In today’s increasingly cosmopolitan world, it is not unusual for someone to own property in more than one jurisdiction. When a dispute arises with respect to the estate of a deceased with assets in multiple jurisdictions, there are several distinct but related issues that the estate litigator must consider. First, one must consider which jurisdiction’s […]
If a theme were to emerge from the contested passing of accounts cases that were decided in 2013, it would be “protect the innocent”. In some cases, this theme manifested itself in decisions to remove trustees who acted improperly or to surcharge trustees who misappropriated funds. In other cases, judges protected honest (albeit imperfect) fiduciaries
All is not lost where the trustee of a trust breaches his fiduciary obligation, misappropriates trust assets, and disappears. Where there has been a fraudulent breach of trust, the defrauded beneficiaries are able to pursue strangers to the trust for damages or the return of the trust property. There are three main circumstances in which
Will and Power of Attorney (“POA”) challenges are becoming more common. Whether it is the result of the much-vaunted and long-heralded wealth transfer between generations, the aging of society, or an American inspired litigious approach to sorting out life’s inevitable disputes, these court challenges will likely only increase in quantity and complexity. Laying the groundwork
When an estate is involved in litigation against its beneficiaries, the production of estate documents is often a highly emotional subject, not to mention legally complex. The complexity is due to the convergence of multiple forms of disclosure obligations and privileges, some of which are unique to estates litigation. These include: – A trustee’s obligation
