Tag Archives: Trust
Legislative Update: Virginia’s General Assembly Acts to Reduce Inconsistencies between Revocable Living Trusts and Wills
As more people elect to use revocable living trusts for estate planning purposes instead of traditional wills, the disposition of property will increasingly depend on the interpretation and determination of revocable living trust provisions. Virginia’s General Assembly (“General Assembly”), Virginia’s state legislature, recently acted, with House Bill 746, to address some of the principles governing revocable living trusts. House Bill 746, which has been signed into law, amends several statutory sections of the Virginia Code relating to trust and estate law (collectively, the “Amendments”). The Amendments serve to reduce some inconsistencies in the substance and interpretation of revocable living trusts …
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Recognizing Signs of Elder Abuse (and Traits of Elder Abusers)
My goal in this blog post is to discuss character traits of elder abusers so that you can recognize them and hopefully protect yourself, your family, and your friends. I’ve handled over 100 estate disputes, and in a sizeable number of those cases, elder abusers committed an array of unethical actions including isolating, threatening, and pressuring elderly people to change their estate plans. I previously wrote a lengthy blog post that discussed the signs of undue influence of elders. That blog post can be found by clicking here. By contrast, this blog post focuses on the character traits of elder abusers. …
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The Rise of Litigation Involving Trust Protectors
Disputes involving trust protectors are increasing in number and will likely only further increase in number in the coming years. This blog post discusses what a trust protector is, whether trust protectors owe fiduciary duties (and to whom), and why litigation involving trust protectors is likely to increase in the future. What Is A Trust Protector? A trust protector is a person who is named in a trust to exercise varying types of oversight functions with respect to a trustee, or to exercise certain powers with respect to amending the trust. The powers of a trust protector can vary widely, …
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Top 10 Ways To Be Disinherited (And How To Avoid That) (Part 2)
This is Part 2 in the series of the top 10 factors that I’ve seen that lead to people being disinherited from a relative’s or friend’s estate plan. In Part 1, I discussed 5 of the 10 factors, and the following round out the final 5 factors. Knowing these factors will hopefully help ensure that you not only avoid being disinherited, but perhaps, more importantly, help ensure that you have deeper and more meaningful relationships with family and friends: 6) File a Guardianship and Conservatorship Action Against a Relative There are two main reasons why a person would file a …
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Top 10 Ways To Be Disinherited (And How To Avoid That) (Part 1)
I’ve handled over 100 estate disputes, and based upon my experience the following are 5 of the top 10 factors that I’ve seen that lead to people being disinherited from a relative’s or friend’s estate plan. I’ll follow this blog post with another one in the next week or two discussing the final 5 factors. Knowing these factors will hopefully help ensure that you not only avoid being disinherited, but perhaps, more importantly, help ensure that you have deeper and more meaningful relationships with family and friends: 1) Don’t Visit or Call Your Relative This is far and away the …
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Recognizing Signs of Undue Influence
Undue influence over elderly persons, disabled persons, and others is a large problem, which will only get worse as American society increasingly ages and the baby boomer generation prepares to transition large sums of wealth via their estate plans. It’s important for every family member, friend, neighbor, business colleague, etc., to be aware of the signs of undue influence so that they can protect their family members, friends, and associates. The law in Virginia (like the law in most states) defines undue influence as influence “sufficient to destroy [the] free agency” of a person. Jarvis v. Tonkin, 238 Va. 115, …
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New Law Enables Possible Recovery Of Attorney’s Fees On Grounds Of Undue Influence
Last year, the Virginia General Assembly adopted a new law that went into effect on July 1, 2014. Virginia Code Section 8.01-221.2. provides as follows: “In any civil action to rescind a deed, contract, or other instrument, the court may award to the plaintiff reasonable attorney fees and costs associated with bringing such action where the court finds, by clear and convincing evidence, that the deed, contract, or other instrument was obtained by fraud or undue influence on the part of the defendant.” In other words, the court has the option (note the use of the word “may”, as opposed …
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