Alicia Johnson, 48, argued that the biological father, 53 year-old Marcus Crumble, her first cousin, didn’t deserve a cent because he raped her when she was 15 and never helped financially with the son who was born as a result of that rape.

Circuit Judge David Borowski agreed with her, writing,

“The Court has seen far too many absent fathers in this community. Out of wedlock births, where a ‘father’ both literally and figuratively abandons a child are a scourge.

“Under the tragic facts and circumstances of this case, including the fact that Mr. Crumble committed both statutory rape and incest, this Court will not allow a six-figure windfall to be awarded to Mr. Crumble.”

However, Crumble was awarded the amount he chipped in for the funeral. Crumble rekindled somewhat of a relationship with his son, Brandon Johnson, after he graduated college.

Borowski wrote, that anyone 18 years old could create a will and direct their estate not go to an abandoning parent. But noted that very few unmarried people without children under 30 actually create a will.

He wrote the equitable powers of the probate court allow him to find that allowing Crumble half of the settlement would amount to unjust enrichment.

Borowski ordered the estate’s special administrator to pay Crumble only the amount he spent for Brandon’s funeral, give half of the remaining $837,000 to Alicia Johnson, and keep the balance for 90 days, or longer if Crumble appeals.

There are ways to deal with these conflicts to resolve differences without going to court. The best advice is for parents to do estate planning, which includes preparing a Last Will and perhaps a Trust document. Preparing a personal letter(s) to heirs explaining one’s intention prior to death is an excellent idea but rarely followed.

A Will challenge can be based on three things:

1. The will is defective on its face; the will may be missing essential elements.
2. Incapacity, the deceased did not have testamentary capacity to make a will.
3. Undue influence.

A valid Will must be witnessed by two disinterested parties. A challenge of incapacity must be based on medical records and medical conditions at the time the Will was executed. Undue influence is difficult to prove unless a new will was created in favor of a non-family member when the decedent was ill or infirm. When a conflict arises between siblings, a cross petition and or an objection to Probate/Administration may be filed. Extensive discovery proceeding may uncover clues to the decedent’s testamentary intentions.

In many cases, a resolution may be reached in a court supervised settlement conference. Our law office has extensive experience reaching out of court settlements, resolutions of disputes between once “close” family members.

We posted the WXYZ video story about this scandal last year. Probate public administrator in Michigan cashes in on other people’s estates…legally

Barbara Andruccioli was one of the lawyers exposed by Detriot’s WXYZ 7 News investigation into collusion between probate attorneys and estate brokers to cheat heirs. She was recently hired by the Oakland County Probate Court at a taxpayer cost of $102,000/year. Channel 7 investigator asked Anruccioli, “How can the taxpayers have any confidence with you working here?” Andruccioli answered, “Really, I think you probably need to talk to the judges.”

Andruccioli was a partner at Kemp Klein law firm and an Attorney General-appointed Public Administrator: a public official with the authority to open probate estates after someone dies if there are no heirs available.

WXYZ reports

Andruccioli was a partner at Kemp Klein law firm. She was also an Attorney General-appointed Public Administrator, a public official with the authority to open probate estates after someone dies if there are no heirs available.

Court records show Andruccioli teamed up with real estate broker Ralph Roberts and his companies to open those estates, sell the homes, and cash in.

WXYZ uncovered court filings showing “Andruccioli and one of Roberts’ companies, Probate Asset Recovery, were billing for thousands of dollars, while the actual heirs ended up with very little.”

After the station’s investigation, Attorney General Bill Schuette terminated Andruccioli as a Public Administrator and the FBI and Oakland County Sheriff’s detectives raided Ralph Roberts offices, and launched a criminal probe into the Public Administrators.

Oakland County Clerk Lisa Brown told the station that her reaction when she first heard of the hiring was “Shock, absolute shock and bewilderment… So out of having a wonderful pool of applicants, why would you choose this person who has a cloud over them?”

1. Do not make your special-needs child a beneficiary – naming them as a beneficiary in a will, retirement plan, insurance policy or other financial account may seem like the appropriate step to take, but it can have detrimental effects, including preventing the child from qualifying for federal benefits. Programs such as Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) offer financial assistance to people with special-needs. However, to qualify for these programs, a special-needs person must have a limited amount of income and resources to their name. For example, to qualify for SSI, your child must have less than $2,000 in savings.
2. 529 ABLE Accounts – similar to 529 college-savings plans, these accounts will allow tax-free distributions if the dollars are used to pay for qualified expenses; including housing, employment training, assistive technology and personal support. ABLE accounts can hold up to $100,000 in assets without jeopardizing the beneficiary’s eligibility for federal benefits. Families can contribute up to the maximum gift exclusion each year, $15,000 for 2018. To qualify for an ABLE account, disability must have been occurred prior to your child’s 26th birthday.”

Read the full article: 4 Important Financial Planning Considerations If You Have A Child With Special Needs

“Hello Lawrence County, Laura Terry Powell here and I mustache you a question…,” she said, then urged people to register to vote in the June 5 primary.

“All jokes aside, I’m sorry to the Hatton community for this eyesore. “I’m going to attempt to scrub it off today and if that doesn’t work we’ll get it fixed as soon as possible.”

You can view the video here:

https://www.facebook.com/powellforprobate/videos/425599941222227/?t=7

The estate’s administrator, Dennis King was ordered earlier by Commissioner Brendy Penny to file a status report or a petition for final distribution by September 10th. The actress’ will asks that the residue of the estate be made part of the Carrie Fisher Living Trust. King is the trustee of the trust and the instrument’s beneficiary is Fisher’s daughter, 25-year-old actress Billie Catherine Lourd. Created on Jan. 15, 2016, the will states the executor is authorized to pay the estate’s federal, state and inheritance taxes and to use his discretion regarding the preliminary and final distribution of property.

Known for playing Princess Leia in the “Star Wars” film series, the 60 year-old Fisher died Dec. 27, 2016, a day before the death of her mother, 84 year-old Debbie Reynolds.

This can be done without discretion of the individual relationship between the decedent and that relative. Unfortunately, these relatives could possibly have had almost no contact, if any, with the decedent, making intestate succession an often unsatisfactory alternative. If the decedent did not take the time to draft a last will that clearly and concisely expresses their intentions regarding the disposition of their estate, anything can happen. Sentimentality will undoubtedly clash with practicality as relatives and families attempt to divide the estate and assets, and an unnecessary burden will be placed on all surviving relatives. In the event the decedent has no surviving relatives, the entire probate estate will escheat to the state of New York.

Payne explained that the money came from fees people paid for copies of birth and death certificates. He said he was entitled to it. The commissioner disagreed. According to he Chattooga Times Free Press, Payne said

“He [Winters] said, ‘Why do you think you are supposed to make more money than I do?’ I said, I don’t think I’m supposed to. But I’m a heck of a lot better looking than you are. I work a heck of a lot harder than you do. And I take a heck of a lot better care of the people than you do.

The thing is, Payne is allowed to get a piece of the action. In addition to his duties as probate judge, he is custodian of vital records that include birth and death certificates and he gets paid for that work. Georgia law states the local custodian can keep some money from the fees collected on vital records.

Georgia’s state’s executive director of probate court judges, Kevin Holder, said a commissioner can pass a resolution capping Payne’s revenue at $7,500 a year., but Winters hasn’t done that. He just sent Payne a letter telling him he couldn’t keep the money anymore.

A spokeswoman for the Georgia Department of Public Health, Nancy Nydam, said some judges in the state keep all the fees paid for vital records. It all depends on what agreement they have with their county.

The county is one of the few in the State of Georgia that still operates under one county commissioner.

For assistance with probate services, contact our experts today.

The New Hampshire Union Leader reports the petition was filed by the three sisters of Linda Carman, Nathan’s mother, who was lost at sea while on that fishing trip with Nathan. Carman’s aunts allege that Carman committed the “heinous act” of shooting and killing John Chakalos in his Windsor, Conn. home in 2013 out of “malice and greed” and states “the petitioners believe that Nathan murdered their father, and they ask this court to so find.”

Chakalos was shot three times in the head in his bed in December 2013 in his West Chesterfield, NH mansion. While no one has been charged in the murder, Police have publicly stated Nathan Carman is a suspect in the case.

His mother, Linda Carman is presumed dead and Carman is in line to collect the portion of the family estate that would have gone to his mother.

The petition claims his his aunts “seek to prevent that unjust result.” The action is known as the “slayer rule.” The rules states that

a murderer cannot retain a property interest in his victim’s estate. The slayer rule allows courts to presume the murderer disclaims their property interest, and therefore behave as though the murderer predeceased the victim. This has the effect of disqualifying the murderer from receiving property from the estate of the victim.

Nathan Carman currently has access to a $400,000 trust that was owned by him, Chakalos and his mother. He is now is now the sole owner of the trust..

The FBI and police from several New England states have been investigating the Chakalos murder and the disappearance of Nathan’s mother. Carman. They have obtained search warrants for Nathan Carman’s home, cell phone and vehicle.

Received a phone call one morning saying that they had some good and bad news for me. They said the good news was the appraisal came back great, my credit was wonderful, the loan was ready to go, all I needed to do was sign it. But the bad news was I didn’t own 100 percent of the property.

Ouch. What? As it turns out, he only owned two-thirds of the home due to a mistake by the estate’s attorney. The estate was never finalized.

Johnson is out $10,000 and has nothing to show for it. He has some advice for potential probate home buyers

My message to anybody dealing with a probate would definitely be have your own attorney, one that you trust to go over every last bit of what is going on. Request a title search. That is probably the biggest thing and in this case would have taken care of all of it.”

Recent actions by a handful of individuals has made it clear that it is time to make changes to the public administration system in Michigan…The current law has not been updated in nearly 40 years and while most abided by the law, the abuses that occurred and the families who lost homes and inheritances cannot be undone. It is our job to make sure it does not happen again. This new legislation will make the necessary changes to ensure there is a direct path to follow in the probate process and will help ensure heirs are better protected.

Andrea Bitely, Communications Director for Schuette, told Detroit’s WXYZ

We want to make sure that if you lose a loved one, you aren’t placed in jeopardy again of losing the home you live in, running into financial difficulties. That’s not good practice… The Public Administrators that have previously ignored the rules that we put in place have either resigned or been terminated.

Under the current law, 42 days after someone dies, a Public Administrator can open an estate in probate court in the deceased person’s name to handle any assets. The Public Administrator then bills the estate for legal fees.

Now two new laws have been introduced in the Michigan House of Representatives. WXYZ reports one of the laws extends the number of days to 93 days, giving heirs more time to open their own probate estates. The other caps the fees that the public administrator can collect.

Luckily for New Yorkers, there is no time limit to open a probate proceeding.

In her will, Bronx widow Ellen Frey-Wouters left $300,000 to Troy and Tiger, her two cats. Her will instructed the money be used to make sure they would “never be caged” and always be lovingly cared for.

The New York Post quotes Dahlia Grizzleto, a former health aide Frey-Wouters and now caretaker of the cats as saying, “He deserves it… He’s a wonderful cat.”

Frey-Wouters, who died in 2015 was born in the Netherlands and worked for the United Nations. Her husband, a Brooklyn College professor, passed away in 1989, and the couple’s only child died in infancy.

Troy lives with Rita Pohila, another one of Frey-Wouters’ former home health aides. Pohila, declined to discuss Troy with The Post — invoking the shy feline’s “privacy” rights. Tiger made out like a bandit.He was a former alley cat who i snow living large in Ocala, Florida, dining on filet- ­mignon-flavored Fancy Feast and bedding down in a plush faux-fur bed with silk lining.

Frey-Wouters attorney, Irwin Fingerit was surprised the the bequest

“I said I didn’t think, you know, $300,000 was necessary, and I pointed out the case of the Queen of Mean, Leona Helmsley, who left $65,000 to a dog and became sort of a laughingstock,’’ Fingerit said during a 2016 hearing about the gift. (Helmsley actually left $12 million to her Maltese, Trouble.)

“But no, no, [Frey-Wouters] insisted,” Fingerit said. “She wanted to make sure they were taken care of.”

When the cats die, the balance of their trust fund will go to Frey-Wouters’ only living family member, a sister in the Netherlands.

This delay can result in significant financial hardship for the family and estate of the deceased policyholder, as they wait for the proceeds of the life assurance policy,” said Joe Charles from Royal London.

“We are now calling on the Government to consider our proposals for improvements which are aimed at increasing efficiency and speeding up the probate system.”

The company found six months was the shortest time for probate in Ireland. The longest was over three years. But once probate was over, it took less than a week for claims to be processed and payments made..

By contrast, in the UK probate takes an average of three to four weeks.

Here in New York, not all estates must go through probate. If an estate falls below a certain threshold, it is considered a “small estate” and doesn’t require court supervision to be settled.

You can use the Small Estate Affidavit Program

• If the decedent (the person who died) passed away between August 29, 1996 and December 31, 2008 AND had $20,000 or less in personal property (not land or buildings).
• If the decedent passed away after January 1, 2009 AND had $30,000 or less in personal property.
• If the decedent owned real property, he/she owned it jointly

For more information: Small Estate Affidavit Program

A son suspected of stabbing to death his mother and sister at their $2 million home had been cut out of the family’s fortune just weeks earlier.The son, Joshua Cohen, 27, was arrested on Saturday after his mother Leah, 66, and sister Hannah, 33 were found murdered in their home London last Friday. Police described the murder as “a devastating attack”.

Mr Cohen’s late father Asher was one of the founders of the world renowned Beigel Bake in Brick Lane, London. Asher, who died in December aged 81, arrived in the UK from Israel in the 1960s and worked at his brother’s bakery next door before branching out and opening his bagel business. He set up Beigel Bake with his brother and another partner in 1974 and it was first Britain’s first bagel bakery. It is known for its salt beef bagel.

Probate on his estate was granted on July 27th and on the same day the directorship of the Beigel Bake empire was changed to list two of Cohen’s brothers as directors.

A family friend quoted by the Daily Mail said, ‘They’re a really nice family, but I know Josh has struggled for years with his mental illness. It’s terrible what’s happened.’

There are many different types of trusts. But more broadly, every trust is either revocable or irrevocable. Unless the drafter of the trust explicitly says so, a trust is irrevocable

There are advantages and disadvantages of each kind of trust. The irrevocable trust offers an estate plan more utility and protection from creditors than a revocable trust would. irrevocable trusts offer asset protection, the ability to reduce estate taxes, and enables the settler to be eligible for Medicaid funds.

Should your primary concern be your ability to keep and stay in your home during your lifetime and that of your spouse, creating an irrevocable trust, with provisions allowing you to stay in your home, is a good solution. Creating an irrevocable trust secures your right to live in your home and avoid probate taxes for your heirs after you die. However, if at some point decide to sell your home, the irrevocable trust may eliminate that option.

Your creditors will be unable to reach the assets of an irrevocable trust that you create so long as there is no evidence of overt fraud or debt avoidance. This makes an irrevocable trust a powerful tool to still provide for your loved ones, despite having burdening debts on your finances. Moreover, this even includes the creditors of a beneficiary of the irrevocable trust. If the beneficiary has little or no control over the assets of the trust, the creditors will be unable to reach those assets.

An irrevocable trust also will minimize estate taxes by allowing a surviving spouse to obtain a federal estate tax exemption on the assets you placed in the irrevocable trust. The only caveat there is that the assets of the trust may still be taxed as a gift when the trust is created if the assets exceed the allowable threshold.

An irrevocable trust will also comply with Medicaid laws to ensure the settler may be eligible to receive benefits. Under the Medicaid laws, assets held in a revocable trust—assets that you can withdraw or seek benefits from—remain part of the settlor’s estate. Thus, you will remain eligible for Medicaid despite having significant funds in an irrevocable trust.

Because of the many nuances and complex laws in this area of law, it is essential that you retain a New York trusts attorney

Known as the Dead Man’s Statute, the law states that in New York, the surviving spouse is entitle to collect certain assets, even if the will bequeaths them to someone else. The surviving spouse is entitled to one-third of the estate if it is valued at over $50,000. That includes joint bank accounts and other assets. The law was designed to prevent perjury by prohibiting a witness who is an interested party from testifying about their “communications” with a deceased person

Mr. Berk’s caregiver, Hua Wang, secretly married him and wanted to testify about her relationship with her deceased husband. Ingram ruled that since she had a financial interest in the outcome of her testimony, she would be barred her from giving what would be a one-sided testimony. The issue was whether she forfeited her ability to exercise her right of election since she had an interest in the outcome of the case.

In New York State, they are only valid if they are made by members of the armed services during an armed conflict. The handwritten will must be entirely in the testator’s (deceased person’s) handwriting. These types of wills are only valid for one year after the person ceases serving.

After the person who wrote the will has passed away, it’s more difficult to prove the validity of a holographic will in probate court. If you’re an executor submitting a holographic will to probate, you must show that entire will, or at least all the significant parts, is in the handwriting of the deceased person.

You also need proof the testator had the mental capacity to write the will and the will must contain the testator’s wish to disburse personal property to beneficiaries.

Different states have different requirements, so if you’re not in New York State, check with an attorney in your state.

A testator is a person who has published a will to be followed upon her death. When a person dies without having published a will, she has died intestate. Each state has in its body of law intestacy statutes. These statutes dictate how a decedent’s property is to be disbursed in the event that the decedent had no valid will in place at the time of his death. Intestacy statutes also are deferred to when a decedent’s will is unclear or contradictory, or when there is excess property to be distributed which was not subject to the will. Basically, intestacy provides a default plan of property distribution in the event that no other direction was given by the decedent property owner.

The probate system comes into play when the decedent died with a will. Probate is a court process through which the will is validated, invalidated, and contested. Probate also controls the distribution of assets upon death while settling any disputes that may arise among beneficiaries. The probate system sees that creditors have been paid, and that the intentions of the testator are respected.

There are reasons to avoid intestacy. Intestacy is often the least desirable. New York’s intestacy statutes may do a fine job of allocating appropriate portions of an estate to a decedent’s living relatives, but the system may work better in theory than in practice. For example, without a will, intestacy may not provide adequately enough for an adult child who needs long-term care beyond the death of a parent. Personalization of asset distribution alone is a good reason to have a will in place. However, a will triggers the probate process. If you do not have an experienced New York City probate attorney and trained staffed like those at the law offices of Jeffrey Weinstein, other more inexperienced lawyers may turn this into a costly and length process.

There are many tools that a person may turn to in order to avoid the probate system. There are some kinds of property which, as a rule, are not subject to probate. These consist of joint tenancies and tenancies in the entirety in real property, and life insurance policies not paying into an estate or trust.

One way to avoid the New York probate system is to use living trusts. Unlike a will, or a testamentary trust created in a will, a living trust has the ability to transfer property to people and entities both before and after the creator’s death while avoiding probate. Any type of property may be placed in a living trust, and its usefulness in avoiding probate should be noted.

In his 2012 will, he requests that “If at the time of my death I shall leave any incomplete manuscripts I hereby direct my executors to destroy such incomplete manuscripts.”

The NY Times attempted to contact the two and through a spokesman they declined to answer any questions. But the said they do plan to comply with Albee’s wishes.

One of the draft manuscripts in play is Albee’s last known one, “Laying an Egg,” about a middle-aged woman struggling to become pregnant. The play was almost produced but he pulled it back saying he needed to fix it. But even if the executors manage to destroy all the known manuscripts there is the chance that other copies could remain.

The Times quotes president of the Edward Albee Society at the University of Missouri, David A. Crespy, as saying

“Am I disappointed? Yes, because every tiny bit of everything that a writer has written provides insight into that writer’s creative process,” said . “But am I surprised? No. He maintained very strict control over the materials that were available to the public.”

Whether the manuscripts get destroyed or not is still a mystery but the executors have been busy carrying out other aspects of the playwright’s will. This fall, Sotheby’s will auction off more than 100 artworks collected by Albee to benefit his foundation.

To read more details see the NY Times article Edward Albee’s Final Wish: Destroy My Unfinished Work