Estate Planning, Probate & Elder Law Attorneys

» Wills and trusts - Undue influence - Appeals Court - August 21, 2008

Where a judge approved a 2004 will, that judgment must be vacated and the case remanded for further proceedings because the judge erroneously imposed on the wrong party the burden of proof with respect to the ...

» Who opens the probate estate? Getting organized

I recently wrote a post about saving time and money in probate (it's here). The real message behind all of my ideas is "get organized." And yet I have encountered a number of situations lately where there's sheer disorganization, to the point where multiple members of the same family are attempting to open a probate estate for the same person. Even worse, most of these estates are fairly small, so there's little money to spend. And yet, if you have multiple probates (or attempted probates), you have to bring in the attorneys for each court call, and then work out which person or persons will be handling the estate. It's ALWAYS better to work out these details before things get into court.

»  The Great 401(k) Escape
If the offerings in your employer's plan aren't so great, put your money elsewhere.

» Estate of Hale: New Statutory Custodial Claim Case

I've written extensively, in this blog and on my website, about statutory custodial claims. These types of claims can be filed by family members if they meet certain requirements for the care of a decedent. The statutory language (which has recently been changed -- here is the new language) has always been pretty vague, which is part of the reason why we have the new 1st District case of Estate of Hale (here is the PDF).

This is the sort of legal opinion I like, as it answers specifically a number of questions surrounding statutory custodial claims:

1. How many years of care can be considered? As many years as care was provided (in this case, 9-1/2 years)

2. When does the statute of limitations for such a claim begin to run? Upon the decedent's death

3. Is the amount of the statutory custodial claim reduced by the amount of any fees the claimant received for acting as guardian of the decedent during his or her lifetime? No

» Emerging-market hedge funds gain traction