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Agatha Christie Revisted

Thursday, 09 May 2013 11:48

Urooj Khan is the Chicago man who died of cyanide poisoning after winning $1 million in the lottery.   He had dinner with his wife, father in law, and his teen daughter from a previous marriage the night before he died although his wife and father in law did not allegedly eat the meal.  He did not have a will.  The Cook County Probate Court has frozen his dry cleaning businesses while it determines whether they are part of his estate or were transferred to his widow via other agreements.

Several points:

1.  A document disposing of assets at death would have to comply with the requirements for executing a will.

2.  Exceptions to the will requirement would be a buy sell agreement or provisions within an LLC operating agreement.  However, in this case that would suppose that Mr. Khan’s wife was a business partner with him.

3.  It has been more than six months and no arrests have been made in the death by cyanide where the wife and father in law did not eat the same meal and stood to benefit from the new windfall?  Agatha Christie novels are not this obvious.

Maid For Trouble

Friday, 05 April 2013 13:19

The woman at the center of the U.S.’s most expensive probate battle died this week in Poland.   Barbara Piasecka Johnson was a maid who worked for J. Seward Johnson, Jr.’s family, of Johnson and Johnson renown.  Within 2 years, then 76 year old Mr. Johnson divorced his second wife and married the then 34 year old servant.  When Johnson died 12 years later, he omitted 5 of his 6 children from his will and left nearly all of his of $500 million to his wife.  The children contested the will alleging undue influence and settled for $40 million.

Several points:

1.  Mr. Johnson could have provided for both his widow and his children by creating a QTIP trust (a new trust back in 1983) which would have provided assets remaining after his wife’s death would be distributed to his children.

2.  Contesting a bequest to a maid on grounds of undue influence is easy.    Contesting a bequest to a maid who has been married to the deceased for 12 years on similar grounds is nearly impossible.

3.  Marrying someone younger than one’s children is rarely a good idea.  It might be better to date her and leave her a condo and a Bentley in a will and preserve family relations.

Jerry Buss the Sugar Daddy

Wednesday, 03 April 2013 13:10

Los Angeles Lakers owner, Jerry Buss, died in February at the age of 80.  He was known for epitomizing California cool and was often seen with one or more young women on his arm.  In his will, he left a Honolulu condo and a 2009 Bentley to his 20-something girlfriend, and the rest of his assets to his trust.

For privacy reasons, he could have transferred the condo and car to his trust, and made the bequest from the trust.  This also would have avoided the cost of ancillary probate in Hawaii.

Of course, privacy might have defeated the purpose of letting the world know that at the time of his death he was an 80 year old man with a late 20’s girlfriend.    Estate planning always has trade-offs.

When Dad Is Accused of Murder

Wednesday, 27 February 2013 14:35

A Rhode Island man was accused of drowning his wife.  His conviction in the British Virgin Islands was later overturned.  However, his wife’s parents sued him for wrongful death and won a $2.8 million judgment against him.  The man was the designated beneficiary of his wife’s will.  His children from a prior relationship were the contingent beneficiaries.

After the wrongful death judgment, the estate executor sought to have the man removed as a beneficiary of his wife’s will under the RI Slayer Statute.  The executor also sought to have the man’s children removed as beneficiaries under the theory that they should not benefit from the misdeeds of their father.

The RI Supreme Court recently upheld a ruling against the children which prohibits them from inheriting under their step-mother’s will.   One of the rationales in the decision is that the children continued to maintain their father’s innocence and said they would use the assets to defend him.

Several points:

1.  I think the  court is wrong.   The children were specifically listed as beneficiaries if their father were to pre-decease them (or allegedly kill his wife).     As such, they are not “inheriting through him” which is prohibited under RI law.

2.  Is it me, or does it seem that anytime a female US citizen drowns in a foreign country that a murder allegation arises against the husband?  You will not see me swimming outside the US.

3.  If your father allegedly murders someone and you will benefit from his misdeed, do not tell people you will spend the inheritance on his defense. Keep your mouth shut and spend the money quietly.

 

Talking Loud and Saying Nothing

Wednesday, 06 February 2013 13:59

James Brown died in 2006.  His estate moved a step closer to settlement this week after  a federal lawsuit filed by his former business partner was dismissed.  After years of litigation, the estate was to be divided between his wife, his heirs, and his “I Feel Good Trust.”

However, his former pr woman and song writer claimed to have worked with him on the child welfare trust in the 1980s and that his intent was to leave all of his assets to it.  She claimed that the South Carolina attorney general had ignored her, that 100 attorneys had refused to take her case because they were politically intimidated, and that she has a right to be heard and to exert control over the distribution of funds.

Several points:

1.  The court was correct to dismiss the case.

2.  How a probate related case which is handled at the state level lasted 16 months in a federal court is perplexing.

3.  An estate plan can easily change multiple times over 20 years so what James Brown wanted in 1980 could differ greatly from what he wanted in 2006.

4.  It is advisable to ensure that estate planning documents reflect current wishes.

5.  Sorry, sweetheart, but no one has “a right to be heard”  nor do they have the right to exert control over funds unless they are the trustee.   You were simply channeling one of James Brown’s hits.

 

 

 

 

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I am an attorney located in Cincinnati, Ohio who practices in the areas of estate planning, probate, asset protection, and small business advice. I make a difficult and bewildering process as simple as possible. Most importantly, I provide "more for less" for my clients.