Trusts & Estates

Stop efforts to close Sweet Briar, lawsuits by county attorney and alumna urge Virginia court

Echoing arguments made by unhappy alumnae about the planned closing of Sweet Briar College, the county attorney for Amherst County, Virginia, has filed suit seeking a court order to reconfigure its leadership. Filed Monday, the suit seeks an injunction, putting what amounts to a receiver in charge, and asking the…

Mar 31, 2015 1:55 PM CDT

Who gets items from Robin Williams estate? Court has to decide between his widow and his children

There’s no dispute about the colorful suspenders Robin Williams famously wore on his Mork & Mindy television series more than 30 years ago. They belong to his children. But other items of memorabilia are at the center of a contentious legal battle between his widow, Susan Schneider Williams, and his…

Mar 30, 2015 11:30 AM CDT

New York lawyer charged for allegedly deceiving family over misplaced will

A New York estate lawyer has been arraigned on charges that he forged a fake receipt to hide the fact that he had misplaced a dead man’s will. James Robbins, 62, was arraigned Wednesday on one count of possessing a forged instrument and one count of offering a false instrument…

Mar 27, 2015 3:05 PM CDT

‘Obsessively frugal’ lawyer leaves $3.3M to Skid Row charities

A former lawyer for the Veterans Administration who invested in stocks and lived a frugal lifestyle has left $3.3 million to Skid Row charities in his will. Delmer Clarence Kallberg was 98 when he died about a year and a half ago, the Los Angeles Times reports. In a will…

Mar 26, 2015 10:20 AM CDT

Family sues BigLaw firm, says ex-partner funneled $60M from its trusts

Members of a wealthy Georgia family have filed a malpractice suit against Sutherland Asbill & Brennan. It contends that partner Bennett Kight funneled some $60 million in trust assets through “multiple instances of pervasive fraud, theft, mismanagement, and malpractice” over a 20-year period. Meanwhile, as family members thought they were…

Mar 16, 2015 4:30 PM CDT

Chicago lawyer pieces together a missing couple’s story to obtain a court ruling that they died

When Malaysia Airlines flight 370 vanished after takeoff from Kuala Lumpur on March 8, 2014, it never occurred to Richard Campbell that he'd be involved in some of the earliest litigation over the disaster—or any missing-plane-related litigation, for that matter.

Mar 1, 2015 6:20 AM CST

Heir can sue herself for causing accident that killed her husband, Utah appeals court says

A woman who allegedly caused a car accident that killed her husband can sue herself in her capacity as heir and representative of the estate, a Utah appeals court has ruled. The plain language of the state’s wrongful death and survival action statutes allows Barbara Bagley to sue, the Utah…

Feb 23, 2015 5:45 AM CST

Facebook will allow users to name ‘legacy contact’ in case of death

For nearly a decade, Facebook has responded to notification that an account holder is deceased by verifying the death and freezing the account so no changes could be made. However, on Thursday the social media giant said it will now allow account holders to name a “legacy contact” who will…

Feb 12, 2015 9:35 AM CST

Judge cuts $1.6M jury verdict for lawyer who said she was hounded by sheriff’s office to $300K

Saying that he was required to do so by a legal cap on damages against a government agency, a South Carolina judge has reduced a $1.6 million jury verdict for an attorney who said she was hounded by the local sheriff’s office to $300,000. Kay Paschal contended in her malicious…

Jan 28, 2015 6:15 AM CST

Judge OKs use of funds from slain mom’s estate to pay lawyer in daughter’s Bali murder trial

Updated: A 19-year-old Chicago woman on trial in Bali for the slaying of her mother at a resort hotel has won an emergency motion filed Thursday in Illinois state court seeking to get money for her defense from her mom’s $1.56 million estate. In a Friday hearing, Cook County Chancery…

Jan 16, 2015 8:30 AM CST

Murder trial delayed for lawyer accused of using forged power of attorney as lethal weapon

A double-murder trial scheduled in February for a Missouri lawyer accused of killing her father and his girlfriend in 2010 has been postponed at the request of the prosecution. Attorney Susan Elizabeth “Liz” Van Note, 47, is accused in the unusual case of not only shooting William Van Note, 67,…

Jan 8, 2015 10:30 AM CST

Lawyer must pay client’s estate $4.3M, including $2.6M penalty, judge rules

A California lawyer took advantage of a mentally ill client who was romantically fixated on him and improperly influenced her to leave all her money to him, a state-court judge determined in October. Then, awarding damages just before Christmas in a lawsuit brought by charities that originally were to benefit…

Jan 6, 2015 6:50 AM CST

Suspension recommended for lawyer who blogged about probate corruption and lawyer ‘feeding frenzy’

An Illinois patent lawyer accused of blogging with a reckless disregard for the truth is facing a proposed three-year suspension. The hearing board of the Illinois Registration and Disciplinary Commission recommended the suspension for lawyer JoAnne Marie Denison because of her blog comments about judges and lawyers. The Legal Profession…

Dec 3, 2014 5:45 AM CST

How to curb the law firm exodus? Study looks at traits of those most likely to leave law practice

Law firms seeking to hire lawyers more likely to stay in law practice should be forewarned: Lawyers with “higher levels of resilience, empathy, initiative and sociability” are more likely to leave law practice than those with lower levels of those traits. That finding is from an online assessment of more…

Nov 13, 2014 5:45 AM CST

Got valuable firearms? A gun trust can be a helpful estate-planning tool

For those who have valuable weapons or collect firearms, how the guns should be handled after the owner’s death can be a concern. If heirs are not experienced, they may fall afoul of state and federal laws concerning safe storage and legal transfer of weapons. Or they might be taken…

Nov 10, 2014 10:20 AM CST