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Following last week’s breaking news story reported here about the alleged mistreatment of 104 year old socialite and heiress Brooke Astor, New York’s Supreme Court has stepped in and appointed Ms. Astor’s longtime friend  and protegee Annette de la Renta as her temporary guardian. This morning, it was reported that Ms. Astor has left a Manhattan hospital for the cushier surroundings of her estate at Briarcliff Manor where her son –and former guardian– 82 year old Anthony Marshall was turned away when he attempted to visit.

Continue Reading New Temporary Guardian Appointed For Socialite Brooke Astor

Today’s New York Daily News reports the ultimate trust beneficiary’s nightmare which has befallen none other than 104 year old socialite Brook Astor.  Although she is the beneficiary of a 45 million dollar trust from the estate of her late husband which pays her an estimated 2 million dollars annually, Astor’s 82 year old son Anthony Marshall has evidently refused to apply these massive assets to provide his mother with even the most basic level of support,
Continue Reading Trusting Your Trustee –A Cautionary Tale

CNN has reported that the Senate has failed at an attempt to reach a compromise on legislation to raise the limits on the estate tax after an earlier attempt at outright repeal of the tax also failed. Repeal of the estate tax would affect less than one percent of all estates of persons dying after…

Your faithful law blogger arrived home tonight to find our two family felines -visions of endless quantities of cat treats abounding in their heads– trying their best to read today’s issue of the New York Sun which features an article on pet trusts. While I was well-aware that pet trusts are legally recognized, effective…

The May 14th issue of the Stamford Advocate contains a cautionary story by Julie Jason about the perils of becoming a fiduciary. While you will really have to be incredibly unlucky to suffer the fate of Monsignor Bolduc’s executor, this article really underscores the need to act quickly to retain competent counsel and learn exactly…

It appears that Anna Nicole Smith’s recent Supreme Court victory may result in a flood of federal litigation of probate matters. My Florida friend and fellow law blogger Juan Antunez (Florida Probate Litigation. com) ruminates on this idea in his blog today and contemplates spending a lot more time in federal court in the future.
Continue Reading Will Anna Nicole Smith Case Cause a Stampede to Federal Court?

Earlier this year, I reported on the case of Lillian Glasser, a wealthy New Jersey widow who had become embroiled in a multi-state legal feud (Florida, Texas and New Jersey) to determine where she should live and who should serve as her guardian. An article in today’s New York Times by Tina Kelly reports that Ms Glasser has been allowed to return home to New Jersey, having expressed strong desires to be allowed to do so.
Continue Reading Liillian Glasser Returns Home to New Jersey to Await Outcome of Her Guardianship Proceeding

May promises to be the month that Senate Majority Leader Frist will attempt to marshall his minions to pass legislation eliminating the estate tax. If this were to come to pass, our nation’s wealthiest families would be the primary beneficiaries of the new law which would free them of billions of dollars of tax liabilities. Senator Frist’s own estate would save many millions of estate tax dollars (as, by the way, would Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s estate).
Continue Reading Battle on Estate Tax Nears in Senate