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 now than at any other time in human history, meaning that there’s much more to fight over than at any time in the past. Third, our society is becoming increasingly litigious in general, so it’s not surprising that this carries over to the estate litigation context. And fourth, new laws relating to trusts and estates are proliferating seemingly each year, opening up new areas of potential disputes. For example, within the past decade or so, we’ve seen a dramatic rise in the utilization of trust protectors (see my blog post discussing litigation involving trust protectors here), a proliferation of trust decanting statutes (see my blog post discussing disputes relating to trust decanting here), as well as the expansion of the Uniform Trust Code to nearly two-thirds of the states.
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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 
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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 
On May 15, 2017, the Supreme Court of the United States handed down its opinion in 
As trust decanting becomes increasingly popular, we can expect to see more disputes and litigation regarding trust decanting. This blog post examines some of the main issues that will likely arise in those disputes.
How can a person remove a trustee of a trust? Depending on the language of the trust, there could be several ways. This blog post summarizes some of the options, and provides an overview of things to consider when a person wants to remove a trustee.
