Category Archives: No Contest Clause
4 Estate Litigation Predictions For 2018
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. #1: The Volume Of Estate Litigation Will Continue To Increase We are very likely to see an increase in the volume of estate litigation in 2018. There are many reasons for this. First, our society is increasingly aging, and with more elderly people passing away each year, the scope of potential estates and trusts that could give rise to litigation increases. Second, more money is being passed down via inheritance …
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“No Contest” Clauses Part 3: The Rafalko Dissenting Opinions
This is the third in a three-part series of blog posts on “no contest” clauses. In this post, I’ll discuss some of the key points in the dissenting opinions in the recent Virginia Supreme Court ruling in the Rafalko case (777 S.E.2d 870) relating to no contest clauses. In Rafalko, the Virginia Supreme Court confronted the issue of whether certain actions violated a trust’s no contest clause. Part two of this series discussed the main takeaways from the majority opinion: (1) mere discourse relating to a challenge of a trust containing a no contest clause does not trigger the no …
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“No Contest” Clauses Pt. 2: The Rafalko Majority Opinion
This is the second in a three-part series of blog posts on “no contest” clauses. In this post, I’ll discuss some of the key points in the recent Virginia Supreme Court ruling (777 S.E.2d 870) in the Rafalko case relating to no contest clauses. In part three, I’ll discuss some of the key points in the dissenting opinions. In Rafalko, the Virginia Supreme Court confronted the issue of whether certain actions violated a trust’s no contest clause. The facts and procedural history of the case are lengthy and detailed, so in my discussion below I’ve only highlighted some of the …
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Yes, Virginia, There Is A “No Contest” Clause
This is the first in a three-part series of blog posts on “no contest” clauses, inspired by a recent Virginia Supreme Court ruling. In this post, I’ll briefly explain what a no contest clause is, and provide a general overview of the law relating to no contest clauses. In the second part, I’ll discuss some of the key legal holdings of the recent Virginia Supreme Court ruling, and in the third part, I’ll examine some of the legal issues raised in the two dissenting opinions. First: what is a no contest clause? A no contest clause (also referred to as …
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