Legal Fights Over Wills - No Contest Clauses Hit the Public Spotlight
With the death of Michael Jackson and other celebrities, no contest clauses have come to the fore of the public’s attention. No contest clauses are an attempt to keep brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, and everyone else from suing in probate court every time someone writes an unfair will. There are quite a few benefits to discouraging litigation – as well as some detriment where there is a legitimate cause for concern. In fact, the California law on the subject is complex and will change in 2010. As it stands now, there are multiple statutory exceptions to n

Estate Planning 101: Steve McNair’s Estate Is A Complete Mess
Steve McNair never had an estate plan in place. He never had a will, a trust, or any other testamentary instrument. Although I frequently warn about the dangers of not having a proper estate plan in place, it is hard to imagine a set of facts that will be more devastating to his heirs. First, he likely made over $75 million over the course of his lifetime. Since he did not shelter that money from the federal government, he now may lose up to 45% of that wealth in taxes. That could be a $33,750,000 error. In addition, his wife will be receiving less money than he may have planned, because the remainder will be set aside for his children when they turn 18. It is generally no