Spoiler Alert: This post contains spoilers about the recent Star Wars movie, The Last Jedi.
At the climax of The Last Jedi, Luke Skywalker appears via Force Projection on the planet Crait to confront his nephew Kylo Ren and save the last of the Rebels. Exhausted from appearing via Force Projection to ensure the escape of the Rebels, Luke Skywalker peacefully passes on and became one with the Force. His Jedi robes gently collapse into a pile as we gaze to the broad and optimistic horizon ahead.
As we ponder profound issues such as Rey’s parentage, Leia’s apparent Force ability, the possibility of Benicio Del Toro’s return in the next movie (hopefully, yes), and the fate of the Republic, we must also consider the disposition of Luke’s estate. While we do not know whether Luke had a will in place, nevertheless, it’s both fun and educational to analyze the answer, because if the same laws in effect in Virginia were in effect in the Star Wars universe, Luke’s death would likely have set off a wave of litigation among numerous characters in the Galaxy.
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I recommend that before an ill or very elderly person signs a will (or trust), that the estate planning attorney obtain a note from a doctor as to the person’s mental capacity. Doing so will help create a record that will make it more challenging to contest the will (or trust) on the basis that the person lacked testamentary capacity (i.e., the requisite mental capacity in order to execute a will or trust).
Without question, one of the most common estate disputes we see centers around allegations that one person unduly influenced another person to write (or re-write) a will or trust. The typical situation involves an elderly person, no longer capable of living independently, who becomes increasingly reliant on another person for care and assistance.
The new year is a good time to look ahead at what trends we may expect to see in the area of estate litigation in 2018. I have 4 predictions.
People typically picture the probate process going something like this: a person dies, you find their will, you take the will to the courthouse, the executor pays the debts, and then the executor distributes the assets. Of course, the process is much more complicated and time-consuming than that. Moreover, there are also multiple people involved in the process of administering an estate or testamentary trust. One of these critical people is the Commissioner of Accounts.
Imagine you’ve thought you were married for a decade and all of a sudden your spouse denies that you were ever married at all. The Virginia Supreme Court (the “Court”) recently decided just such a case in 
Actor Alan Thicke – best known for his role on the TV show 
Back in June of this year, the Virginia Supreme Court handed down a ruling in an estate dispute case that, while it didn’t particularly break new legal ground, provides a helpful overview of the current state of Virginia law regarding Virginia’s Slayer Statute as well as claims contesting a deed of gift on the basis of undue influence.
The legal landscape in Virginia regarding claims for legal malpractice against estate planning attorneys changed significantly this past year when the Virginia General Assembly adopted legislation to address the issues raised in the Virginia Supreme Court’s Thorsen decision. This blog post discusses some implications of, and observations about, the new legislation, which was adopted as 
The vexatious litigant is a problem that civil litigation attorneys very likely encounter at least once during their careers. It is a well-accepted precept that courts exist, in part, for citizens to seek redress for their claimed civil wrongs. But can a person abuse the privilege? The Supreme Court of Virginia held that a person can indeed abuse that privilege, in its June 8, 2017 opinion in 
