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His Prerogative

nick gordon A Bobbi Kristina Brown update. An Atlanta judge ruled two weeks ago that Nick Gordon, the boyfriend of Bobbi Kristina Brown, is liable for $36 million in damagesto her estate and to her father, Bobby Brown, for allegedly causing her death by providing her the drugs in her body at the time of her death and for assaulting her. The judge determined the amount of damages after Gordon stopped appearing in the case a year ago and the estate was awarded a default judgment (because Gordon stopped participating in the case) in September.

Only two points:

1. Gordon does not have the funds to pay the judgment and will likely declare bankruptcy to avoid paying them.

2. There is no word on when Bobby Brown will be held liable for providing drugs to, and ruining the career of, Whitney Houston.

Boxing for Dollars

duboseSamuel Dubose was the Cincinnatian who was shot and killed by a University of Cincinnati police officer after being stopped off campus for not having a front license plate (a “chicken shit” stop in the words of the county prosecutor).  He is survived by his mother, father, and 11 children from various mothers.  

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Money Play

shele-covlinon New Year’s Eve in 2009.  The estranged couple was in the midst of divorce when Shele Covlin was found dead in a bathtub.  An autopsy revealed she had been strangled.  Ms. Covlin reportedly feared for her safety and had an appointment with an attorney to change her will the next day according to court filings.  Since her death, her husband, an unemployed backgammon expert, has been blocked from receiving any of her $1.0 million estate.  She changed the beneficiaries of her $1.6 million insurance policy to her children the month before she died.

There are a litany of estate planning issues, but let’s focus on the major ones:

1.  Changing a will and other documents during a divorce proceeding is always advisable if not prohibited by agreements between the parties or the domestic relations court.

2.  Simply changing a will can allow the other spouse to inherit up to one third of the probate estate if the spouse elects to take the elective share provided by statute.  Transferring the assets to a trust would be a more effective means of disinheriting a divorcing spouse.

3.  If convicted of murder, the husband will lose all benefits to his deceased wife’s estate under NY’s Slayer Statute.

4.  Am I the only one who doubts that Shele Covlin had an appointment on New Year’s Day to change her estate plan? The day after perhaps, but not on New Year’s Day.

 

 

 

 

Is Wisconsin a County in Florida?

A 19 year old Wisconsin man murdered a Milwaukee area businessman in 1971.  After being sentenced to life in prison, he escaped prison in 1978, assumed the name of deceased child, established a trouble free life in Florida as a businessman himself, and eventually married in 1996.  Only when his wife pestered him for his birth certificate so he could obtain a passport did his life unravel and  she filed for divorce.  He committed suicide in 2011 five days after being asked to testify under oath about his real name.  The family of his murder victim recently filed suit to re-open his estate so they could file a claim against the estate because the estate did not publish a notice of his death in a Wisconsin paper.

Several points:

1.  Unless there was a wrongful death lawsuit and judgment, I am not sure what claim the victim’s family has against the estate 40 years after the murder.

2.  Ohio requires creditors to file a claim against an estate within six months of the date of death without exception.

3.  Ohio does not require publication of any notice for estate creditors.

4.  Florida does require publication of notice for creditors but only in the county of the decedent’s residence, not in other counties and presumably not in other states, including Wisconsin.

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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.