May 9, 2012
Jenny MontgomeryAttorneys who handle estate planning say questions remain about the future of the federal estate tax.
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May 9, 2012
Jenny MontgomeryEconomics are one reason why lawyers postpone withdrawal from practice.
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May 2, 2012
Jennifer NelsonA dispute between family members over stock of the family company led to the Indiana Court of Appeals addressing an issue
involving shareholders and revocable trusts that hasn’t yet been addressed in Indiana: whether the settlor, who places
shares of stock into a revocable inter vivos trust and names himself as trustee and beneficiary, retains his shareholder status.
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February 29, 2012
Matthew Neumann writes about how Facebook and estate planning relate.
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January 4, 2012
Jennifer NelsonRelying on the majority rule, the Indiana Court of Appeals concluded that a man’s will that was denied probate in Illinois
could be admitted in Indiana to deal with real property located here.
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December 30, 2011
Michael HoskinsThe Indiana Court of Appeals has overturned a Lake County judge in an estate case involving a personal representative who
conducted banking transactions for an elderly man before his death.
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December 29, 2011
IL StaffThe Indiana Court of Appeals has reversed a probate court’s conclusion that a deceased woman’s son lacks standing
to contest a settlement agreement.
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December 13, 2011
Jennifer NelsonThe Indiana Court of Appeals concluded that the right of first refusal set forth in a purchase agreement of land between neighbors
could only be exercised between the two neighbors and didn’t apply to the sale of land by an estate.
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December 7, 2011
Jennifer NelsonEven though a wife had filed for divorce from her husband at the time she was killed, the husband is still allowed to petition
for survivor’s allowance, the Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed Wednesday.
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December 2, 2011
IL StaffAttorneys and judges now have more scholarly guidance on wills and other donation-related issues in civil law, after a national
organization released its third and final volume of the Restatement (Third) of Property: Wills and Other Donative Transfers.
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November 17, 2011
Michael HoskinsThe Indiana Court of Appeals has dismissed an appeal filed by Melvin Simon’s widow, finding that it doesn’t have
jurisdiction to remove a Hamilton Superior judge from the case involving the late mall-magnate’s estate valued at more
than $2 billion.
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October 10, 2011
Jennifer NelsonThe Indiana Probate Code Study Commission, which meets for the first time this year on Wednesday, will focus on three items
at its meeting, including the unauthorized practice of law.
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September 23, 2011
Jenny MontgomeryThe Indiana Court of Appeals has reversed a trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of an attorney who failed
to monitor an estate checking account while serving as the estate’s counsel.
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August 31, 2011
Jenny MontgomeryThe non-profit American Pet Products Association estimates that this year, Americans will spend $50.84 billion on their pets
– not surprising, considering the ever-increasing variety of treats, toys, and services for animals. But what happens
to these pampered pets after their owners die? Are they consigned to a life of off-brand food? Forced to take up residence
in a cramped kennel?
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August 31, 2011
Michael HoskinsA recent Indiana Court of Appeals decision offers guidance to those working in trust and estate matters regarding how long
a trustee should wait before turning to a probate court for guidance on distributing money to beneficiaries when a dispute
exists over the amount that will be received.
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July 20, 2011
Michael HoskinsThe plaintiffs' lawyers will use the United Financial decision from the Indiana Supreme Court to make their argument.
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June 27, 2011
Jennifer NelsonThe Indiana Court of Appeals split Monday in a probate suit involving whether trustees failed to distribute a portion of the
trust corpus in a timely manner. The majority upheld finding the trustees liable, but ordered a re-evaluation of compensatory
damages and attorney fees.
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May 11, 2011
Jenny MontgomeryBorn between 1946 and 1964, baby boomers are not like generations that came before them with regard to estate-planning needs.
Many of them are living longer and will be working longer – some by choice and others because the value of their retirement
accounts has plunged in recent years. As they look toward their future, the boomers’ top concerns are asset protection
and paying for long-term care, although each person may have a different approach about how to accomplish those goals.
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April 18, 2011
IBJ StaffThe Indiana Court of Appeals has dismissed Bren Simon’s petition seeking to reverse a lower court’s ruling that
removed her as interim trustee of her late husband’s $2 billion estate.
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February 16, 2011
Cory SchoutenThe Indiana Court of Appeals has agreed to hear an appeal from the widow of the late Melvin Simon, putting on hold a legal
dispute over the mall magnate's more than $2 billion estate.
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February 9, 2011
Jennifer NelsonJudge Martha Wentworth has handed down her first opinion as Indiana’s Tax Court judge. In her decision, she reversed
the probate court’s finding that an estate didn’t have to file an inheritance tax return on checks issued to a
deceased woman’s brother on an annuity contract.
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January 25, 2011
Michael HoskinsA Logansport law firm has filed a class-action lawsuit against an Indianapolis company that the state’s highest court
last year determined engaged in the Unauthorized Practice of Law, suing on behalf of thousands of residents for what attorneys
estimate could be $10 million to $20 million in damages.
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January 25, 2011
Jennifer Nelson
The Indiana Court of Appeals held that the Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance Act preempts state law claims brought
by a man’s first ex-wife seeking to keep her and her grandchildren as beneficiaries of the man’s life insurance
policy.
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January 5, 2011
Michael HoskinsNew tax changes went into effect Jan. 1 that include a 35 percent estate tax rate as well as a $5 million per person and $10
million per couple exemption.
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December 22, 2010
Michael HoskinsThe Indiana Supreme Court is shaking its proverbial finger at a company it found had engaged in the unauthorized practice
of law, making it clear that the court’s orders must be followed or non-compliant litigants will be sanctioned.
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G. Michael Witte letter states he's suspended for three years. The case that got him suspended is identical to my estate case, including havin the Late Judge Deiter recuse himself because Newman had a conflict of interest with the judge. His Modus Operandi is nearly identical.
SIGNED BY G. MICHAEL WITTE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY INDIANA SUPREME COURT DISCIPLINARY COMMISSION DATED MAY 17, 2012.
Your 6th complaint against Lawrence T. Newman filed on 4/12/2012. On 1/31/12, the Indiana Supreme Court entered an order suspending Lawrence T. Newman’s law license for a period of three years. More important, even after three years, Lawrence Todd Newman will not get his license back unless and until he goes through a separate proceeding to prove that he is fit to practice law. This is not an easy process, and the burden is upon Lawrence T. Newman to prove by clear and convincing evidence that he is fit to return to practice.
Because of the length of Lawrence T. Newman’s license suspension and the fact he may never succeed in getting his law license reinstated, we are not opening an investigation file at this time.
Should Lawrence T. Newman seek reinstatement in the future, we will open your file and ask Lawrence T. Newman to address your grievance as part of his burden of proving fitness. We have attempted to notify Lawrence T. Newman that this will be required of him.
It may disappoint you to hear that we will be doing nothing on your grievance at this time. However, the most our office can ever accomplish is to take away a lawyer’s license to practice law. We have already done that, albeit as a result of misconduct in cases other than your own. It makes better sense for our office to focus its limited resources on cases where the lawyers are still actively practicing law.
Is there any justice in the Marion County Superior Court Civil Division? I am the unfortunate victim of a retaliatory lawsuit brought by Lawrence Todd Newman, the attorney from an estate case on which I worked as a unsupervised personal representative in 2006. The contract agreement for that case stated that the estate would be responsible for all attorney fees, but Newman refused to close the nearly insolvent estate when my duties were complete and his fees were paid. Instead, he tried to extort additional attorney fees from me by keeping the case open to address a wrongful death claim, despite the estate’s heir’s lack of interest in pursuing it and an expert doctor’s opinion that it would not be worth doing so. He also knowingly deceived me into believing that a “closing statement” was needed to close the estate, even though this requirement had actually been waived by the estate’s heir. The heir’s attorney filed a motion to have Newman removed from the case. After the court closed the probate case with prejudice (barred from further litigation) Newman illegally re-opened the case in another courtroom.
As a result of complaints filed against him for these and similar actions, Newman has been suspended from practicing law for 18 months by the Indiana Disciplinary Commission. In retaliation, he has filed suit against me demanding additional attorney fees for the 2006 estate case, despite the fact that I made no agreement stating that I would pay any fees from my own assets on behalf of the estate. This lawsuit violates the rules of ethics, due process of law, and equal protection of law. Newman has been allowed to file ridiculous pleadings at an alarming rate and has been supported by a biased court system. Judge Carroll refuses to recuse himself from the case despite the fact that, by his own admission, he intends to grant Newman sanctions regardless of the evidence. When my former counsel discovered that the previous judge on the case, Judge Sosin, was a long-time close friend of Newman’s family, Judge Carroll commented for the record during a hearing that Judge Sosin in so many words “he finds the door “was weak for recusing himself from the case as a result of this obvious conflict of interest.
This case is a public policy issue. Statutes put in place to protect unsupervised personal representatives in probate matters are being ignored. This case will affect thousands of individuals involved in probating and the personal representation of estates. Justice cannot possibly be served as long as a biased judge is allowed to defend a “vexatious litigant,” as Newman has been described by Judge Logan in Bradenton, Florida court. If there is any justice in the Marion County Superior Court Civil Division, this case against me will be dismissed with prejudice.
Every affront to decency and every style adopted by criminals is not per se a constituttional violation. Only fools believe or espouse that.
This was an unnecessary change in law, a needless fiddling with a tax that impacted very very few hoosiers, but one that erodes a tax base benefitting very many hoosiers. Just because some people wanted to chalk up a "tax cut" on their legislative brag-list, and didnt give a fig about replacing the revenue any other way. Really stupid. I am a republican my whole life and this just shames me like hell. I have to use a fake name over this because I know my fellow republicans are all brain washed over tax cutting too.