A probate judge has ordered the former executor of famed violinist Isaac …
Continue Reading Probate judge orders the former executor of violinist Isaac Stern’s estate to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to Stern’s three grown children

In the recent Michigan case, a probate judge ordered Yahoo Inc. to…
Continue Reading Release of dead soldier’s e-mail account to his parents in Michigan has sparked debate over personal data: Who owns your e-mail when you die?

Granted, this isn’t exactly a probate-litigation story, but the estate tax looms so large over every aspect of trust and estates law in the U.S., I can’t just ignore it.

So here’s the latest. In what is becoming an annual ritual (usually timed for maximum political advantage), the House voted yet again on April 13, 2005 (272-162) to repeal the federal estate tax in 2010 and beyond. The legislation would prevent the estate tax from re-emerging after its scheduled elimination, for one year, in 2010. Previous bills passed by the House have languished in the Senate. Talks between Republicans and Democrats have just begun in the Senate, where some lawmakers have worried about increasing federal deficits. In fact, with a $1.3 trillion deficit already forcast for the next decade, walking away from an additional $290 billion in lost estate-tax revenues (source: Joint Committee on Taxation Report) has some fiscally conservative Republicans re-evaluating their positions. Estate tax repeal’s top proponent, Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., refused to predict an outcome. The full Associated Press story is available here.
Continue Reading House Approves Bill Repealing Federal Estate Tax

Leave it to the Onion to add a little levity to a…
Continue Reading The Lighter Side of “Living Wills”

A state district judge in Kerrville, Texas, signed a judgment ordering Baker…
Continue Reading Baker Botts and Wells Fargo Bank Texas Hit With $71 Million in Damages for Estate Planning Malpractice