Lou Ann Anderson writes for the Bell County Michigan Legal News Examiner.  See her article about an attorney who stole $800,000 from the estate of a now deceased client.  More details form Danielle Quisenberry writing for the Jackson Citizen Patriot here.

Anderson says:  "Using the probate system or probate instruments (wills, trusts, guardianships, powers of attorney) to steal assets is a growing problem.  Many of these actions are fueled by a sense of entitlement, others by plain greed.  Sometimes, as with guardianships, the asset owner is alive, but a person can be posthumously victimized by probate theft through estate planning vehicles like a will or a trust.  These cases manifest themselves in a variety of configurations, but "players" usually include one or some combination of greedy attorneys, disgruntled family members and/or wannabe heirs."

For more on this uplifting topic, see Estate of Denial – Shining Light on the Dark Side of Estate Management.   Anderson includes a post about "Legal industry silent on Astor estate attorney culpability."