Trusts & Estates

Former estate-planning lawyer faces federal charges in claimed $3M client theft case

A former Pennsylvania estate-planning lawyer is facing a federal wire fraud and money-laundering case, accused of bilking eight clients of over $3 million between 2007 and 2013. Prosecutors say Wendy Weikal-Beauchat, 46, used fake certificates of deposit and IRS 1099 interest-reporting forms to cover up the claimed thefts, the Gettysburg…

Nov 4, 2013 6:30 PM CST

Man implements $200M estate plan, but dies before signing will; sons file unjust enrichment suit

Henry Faison already had a will. And, when an accountant suggested the North Carolina real estate developer revise it, he asked a well-regarded law firm to set up a charitable foundation (named after his dog) to minimize estate tax on some $200 million in personal assets. Then, just as he…

Oct 21, 2013 11:20 PM CDT

Man who appeared in court is legally dead, judge says

An Ohio man who appeared in court on Monday is legally dead, a judge has ruled. Donald Eugene Miller Jr. was declared dead in 1994, eight years after he disappeared from his home in Arcadia, the Courier reports. On Monday, Judge Allan Davis of Hancock County said Miller is still…

Oct 10, 2013 1:57 PM CDT

Brain-injured man can’t marry, judge rules

An Illinois man who suffered a brain injury during surgery in 2009 can’t marry his girlfriend of 38 years because he doesn’t have the capacity to consent, a Rockford judge has ruled. Judge Lisa Fabiano says she has no doubt that John Morris would like to marry long-time girlfriend, Colette…

Oct 7, 2013 10:45 AM CDT

Court fight over reclusive heiress Huguette Clark’s $300 million estate ends

A bitterly fought court battle over a reclusive heiress’ $300 million estate has been settled. Under the terms of the settlement, most of Huguette Clark’s estate will go to arts charities and distant relatives, the Associated Press and the Daily Mail report. The settlement, which has been filed in court,…

Sep 27, 2013 10:15 PM CDT

Disbarred lawyer gets 40 years for embezzling $1.2M from child’s guardianship fund

A former Mississippi lawyer has been sentenced to 40 years in prison, with 10 years suspended, after being found guilty Thursday of embezzling $1.2 million from the guardianship account of a minor child of a deceased civil rights leader. Michael J. Brown placed in the money in his own escrow…

Sep 5, 2013 4:20 PM CDT

Gay man asks DC court to declare him common-law husband of deceased partner

A gay Washington, D.C. man has asked a family court judge to recognize him as the common-law husband of his late companion. The case may be the first seeking legal recognition of a common-law gay marriage, the Wall Street Journal reports. James Spellman, 55, says he and Michael Kelly, a…

Aug 20, 2013 8:47 PM CDT

Despite DOMA win, some same-sex couples see a tax-related downside; others get estate tax refunds

As the dust settles after a celebration of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that a federal law restricting the rights of same-sex married couples is unconstitutional, some are now facing new tax issues. While the court’s decision to strike the Defense of Marriage Act is expected to result in hefty…

Jul 24, 2013 8:20 PM CDT

Client who lost $6M to pin-up ex-wife sues lawyer for advising him to put money in wife’s name

Facing a $2 million clawback suit by the bankruptcy trustee in the Bernard Madoff case, an Atlanta entrepreneur says, he sought advice from the New York office of Becker & Poliakoff. They referred him to asset protection specialist Richard Cahan in the firm’s Miami, Fla., office, alleges now-former client James…

Jul 17, 2013 9:20 PM CDT

Stunned Chicago pizzeria waitress is latest to benefit, via $500 tip, from stranger’s bequest

In a number of families, even a will drafted by a lawyer is subject to challenge, formally or informally, as relatives fight for a piece of the pie. But the survivors of a Kentucky man who committed suicide last year have found a way to create assets he didn’t have,…

Jul 12, 2013 12:00 PM CDT

Gandolfini’s will is a tax ‘catastrophe,’ estates lawyer says

The will of the late Sopranos star James Gandolfini is a “disaster,” a “catastrophe” and “a nightmare from a tax standpoint,” according to an estates lawyer who reviewed the document. Lawyer William Zabel reviewed Gandolfini’s will for the New York Daily News. Gandolfini left 80 percent of his estimated $70…

Jul 8, 2013 6:38 PM CDT

Both winning claimants to $150K veggie garden cash stash have died, so money will go to heirs

The mystery of how a $150,000 cash stash got into vegetable garden of a suburban Chicago home may have been solved. The money, found by an unemployed electrician in his yard in 2011, wasn’t stolen, as the owner of a nearby liquor store had hoped, following a robbery there, but…

Jul 3, 2013 4:15 PM CDT

Will written on tablet computer because no paper was at hand is valid, judge rules

An Ohio judge has ruled that a will written on a Samsung Galaxy tablet computer, because no paper was available, is valid. Under state law, explained Lorain County Probate Judge James Walther, the instrument must be a written document that was signed and witnessed, which the will of Javier Castro…

Jun 25, 2013 11:50 AM CDT

Son and lawyer of elderly heiress Brooke Astor are both headed to prison over $60M fraud

The son of heiress Brooke Astor and her former lawyer have exhausted their appeals in a $60 million fraud case concerning her estate and are headed to prison. The New York Daily News reports that state’s highest appellate court on Friday denied appeals by Anthony Marshall, the 88-year-old son of…

Jun 10, 2013 6:30 PM CDT

Docs filed in will contest over heiress’ $300M estate and ‘accountability of professionals’

As a September trial looms in a will contest over the $300 million estate of a copper heiress who died in 2011 at age 104, documents filed Wednesday in the Manhattan Surrogate’s Court case provide new details about the facts at issue. On March 7, 2005, Huguette Clark executed a…

May 30, 2013 9:02 PM CDT