Johnson County Estate Planning

Fight over James Brown's Estate Fight Goes On

11 years after his death, the singer’s estate remains unsettled.

Soul singer James Brown passed away in 2006, leaving millions to poor children in Georgia and South Carolina.  However, none of the money has been given to the children because the estate is bogged down in numerous lawsuits, according to The New York Times in "Why Is James Brown's Estate Still Unsettled? Ask the Lawyers."

The main source of the dispute appears to be a family feud with Brown's children and grandchildren on one side and his widow, who is the estate administrator, on the other side. Numerous lawsuits have been filed.

In perhaps the biggest lawsuit, the children and grandchildren allege that the widow has cut inappropriate side deals for the copyrights to Brown's music. These copyrights are where the bulk of the estate's value likely is found. They also allege in another lawsuit that the widow was not even married to Brown, because she was allegedly also married to another man.

The children remain without the money. It is unlikely that the dispute will be settled soon.

Reference: New York Times (Feb. 4, 2018) "Why Is James Brown's Estate Still Unsettled? Ask the Lawyers.

Too Many Victims Makes Compensation Difficult

Las Vegas killer leaves large estate, but fair compensation for the victims will be a challenge.

Despite a hefty estate of $5 million left behind, it will be difficult to compensate the victims of Las Vegas mass shooter Stephen Paddock, according to The New York Times in "The Las Vegas Gunman Was Rich. Will His Wealth Go to the Victims?"

It still is not known exactly why mass murder Stephen Paddock decided to shoot at Las Vegas concert goers from his hotel window. He was relatively well-off and had not been in trouble as far as anyone knows.

Despite the mystery surrounding his motivations, his victims and their families would like to be compensated for his actions.

His estate is worth approximately $5 million. That money would ordinarily go to his mother,  since Paddock is not known to have had an estate plan.  However, Paddock's family has indicated they have no interest in his estate.

There are some challenges to making sure that all the money goes to the victims.

The first is that the estate could be rolled into an existing victims' compensation fund that has already raised $22 million.  However, all of the victims might not be eligible for compensation under the fund's rules.

The second challenge is that many victims are filing independent claims and lawsuits to the estate.

Reference: New York Times (Dec. 23, 2017) "The Las Vegas Gunman Was Rich. Will His Wealth Go to the Victims?"

Fight Develops over Manson’s Estate and Burial

Grandson takes issue with Manson’s friend and fan who claims he holds killer’s will.

While it would appear that there would be little interest in the estate of cult leader and murderer Charles Manson, a fight is developing, according to TMZ in "Charles Manson Grandson Files Probate Docs Manson's Body Still on Ice."

A fan and friend of Manson's named Michael Channels claims to have a will that Manson drafted designating Channels as the executor of the estate and as Manson's sole heir. Channels has previously vowed to fight anyone who challenges his claim.

Manson grandson Jason Freeman has accepted that challenge.

Freeman filed documents with the probate court requesting that a person of his choosing be appointed to administer Manson's estate. The two are also fighting over how to dispose of Manson's remains. His body remains in storage, until the court can determine which of the two men should be given possession of it for disposal.

Reference: TMZ (Dec. 8, 2017) "Charles Manson Grandson Files Probate Docs Manson's Body Still on Ice."

Amateur Photographer’s Work Benefits Heirs

Photographer’s work was not known in her lifetime, but is recognized now.

A woman passed away in 2009 entirely unknown. She had no known heirs or estate plan. However, the value of her amateur photography has now sparked a copyright battle, according to PDN Pulse in "Federal Court Sustains Vivian Maier Copyright Claim."

Vivian Maier worked as a housekeeper and was poor. She stopped making payments in 2007 on a small storage locker she had in Chicago and the contents of the locker were auctioned off.

Included in the Chicago storage locker were a number of photographs and negatives that Maier had taken over the years. She apparently loved to take pictures of what she saw on the street.

However, Maier was not an ordinary amateur photographer.

She was brilliant and interest in her work grew immediately, when some of it was posted online.

Collectors began buying up her works, including a man named Jeffrey Goldstein. He began selling prints of the work and licensing the images for use.

Maier's estate sued Goldstein for copyright violations. Goldstein asked that the court dismiss the suit,  since he claimed to have purchased the works before Maier passed away.

His request has been denied and the heirs will now benefit from her work.

Reference: PDN Pulse (Nov. 21, 2017) "Federal Court Sustains Vivian Maier Copyright Claim."

Widows Fight over Remains of WWII Veteran

Marriage, divorce and remarriage sparks debate on veteran’s burial site.

A veteran of World War II recently passed away. Now two widows are fighting, according the Daily Mail in "Widows at war: British and American wives of war hero banker both want him buried in their own local cemetery - on opposite sides of the Atlantic - so they can visit his grave."

The saga begins with Paul Lewis Morigi fighting for the U.S. during World War II. While in England, he met and fell in love with Olive Murphy.

The two got married in 1944 and they divorced when Olive decided she did not want to move to America with him. She feared she would miss her family too much.

Morigi went on to be a successful banker and a very wealthy man. He also got remarried to an American, Muriel Morigi. They were married for 40 years and had two children together.

At the age of 92, Paul Lewis Morigi divorced Muriel and moved to England where he remarried Olive Murphy.

For now at least, the dispute between the two women does not appear to be over Morigi's assets but over where Morigi should be buried.

They both would like him buried close to them, so they can visit his grave easily. Of course, this could easily turn into a fight over his assets later.

It might have been wise of Morigi to leave burial instructions.

Reference: Daily Mail (Nov. 3, 2017) "Widows at war: British and American wives of war hero banker both want him buried in their own local cemetery - on opposite sides of the Atlantic - so they can visit his grave

JPMorgan Faces Bill for $4 Billion in Punitive Damages

Jury has awarded money for damages.  However, it appears likely the amount won’t hold up to court scrutiny.

JPMorgan has been ordered to pay plaintiffs $5 million in actual damages and $4 billion in punitive damages for a suit involving the handling of a complex estate that didn’t have an estate plan, according to Bloomberg in "JPMorgan Ordered to Pay More Than $4 Billion to Widow and Family."

The case began when Max Hopper, an American Airlines executive credited with creating an innovative reservation system, passed away and left an estate valued at $19 million.

Unfortunately, he did not have an estate plan.

JPMorgan was chosen to administer his complex estate. However, Hopper's widow and her stepchildren, angry at the way the bank was handling the estate, accused it of delaying distributions for its own benefit and sued.

A jury recently came down with the verdict that included $4 billion in punitive damages.

It is very likely courts will greatly reduce this punitive damage award,  since the Supreme Court has previously ruled that punitive damages must be proportional to actual damages.

Nevertheless, this case highlights an important point.

Estate administrators can be held liable, if they do not faithfully carry out their duties.

The jury in this case believed that the bank was guilty of fraud, breach of fiduciary duty and breaking a fee agreement.

JPMorgan is a sophisticated entity that should have known better.

Reference: Bloomberg (Sep. 26, 2017) "JPMorgan Ordered to Pay More Than $4 Billion to Widow and Family."

Estate Administration, Estate Litigation

Window Cleaner May Pay High Price for ‘Inheritance’

Fraudulent bankruptcy, jail time and return the £300,000.

Julie Spalding, an elderly woman in the U.K., passed away and left her window cleaner her entire estate. Spalding’s nephew challenged the will in court and won, according to the Telegraph in "Window cleaner bequeathed £300,000 by customer faces jail for failing to hand money back to her family."

Spalding’s nephew had originally been the heir to her money, after years of caring for her.  However, he said she then became belligerent with him. She then befriended the man who washes her windows. When she passed away, he was named in the will to receive her assets.

After hearing the case, the court ordered the window cleaner to pay back all of the money he had received from Spalding's estate.

He refused, however, and instead claimed he had already lost it all.

He even claimed that much of it had been in cash in his car, when the car was repossessed. To avoid given anything back, he obtained a bankruptcy judgment.

The window cleaner now appears to have been lying.

Through many small transactions, he transferred the money to his family members for safekeeping and opened many small bank accounts to stash some of the money.

He now faces possible jail time for his scheme.

This type of transfer made by the window cleaner may be considered a fraudulent transfer under the Kansas Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act—Missouri has similar law. Attorneys at Schlagel Long can help you properly transfer assets to prevent this type of issue, and help you with fraudulent transfer litigation should the need arise.

Reference: Telegraph (Aug. 30, 2017) "Window cleaner bequeathed £300,000 by customer faces jail for failing to hand money back to her family."

Pet Owners Receive Wrong Ashes

Discovery at pet cemetery results in accusations against cemetery and crematorium in Illinois.

A family was apparently given the ashes from a different animal after they brought their pet’s remains to a cemetery and crematorium in Illinois, according to the Daily Mail in "Pet cemetery is accused of giving the ashes of random animals to grieving owners after dozens of decomposing carcasses were found in a freezer."

The accusations surfaced, when an animal rescue volunteer was searching for a missing dog at an Illinois pet cemetery that also had an attached animal shelter. He noticed a smell coming from a refrigerator on the property. Upon opening the door, the volunteer discovered the bodies of three dead animals.

One of the animals was a cat that had been implanted with a microchip.

The data on the microchip was read by local authorities. It was discovered that the cat belonged to a family whose pet had died three years previously.

It is not clear why the family was given the incorrect ashes or why the cat was never cremated at all.

Unfortunately, the owner of the cemetery committed suicide shortly after the police started their investigation. Therefore, the answers as to why, may never be known.

It is still possible that his estate could be sued and his family will have to be the ones to face legal consequences, instead of him.

Reference: Daily Mail (July 30, 2017) "Pet cemetery is accused of giving the ashes of random animals to grieving owners after dozens of decomposing carcasses were found in a freezer."

Lawsuit Takes Barry White’s Estate Public

It might be a good idea to take a look at the estate plan, rather than just takes someone’s word for it.

Darryl White, the son of entertainer Barry White who passed away in 2003, has filed a suit against the estate and is demanding to see the will to know what it is he should be receiving, according to TMZ in "Barry White's Son Sues My Dad's Widow Can't Get Enough of His Dough."

Darryl claims that when his father passed away, his widow told Darryl that she would make sure he got his fair share of the estate, as long as he agreed not to challenge the estate. For his part, Darryl claims he never even saw his father's will to know what he was supposed to receive.

He received regular payments until 2015, when they suddenly stopped. He believes the money is now being wasted by his stepmother.

In one sense, this is not an unusual story.

It is very common for children to have fights with a step-parent over an estate. On the other hand, this is an extremely unusual story.

It is not at all common for a child to trust the step-parent enough to agree to her terms, without at least seeing the estate plan and knowing what the child is supposed to inherit.

Reference: TMZ (May 24, 2017) "Barry White's Son Sues My Dad's Widow Can't Get Enough of His Dough."