Family Conflict

Total 257 Posts

Estate Trustees and Costs of Litigation: Try not to take it personally?

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In the work I do, I am asked to provide expert testimony to support litigation. In some cases, I am often quite surprised to what extent parties will continue to litigate matters that appear to be “no-wins” or for small dollar amounts. Depending on the circumstances, parties have taken the personal brunt of litigation costs that may far exceed the amount in question, due primarily to their own intransigence. A….

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Attorney Compensation, Contested wills, Costs, Estate Administration, Executors, Family Conflict, Liability, Property, Trustee, Trustee Disputes, Uncategorized, Wills

My Summer Vacation

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One of my favorite routines on my annual summer vacation is to read the local news. Regular readers of this Blog may not be surprised that the story which caught my eye this summer was about an Estate.   Richard M. Grant, a life-long farmer, known as the “The Corn King” and “The Bean Baron of Maine”, passed away in February 2017. According to the Portland Press Herald (“the Herald”), Grant’s….

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Contested wills, Estate Litigation, Family Conflict, In the News, Uncategorized

Yesterday I watched the US Open and Thought About My Dad

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This original post was from a few years ago. It does seem like only yesterday because, while time has not stood still, sometimes our sentiments don’t change. The event and message is the same. It is a few years later and there is a new US golf champion. We still however miss those who are no longer around. It was hard not to know that yesterday was Father’s Day. Signs,….

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Elder Care, Family Conflict

The Risk and (Potential) Reward for Acting as an Executor [1]

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  For those engaged in thoughtful Will planning there comes a point in the discussion with clients about who should be an executor, what the job of an executor is and whether and how much they should be paid. More often clients want to start the Will planning dialogue by telling me who they want to name as their executor.  Sometimes the choice is coupled with the explanation that “He….

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Estate Planning, Executors, Family Conflict, Wills

Trust and (Mis)Communication in Families

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There is a recurrent theme that I continue to see in my elder care work with families. It involves a breakdown in communication that has likely started sometime ago. As a result of this miscommunication, the trusting relationship that I would like to be believe originally existed there, has been damaged. This lack of trust seems to revolve around several parties and may include distrust from parent to child and/or….

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Family Conflict, Power of Attorney, Undue influence

A Gift is a Gift

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We often write about the benefits (and some pitfalls) of gifting, before and after death. Personally, when I recommend gifting, I assume that unless there are specific outcomes required to realize on the gift, a gift is exactly that, a gift – something transferred voluntarily without expectation of getting it back because you changed your mind.  A recent court case appears to support this assumption. According to Johnston v. Song, 2018….

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Charitable Giving, Estate Planning, Family Conflict, Investments, Probate Tax, Property, Real Estate, Separation, Spouse, Uncategorized
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