Monthly Archives: January 2017
10 Arguments Against Pre-Death (Antemortem) Probate and Will Contests
There are a handful of states that allow a person to probate a will (and challengers to contest the validity of a will) before the testator (the person enacting the will) dies. In recent years, there has been a trend to expand the practice to more states. I had an interesting discussion about this issue at the recent Heckerling conference, and I wrote this blog post to discuss why I think the practice is a bad idea. First, some background: pre-death probate (also known as antemortem probate) is only permitted in a handful of states (including Ohio, Arkansas, North Dakota, and …
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Left At The Altar?: Who Owns The Engagement Ring When Love Goes Wrong?
You’ve found the right partner; you’ve found the right ring; and your fiancee accepted. Now imagine your fiancee unexpectedly breaks off the engagement. You are devastated. Your friends tell you there are plenty of fish in the sea. You’ve returned her favorite CDs and she’s returned your college sweatshirt. But who keeps the engagement ring? The Virginia Supreme Court recently decided this very question in the case of McGrath v. Dockendorf, No. 160262, 2016 WL 7243097 (Va. 2016). In McGrath, Ethan proposed to his fiancee Julia with an impressive two-carat, $26,000.00 engagement ring. Julia accepted and took the ring. About …
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