Category Archives: Trust Disputes

2022 Year in Review for Trust and Estate Disputes

In today’s blog post, I discuss a few notable developments from this past year in the field of trust and estate disputes. New Standard For Undue Influence In Will Contest Cases First, probably the most notable development from this past year is that Virginia’s General Assembly adopted a law that provides for a new standard for undue influence in will contest cases. Senate Bill 554 added a new provision to the Virginia Code in Section 64.2-454.1. I wrote a lengthy blog post this past summer on the bill (which blog post can be found here), so I won’t repeat myself …

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Posted in Undue Influence \ Comments Off on 2022 Year in Review for Trust and Estate Disputes

The Supreme Court of Virginia Hands Down a New Decision on the Applicability of a No Contest Clause in a Trust

By recent unpublished order in the matter of McMurtrie, v. McMurtrie, the Supreme Court of Virginia reversed a trial court’s ruling that a no contest clause (in terrorem clause) in a trust did not apply to a trust settlor (trust creator). While unpublished, the order nevertheless provides an instructive analysis of the legal framework for an increasingly common estate dispute scenario: whether a no contest clause in a trust or will has been violated by the actions of a beneficiary. Additionally, this unpublished order also applied certain principles from the Supreme Court’s recent Hunter v. Hunter decision. Notably, Hunter v. …

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Posted in General, No Contest Clause \ Comments Off on The Supreme Court of Virginia Hands Down a New Decision on the Applicability of a No Contest Clause in a Trust