Estate sues St. Joseph County for deceased woman’s unpaid child support
A deceased woman’s estate is suing St. Joseph County for more than $7,000 in surplus funds from a tax sale. The estate claims it is for unpaid child support.
Estate
-
From planning to administration: For attorneys, families, death is not the end of the estate planning process
Estate planning can mean many things. But one aspect not spoken about quite as much as planning is what happens when a loved one dies and their will actually goes into effect.
Read More -
Former northern Indiana judge accused of defrauding estates
A one-time Jasper County judge is accused of multiple counts of attorney misconduct related to his representation of two elderly clients’ estates, potentially involving the misappropriation of hundreds of thousands of dollars to his law firm, an office employee and a family member after the clients died.
Read More
Articles
Appeals court reverses decision giving late father’s trust share to son
The appeals court, in an opinion filed Monday, noted that Hurley’s 2022 death doesn’t prevent his estate from receiving his share of the trust.
Gregory Neibarger and Ben Lewis: Court affirms strict requirements in transfer on death deeds
The ruling underscores the risks for business owners, estate planners and beneficiaries when estate transfer documents are not carefully drafted and executed.
Judge weighs request to withhold investigation records in deaths of Gene Hackman and wife
A court hearing is scheduled Monday to consider a request from estate representative Julia Peters to seal photos, video and documents to protect the family’s constitutional right to privacy.
7th Circuit affirms dismissal of copyright claims by family of famed evangelist Sumrall
Family members of a famous 20th century Pentecostal pastor and evangelist did not have valid ownership claims for copyrights to some of the pastor’s photos, books and films, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in affirming a district court decision.
Insufficient notice leads COA to rule for Georgia woman seeking relief from $36K judgment in estate case
Regardless of the intent behind a notice that was served four days before a hearing — and one day before Christmas — the notice was not sufficient for an elderly Georgia resident to hire an attorney and travel to Indiana for a hearing on a disputed estate.
Moreillon and Steele: Complex estate planning: Managing the intangibles
Estate planning seeks to provide for family members, protect assets, avoid probate, minimize tax consequences and reduce legal headaches. The same is typically true for intellectual property estate planning, but with a couple of pitfalls.
Retzner: Avoid leaving an inheritance to someone you’ve never met
Over their lifetimes and at death, parents make gifts to children under the assumption that those gifts will be the property of that child for life, no matter what.
Mueller: A case study: Postnuptial agreements in estate planning
I think I’ll title this agreement something to the effect of “(Definitely-Not-A-Postnuptial) Agreement Waiving Statutory Rights in Spouse’s Estate.”
Complex rules, costly mistakes: Why the stakes are rising in legal malpractice claims
Even as the number of legal malpractice claims has remained relatively flat, the severity of those claims continues to climb, with costlier mistakes and social inflation serving as two key factors driving the rise.
Kile-Maxwell and Phillips: Eskenazi Health medical-legal partnership hosts wills clinic
The Medical-Legal Partnership at Eskenazi Health has been bringing health and legal professionals together since 2008 to help solve legal problems that affect health outcomes. One example of the partnership is an annual Wills and Advanced Care Planning Clinic.
Electronic wills off to slow start in Indiana: State law updated in 2021 to allow for remote witnessing, but demand remains low
It’s hard to say how popular electronic wills are in the state five years after they were initially legalized.
Widow fails in bid to include bank account, real estate in husband’s estate
A widow trying to include her husband’s bank account and real estate in his estate despite the property being bequeathed to their son failed to find relief from the denial of her petition at the Court of Appeals of Indiana.
Man’s petition to determine heirship should be granted, Court of Appeals affirms in estate case
A trial court ruled correctly in granting a man’s petition to determine if he was an heir to the estate of a man who he claimed was his father, the Court of Appeals of Indiana affirmed Wednesday.
COA: Ex-husband rightfully granted motion to enforce settlement, owed appellate attorney fees
A woman who didn’t comply with the settlement agreement in her dissolution of marriage decree has failed to convince the Court of Appeals of Indiana that a trial court erred in granting a motion to enforce settlement.
COA reverses granddaughters’ attorney fees award
Two women who won attorney fees against their grandmother’s estate were hit with a reversal Tuesday from the Court of Appeals of Indiana.
COA affirms marriage, widow gets pension
A terminally ill firefighter’s marriage days before his death to a woman who was 36 years his junior and the beneficiary of his pension was upheld by the Court of Appeals of Indiana, which found no evidence to support his children’s contention that the nuptials should be annulled because their father’s mental capacity was impaired by pain medication.
COA affirms for estate in dispute with former business associate
A man who found himself in a dispute with his former business partner’s estate failed to convince the Court of Appeals of Indiana to overturn rulings favorable to the estate but not to him.
COA: Suit against stepmother’s estate wrongly dismissed
A lawsuit brought against the estate of a deceased woman by her stepchildren has be reinstated by the Court of Appeals of Indiana after it found the dismissal of their suit was wrongly evaluated under Trial Rule 12.
Reversal granted for woman in estate heirship dispute
The Court of Appeals of Indiana on Tuesday reversed a decision finding that a woman is not an heir to her grandfather’s estate and should not inherit from him because she failed to provide sufficient evidence to prove her paternity.