Is Williamson Estate still good law?
On August 24, 2009, the PA Superior Court filed its opinion in Wachovia Bank, N.A.’s appeal in The Estate of Anna Fridenberg . See 2009 PA Super 164.
The case arose on Objections to the Account of Wachovia Bank, N,A, as the Trustee of a perpetual charitable trust. Wachovia’s corporate predecessor served
Thomas Bucher, son of retired Lancaster County Court of Common Pleas Judge Wilson Bucher, died in July 2008. It was a suicide. His will gave the bulk of his estate to the Lancaster County Public Library – an estimated $1 million. We wrote about the case in an earlier blog post.
Judge Joseph Rehkamp, the Perry County
See John Elihon’s article in the August 5, 2009 New York Times: Writing Expert Says Astor’s Signature Was Forged
"That testimony by Mr. Lesnevich, a forensic document examiner and prosecution witness, appeared to be a blow to Francis X. Morrissey Jr., an estate lawyer who prosecutors have accused of forging Mrs. Astor’s signature on
UBS is in trouble again. This time for inducing a 77 year old Hong Kong woman who doesn’t speak English and who never finished primary school to sign documents in English, one making her a "professional investor" under SEC regulations. They sold her an equity accumulator – a very complicated contract not unlike the fancy
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
A parable:
A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and young grandson. The old man’s hands trembled, and he often spilled his food. He dropped a good piece of china, breaking it. Exasperated, the son and daughter-in-law made the old man wooden bowls and spoons and told him to eat in the
This article on www.law.com points out a gross inequity. Estate planning attorneys can get away with murder. Well, not murder literally, but they get off scot-free when committing horrendous malpractice because of antiquated notions about privity.
In short, the common law view is that since the heirs and beneficiaries didn’t hire the lawyer to
No word as yet about Michael Jackson’s will. According to a June 29, 2009 article in The Independent: "For reasons that remain murky, Jackson’s immediate family have so far had no luck in persuading his former entourage to grant access to his will, the one document that could reveal details of how the performer
On March 23, 2009 the IRS announced a new voluntary disclosure program for undeclared foreign accounts. The "amnesty" program is open for six months, closing on September 23, 2009. For qualifying taxpayers who come forward and report their undisclosed foreign bank accounts and pay back taxes for six years plus interest and some penalty, the
Fear-mongers have used the inter-vivos trust, also called revocable living trust, to sell books, trust kits, trust documents and other products and services. They often do this without regard to the individual’s tax and personal objectives. They scare the client by telling them that probate is a dreadfully complicated and horrendously expensive process. Then they