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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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 [...]
Filed under: Current
Events, Probate, Probate
Litigation, Will
Contests, Wills | No
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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 [...]
Filed under: Current
Events, Tax | No
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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 [...]
Filed under: Current
Events | No
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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 [...]
Filed under: Current
Events, Probate, Probate
Litigation | No
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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
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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 [...]
Filed under: Current
Events, San
Diego Estate Planning | No
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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 [...]
Filed under: Current
Events | No
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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 [...]
Filed under: Current
Events | No
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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….
Filed under: Current
Events, San
Diego Estate Planning | No
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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…
Filed under: Current
Events, Estate
Administration, Wills |
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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,…
Filed under: Current
Events, San
Diego Estate Planning, Wills |
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