy Newman
“Bad financial decisions and poor timing have landed Alicia Cardenas smack in the middle of the nation’s sub-prime mortgage mess.
The single mother of three could qualify only for a high-interest loan when she refinanced two years ago to pay off a home equity credit line and her share of a divorce settlement.”
Financial advice from the [...]
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Posted on April 22nd, 2008 by Roy Newman
“The dispute over Charles’ musical and financial legacy was the subject of an article in Sunday’s Los Angeles Times. The article reported that the rights to Charles’ music had become the subject of several lawsuits in state and federal courts. The litigation pits several of the children against Joe Adams, 86, Charles’ long-term manager, who [...]
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Posted on April 8th, 2008 by Roy Newman
Amid the stock market’s sharp losses and wild volatility in the first quarter, some investors may have discovered their true threshold for pain. So what do you do if that threshold turned out to be a lot lower than you’d thought? There are steps you can take to reduce your risk of serious portfolio losses [...]
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Posted on March 28th, 2008 by Tort
The new 2009 U.S. News Law School Tax Rankings were released today: 1. NYU (#1 last year) 2. Florida (#2) 3. Georgetown (#3) 4. Northwestern (#4) 5. UCLA (#7) 6. Harvard (#5) 6. Miami (#6) 8. Boston University (#8) 9….
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Posted on March 21st, 2008 by Trusts EstatesProf
The following is from Ledger Family Feuding Over Heath's Estate, omg.yahoo.com, March 19, 2008: Heath Ledger's family is embroiled in the midst of a battle for control of the late actor's estate. The actor's uncles are speaking out against Heath's…
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Posted on March 19th, 2008 by Trusts EstatesProf
According to Robin Kwong and Justine Lau, Hong Kong battle begins for tycoon’s billions, FT.com, Feb. 23, 2008: The charitable foundation established by Nina Wang, the Hong Kong tycoon, fired its first shot in the battle for her $3.9bn (€2.6bn,…
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