The dog ate my homework! That time-worn excuse usually gets an unprepared student an “F”. But suppose Rover isn’t interested in your homework, but in your last will and testament? That could result in an “L” – as in lawsuit. …
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Electronic Wills Come With Perils Electronic wills became legal in Florida on January 1, 2020. As we reported in June, the passage of HB 409 allows wills to be created online, then signed, notarized and witnessed without requiring the will maker,…
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Online web sites that allow the creation of do-it-yourself estate planning documents have some serious downsides. Among them: making it easier for people with nefarious motives to create fraudulent documents. From Arkansas comes an interesting case that illustrates the danger….
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Rock’n’roll lost another icon on September 15 with the death of Ric Ocasek. The 75-year-old lead singer of The Cars died at his New York City townhouse from pulmonary and cardiac complications following surgery. Now, there are complications in his…
more Here is another, and surely not the last example of the perils of an ambiguously worded last will and testament. This story was reported in the September 7, 2019 New York Daily News. New York City psychologist Jill Morris died in 2016 of…
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This is not the forum to discuss the lurid details of the Jeffrey Epstein case. Others are doing a thorough job of that. However, there is one aspect of the saga with direct relevance to our readers: how trusts can…
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Increasing numbers of people are fleeing high tax states for lower-tax environments such as Florida. People have always moved to Florida to escape estate taxes and income taxes, of course. However, the migration has kicked into higher gear of late…
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Socialite and clothing designer Gloria Vanderbilt died on June 17 at age 95, just weeks after being diagnosed with advanced stomach cancer. The great-great granddaughter of railroad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt, at a young age she inherited what would be $35…
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The family feud over the estate of rocker Johnny Hallyday – at least, the first battle in what figures to be a continuing war – has come to a close. And in a sign of the times, Hallyday’s social media…
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Aretha Franklin, Queen of Soul, Dies Intestate. Now it turns out that the “intestate” part may not be true. Three handwritten wills were found in Franklin’s suburban Detroit home recently. This development may well complicate matters, not clarify them. Multiple…
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