Estate planning clients, typically those nearing or beyond retirement, often ask what kind of information they should share during life with the beneficiaries of their estate. If one child will be treated differently than others, how should they address it, if at all? Should they disclose the fact that an inheritance is likely?
Calling a trial court’s dismissal of a relative’s petition to contest a will “draconian,” the Indiana Court of Appeals on Friday reinstated the petition and sent the case back to Lake County to be heard in the superior rather than circuit court.
The ex-wife of a man who died in June 2018 will be permitted to enter into probate court a document she contends is her ex-husband’s will, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Monday, reversing a trial court order that determined the man had died without leaving a will.
Off-the-shelf DNA test kits and online genealogical searches are connecting previously unknown extended family members and sometimes alerting children their dad is actually not their biological father. Could a claim to an estate be far behind?
A disagreement between two siblings has been squashed now that an appellate court has sided with a woman who was granted last-minute possession of her mother’s estate just days before her death, canceling a former transfer on death deed shared with her brother.
Attorneys, paralegals and law students are needed as volunteers to do intake, conduct private legal consultations with qualified applicants, draft paperwork and witness document signing. Estate planning attorneys are needed but non-probate-savvy attorneys will also be put to good use. Have a notary license? You’re needed too!
The Indiana Court of Appeals found a trial court’s decision to approve an estate administrator’s final account was not clearly erroneous. Instead, it noted that a woman appealing the order acted in procedural bad faith, and thus ordered her to pay appellate attorney fees.
The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed the denial of a son’s motion to dismiss when it found his sisters’ tort claims against him arising from a dispute over inheritance could move forward in the trial court.
Justices to hear oral argument on civil forfeiture case, two othersThe Indiana Supreme Court will hear oral argument in three cases on Thursday, including a case dealing with the distribution of civil forfeiture proceeds.
A dispute between extended family members over who will become the special administrator of a Johnson County estate was resolved in favor of the guardians of the deceased’s children after the Indiana Court of Appeals determined that administrator appointments cannot be made based on who files a petition first.
A portion of Indiana code dealing with disagreements arising from the process of probating a will and administering an estate cannot be read to allow for the enforcement of pre-mortem family settlement agreements, a majority of the Indiana Surpeme Court has ruled.
After a man who filed a wrongful death suit for his wife died intestate and without heirs while the suit was pending, the Court of Appeals concluded the estate’s personal representative could not claim survivor damages.
The St. Joseph Probate Court must reopen an estate that led to years-long litigation between two siblings after the court failed to follow proper statutory procedure when closing the estate, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday.
Though the law has a reputation for being resistant to change, new legislation that will take effect this summer is designed to give estate planning attorneys the opportunity to embrace technology when advising clients about probate documents while allowing more traditional lawyers to conduct business as usual.
On Tuesday, April 24, volunteer IndyBar attorneys drafted free wills and advance directives for members of the public at the John Boner Neighborhood Center and the Haughville branch of the Indianapolis Public Library.
The only surviving son of a Huntington County woman is not entitled to his mother’s house because she did not properly amend her trust to gift it to him, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Thursday.
The electronic signing of estate planning documents is one step closer to becoming legal under Indiana law after a Senate committee passed e-signing legislation on Wednesday. The measure passed the House last month.
The Indiana Supreme Court must decide whether pre-mortem settlement agreements addressing the division of an estate’s assets are enforceable after hearing oral arguments Thursday in a probate dispute between two siblings.
G. Pearson Smith, Bose McKinney & Evans LLP, has been named the 2017 recipient of the IndyBar Estate Planning & Administration Section’s Patricia Paxton Wagner Award for Excellence in Estate Planning and Administration.
As the push for mandatory electronic filing continues in Indiana, the Indiana Supreme Court has established new rules on how to handle original wills when an estate case is opened electronically.