Houston Estate Planning and Elder Law Attorney Blog

Robin Williams’ Estate Battle Continues

Published on: September 10, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Divorce lawyers know that some of the most intense fights between a couple can erupt over the most insignificant item —- a matchbook collection or a set of souvenir spoons from family vacations.

The stuff being fought over serves as a proxy because the parties are angry with each other and want to fight over something. The same thing happens in estate law when heirs do not get along and resent each other. The heirs will fight over those very same inexpensive souvenir spoons.

However, in estate law these battles do not make it to court as often as they do in divorce law because divorcing couples are already in court. Most of the time heirs feuding over junk find it cost prohibitive to hire attorneys. Robin Williams' estate might be an exception.

Ernie Banks’ Estate Saga Continues

Published on: September 9, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

The ongoing skirmish over the small estate of baseball legend Ernie Banks has gone into extra innings. There was a battle between Banks’ estranged wife and the caretaker who was named as sole heir to the estate. Most recently, a third party has claimed a portion of the modest estate.

Banks' friend, Shirley Marx, has entered a claim against the estate for $80,000. Marx claims this is the amount she loaned to Banks while he worked for her family's moving company. However, the loans were not documented, which will make it difficult for Marx to prove her claims.

The Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog reported on this in "Estate of Ernie Banks Faces New Challenge As Creditor Steps Forward."

Change Your Will? Not a Do-It-Yourself Project for Houston Families

Published on: September 8, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Recollections of re-writing a will or scribbling changes to a will after the document has been executed are common. There is a process and procedure to revoking a will. Without the guidance of an experienced estate attorney, a prior and properly executed will trumps a do-it-yourself will.

A recent article from Elder Law Answers, "Efforts to Change Will Using Photocopy and Then Downloaded Form Are Ineffective," describes a case decided by the Minnesota Court of Appeals in August 2015, that proves that it is possible to “fail to revoke” a will.

Esther Sullivan had a will created in 2006. It was a properly executed and valid will that left half of her estate to a former employee. In 2008, she had a change of heart. She photocopied the will and made handwritten changes to it, all of which she initialed. She also wrote that the 2006 will was void. This new document removed the former employee and left half the estate to someone else.

Son’s Inheritance Funded Pursuit and Conviction of Mother’s Murderer

Published on: September 4, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

It’s not exactly what most parents would want their children to use their inheritance for, but we suspect that this mother would have been very proud of her son.

John Bickman Walls told his son Pelle Walls, who was then 17, that his mother, Walls’ ex-wife, had committed suicide. Walls said that his ex-wife, Uta von Schwedler, a well-respected scientist, was found drowned in a bathtub.

Pelle was devastated, and before too long he began to suspect that his father had a hand in his mother's death. His father began acting strangely and saying things like "What if I did do it?" This behavior continued. When he reached the age of 18, Pelle moved out on his own. He eventually managed to get his siblings out of his father's control, due to the latter's erratic behavior.

Legal Action? Note Statute of Limitations and Move Quickly

Published on: September 3, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

There is a statue of limitation on every civil action in the United States. This refers to a restriction of the number of years from the time an action takes place until it can be prosecuted through the courts. Failure to act in a timely manner cost one family millions of dollars.

For twenty years before her death at the age of 104, copper heiress Huguette Clark lived in a private room at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City. When she died in 2011, it appeared that there may not have been any medical reason for her to have been confined to her room.

Her executor filed a lawsuit against the medical center alleging that it had unnecessarily bilked Clark out of millions of dollars due to the confinement and through smarmy friendships. In total, the estate was seeking $95 million from the hospital.

Art Collector? Fifth Circuit Ruling May Change IRS Rules on Fractional Art Ownership

Published on: September 2, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Owning a fractional interest in a piece of highly valued art has never been a simple matter where estate taxes are concerned. How the IRS values and applies the estate tax for estates that include fractional interests in art may be changing due to a recent Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling.

Owning a world-class art collection is something most of us only dream of. For wealthy families and individuals, art collections are a valuable and treasured part of their family’s history. But when the owners pass away, these collections often trigger huge estate taxes. Because they are not liquid assets, heirs must use funds to pay the estate taxes from somewhere else in the estate or sell the art to pay for the taxes.

To complicate matters, valuable pieces of art that have been passed down for generations are often owned by multiple family members, with each owning a fractional interest in the art. This makes it even more difficult to handle estate tax issues.

Texas Politics: High Profile Guardianship Case

Published on: September 1, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Naming a guardian for minor children is never a pleasant task, but this situation makes a compelling argument for why it is so important. A Texas Attorney General with legal problems was appointed guardian of a large trust for two minor siblings and certain facts don’t seem quite right. That no investigation is being made makes one wonder if this is what their father had in mind.

When minors are to receive an inheritance and no guardian has been named, it is normal for a court to name a Guardian ad Litem. This is typically an attorney who is expected to represent the minors and look out for their best interests. When Tanner Hunt, the son of Texas billionaire Ray Hunt, passed away, he left behind a large trust fund and two minor daughters.

In the Hunt case, current Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was appointed as the Guardian ad Litem for the minor daughters. Questions are being asked about Paxton's role in participating in negotiations that would have potentially bought the daughters out of any interest in the Hunt trust for a substantially lower amount than they would have otherwise been entitled to.

Possible Criminal Activities May Impact Heirs to Estate

Published on: August 31, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

If you expect to inherit assets from a successful parent, hope that they do not have a double life that involves criminal behavior. Property used to commit a crime or assets purchased with the profits of a criminal act are subject to civil forfeiture by government offices. If the person is deceased, their estate is vulnerable.

Arthur Mondella was a successful and colorful character. Heir to a family business founded in 1948, Dell’s Maraschino Cherries, Arthur was known for a larger-than-life personality and all the trappings of success The company generated annual revenues of approximately $20 million. But that was not, as it turned out, the sole source of his extravagant lifestyle.

While investigators were looking into an unrelated matter at his Brooklyn factory, they noticed a strong smell of marijuana. This led them to discover that some shelving hid an entrance to the basement, where Mondella had set up an illegal marijuana growing operation. Rather than face criminal charges for his activities, Mondella committed suicide. He left his estate, including the cherry business, to his three daughters and sister. Each received a share.

Australia Court Upholds Promise Based Upon Family Secret

Published on: August 28, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

A promise to give an inheritance that is not fulfilled in a will can be challenged, if the promise can be proven and if the court agrees. The nature of the promise made to one woman in Australia is a sad reflection of a troubled family, but it does illustrate how courts treat promises.

Not every family story is a happy one, as illustrated in a case reported in The Age Victoria, "Woman sues mother over inheritance after keeping father's sexual abuse secret. A woman was sexually abused by her father starting when she was 14. The abuse continued for a year. She told her mother, who promised to end the abuse, but who did not leave the marriage. The mother asked her daughter not to tell the police.

The mother's reasoning was that the couple was putting together a large estate and if she left the marriage, her daughter would not get any of it. In exchange for not telling authorities about the abuse, the mother promised the daughter half of her estate.

Will New IRS Regulations Impact Your Houston Estate Planning?

Published on: August 27, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

New regulations are coming from the IRS regarding family partnerships and limited liability companies. Perhaps in search of revenue, or trying to overcome a legally-permitted loophole, the IRS will soon make changes to capture some otherwise lost revenue on these entities, which have enjoyed tax discounts on assets that are otherwise easy to value.

Family partnerships and LLCs have been used for many years as a means of allowing family members to own assets jointly and to allow assets to be distributed in a relatively easy manner when one of the family members passes away.

The practice began as a way to handle control of family-owned businesses. However, when a family-owned business is owned by a family legal entity, the only way anyone else could buy into the business is by becoming a member of the partnership or LLC.