California Supreme Court to decide same sex marriage Tuesday

The California Supreme Court had decided 4-3 that under the current California law it violated the law not to allow same sex marriage. The voters of the state then voted in favor of changing the law to make it illegal. Subsequently that was challenged though on the grounds it was not done in the proper way. The California Supreme Court has announced it will announce its decision after the holiday weekend on Tuesday.

Probate Attorney Blog - Florida Probate Attorney

A Probate Attorney blog has been restarted. After an absence from blogging www.ProbateAttorneyBlog.com returns. The blog is written by a Florida Probate Attorney and offers Probate, Wills and Estate Administration Law help and information and will have Probate Litigation, Will Contest and Estate and Trust Dispute cases, Information regarding the elderly, estate and gift tax law, and other topics of interest related to trust and estate law issues.

Probate Litigation - Probate Exception

This Probate Litigation Jurisdiction information comes from an article in an ABA journal article that can be found here. It discusses how it is now expected that there will be an increased amount of Probate Estate Litigation in federal court following the Anna Nicole Smith will contest and trust dispute having been decided by the Supreme Court as part of the ongoing inheritance litigation dispute case.

Writing for the court, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said the Probate exception didn’t apply because the case involved issues normally disputed in federal court. Marshall v. Marshall, No. 04-1544. The Supreme Court ruling puts Smith, whose legal name is Vickie Lynn Marshall, back in court to seek a $474 million inheritance judgment she previously won in federal bankruptcy court in California, according to her lawyer, Kent L. Richland of Los Angeles. Meanwhile, even those on the other side expect the Supreme Court decision in Smith’s case to open federal courtroom doors to a deluge of new probate estate-related litigation."I think it’s going to be read primarily by litigators and it’s going to create another new litigation opportunity," says James R. Wade, a Denver lawyer and former probate judge who filed an amicus brief on behalf of the National College of Probate Judges. "I think that the litigators are going to see opportunities which they hadn’t even thought of before of bringing probate cases in federal court."

Estate Litigation Lawsuit regarding Kirby Pucket's remains

An Estate Litigation update was reported today on ESPN.com from an AP story that Kirby Puckett's fiancee claims he wanted his ashes spread on an inner city baseball diamond.
He had been a great outfielder for the Minnesota Twins but was a resident of Maricopa County Arizona at the time of his death so the Estate Litigation lawsuit regarding his remains has been filed there. A link to the full story can be found here.

He was cremated and his fiancee sought to assert rights to his ashes but had a dispute with his children who were the primary beneficiaries of his estate. He had not indicated in any documents what he would like to have done regarding his final arrangements including what would be done with his remains.

His Fiancee Jodi Olson wanted the remains and said she "just assumed she would get them since she was going to be married to him in 90 days". It is often said that assuming things is not a good idea and that would be true in this case. As the fiancee without any documents saying she were to receive the remains it is the opinion of this Florida Probate Lawyer that she will have no case and the probate court will rule on behalf of the children in this estate litigation matter. Since she was not in fact married the children have the relationship that will be given priority.
The remains have remained in a twins city funeral home following his stroke in Arizona but following the estate litigation dispute and the children telling the personal representative they did not wish to divide the remains with his fiancee they are likely to prevail. Also if Kirby had no will his fiancee will receive no property from his estate as Arizona law will provide like Florida that with no spouse the children will receive the estate assets and the full inheritance.

Sadly he passed away from a stroke at age 45 but this case again shows the importance of expressing ones wishes in advance and putting them in writting so it does not need to be assumed. In a Florida Estate Litigation case with these facts she would have no case as it is clear that children's wishes would clearly prevail over a fiancee. A fiancee has no priority in Florida Probate matters unless a will is prepared and it gives her property. Without that the fiancee would not be sucessful in a Florida dispute in Probate Court on these issues.

Descendants pay of 170 year old debt

Family Members Pay Off 170-Year-Old Debt
Descendants Pay Great-Great-Great Uncle's Debt

YELLVILLE, Ark. -- It took them nearly 170 years, but two men have paid off their great-great-great uncle's debt. Their ancestor, Archibald Yell, told leaders of Shawneetown, Ark., that he would give them $50 if they named the town after them. They did, and Shawneetown became Yellville. But Yell never paid.

Descendants David Yell of Lapeer, Mich., and William Yell of Monticello, Ga., were researching their family history when they found out. So the Yell cousins traveled to Yellville on Thursday to settle the debt. The mayor of Yellville was kind enough to waive interest on the debt or the Yells would have owed $803,000.

AP news story.
http://www.wsbtv.com/money/8883794/detail.html

FDIC Retirement Account Insurance Increased

Florida retirement accounts and all others started receiving a significant increase in insurance that each account has yesterday rising from $100,000 where it had been since 1980 to $250,000 for each retirement account at a bank or other financial institution.

The information below is from FDIC.Gov

FDIC Insurance for Retirement Accounts Increased to $250,000 Higher coverage takes effect April 1; Basic insurance limit for other accounts stays at $100,000.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Board of Directors approved a raise in deposit insurance coverage on certain retirement accounts at a bank or savings institution to $250,000 from $100,000. Federal deposit insurance coverage for the first time in more than 25 years will increase and it became effective on April 1. The basic insurance coverage for other deposit accounts, however, will remain at $100,000.

Under the FDIC's new rules, up to $250,000 in deposit insurance will be provided for the money a consumer has in a variety of retirement accounts, primarily traditional and Roth IRAs (Individual Retirement Accounts), at one insured institution. Also included are self-directed Keogh accounts, "457 Plan" accounts for state government employees, and employer-sponsored "defined contribution plan" accounts that are self-directed, which are primarily 401(k) accounts. In general, self-directed means the consumer chooses how and where the money is deposited.
In addition, the IRAs and other retirement accounts that will be protected under the new rules to $250,000 are insured separately from other accounts at the same institution that will continue to be insured up to at least $100,000.

The new law also established a method by which the FDIC would consider an increase in the insurance limits on all deposit accounts (including retirement accounts) in the future, but only every five years starting in 2011. Any such increase would be based, in part, on inflation. Otherwise, accounts will continue to be insured as described above.

A toll-free consumer assistance line: Help and information about deposit insurance and other matters of interest to bank customers is available at 1-877-ASK-FDIC (1-877-275-3342) Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Eastern Time. For the hearing-impaired, the number is 1-800-925-4618.

Estate & Income Tax numbers for 2006

The IRS has determined the inflation adjusted numbers for 2006. The annual exclusion amount from the gift tax has been raised to $12,000. The other tax numbers from 2006 can be found by clicking here.

Income Tax Reform Panel suggestions

The Presidential Tax Reform Commission formed in January recently concluded their service with ideas on substantial changes to the federal tax code. These would lower all rates but severely limit the deductions and credits that are available to seek to simplify the process of tax preparation.

Specifically, the panel said the mortgage interest deduction should be replaced with a credit worth 15 percent of mortgage interest paid, to spread the benefit to more homeowners of modest incomes. The panel also recommended lowering the $1 million limit on mortgages eligible for the tax break to the average regional price of housing, ranging from $227,000 to $412,000.

Tax breaks for mortgages on second homes and home-equity loans would be eliminated.
In another major change, taxpayers could purchase health insurance using untaxed money up to about $5,000 for an individual and $11,500 for a family.


The article discussing the tax reform panels ideas is here.

Worlds first parital face transplant

The worlds first partial face transplant raises interesting issues related to estate planning as well as medical ethics. The article, pictures and a video concerning the procedure can be found by clicking the link above. The estate planning related issue is what powers and what specificity should be required for health care surrogates, personal representatives and powers of attorney for health care.

In the current situation the 38 year old divorced mother of two took sleeping pills to go to sleep after a reported family argument and was then seriously mauled by a dog who did significant damage to hear face making it hard for her to eat, talk and other issues. Doctors determined she had the capacity and the desire to proceed with the procedure although some had questions and the donor for the partial face transplant was from a braindead woman whose family consented. The case would have been governed by the law of France since it occured there but raises interesting issues regarding provisions in the will, living will and health care power of attorney.

Just as advanced directives such as living wills and health care surrogates (also known as powers of attorney for health care) were updated in response to the Health Insurance Portability Act new potential issues need to be considered as well to insure the individuals desires are carried out.