Elder financial exploitation cases often involve complex legal claims, requiring careful evaluation of evidence, intent, and applicable protections under state and federal law.
Between 2020 and 2024, the number of probate and estate cases entering state courts rose about 32%, based on data from 39 states, according to the independent nonprofit National Center for State Courts.
Trust law is undergoing one of its most significant legal shifts in more than fifty years, reshaping how trusts are governed across state lines and how planners draft them.
The stakes are high for heirs who expect a hefty inheritance.
If you want to exclude someone from the will, is it best to leave them a dollar so they can’t challenge being excluded? Can you put in a provision that if they challenge the will, they lose everything?
What’s a premarital agreement, how does it work, and what does Costner’s wife, Christine Baumgartner, stand to lose if she challenges theirs?
No-contest clauses deter challenges to your estate plan. However, you might want to consider terms that allow for legit challenges related to undue influence.
There are better—and often more creative—ways to plan and divide that can avoid family squabbles over cars, jewelry, furniture and household items.
Take the squabbling between siblings you’ve had to endure and referee as a parent. Now multiply it times age and money. That might give you some idea of the need to make your final wishes clear when the time comes to divvy up your assets.
History is filled with examples of celebrities who died without a will: Bob Marley, Prince, Howard Hughes, Pablo Picasso, Jimi Hendrix and even Abraham Lincoln.
