Trusts & Estates

Caregiver used legal documents to siphon $350K from elderly man’s assets, prosecutors say

Carmelita Pasamba met Marshall Davies, who was then 90 years old, in 2007, while working as a nursing assistant at an Illinois hospital at which he was a patient. Now Pasamba, 62, is facing a criminal case for allegedly siphoning off over $350,000 of his assets. She is charged with…

Apr 9, 2013 4:35 PM CDT

Disbarred lawyer gets 180 days for misappropriating $225K from client’s estate

A longtime Illinois lawyer who admittedly misappropriated $225,000 from a client’s estate was sentenced Friday to 180 days in jail after turning over a $150,000 check to the court. Earl Wilcek, 59, must also repay another $75,000 over a 30-month period of probation, once he serves his time in the…

Apr 9, 2013 3:30 PM CDT

Polo mogul’s adoption of girlfriend, 42, is nixed by appeals court

John Goodman’s adoption of his girlfriend, Heather Anne Hutchins, who was then 42 years old, came at a time when he was facing a criminal trial over a fatal auto accident, a wrongful death suit and a dispute over the management of a trust fund for his two children. But…

Mar 28, 2013 7:30 PM CDT

Lawyer and heiress’ son who were convicted in siphoning of $60M from Brooke Astor estate lose appeal

The son of an elderly heiress and a now-disbarred lawyer convicted of working together to siphon some $60 million from her estate have lost an appeal before a midlevel New York court. Following the determination that Anthony D. Marshall, 88, and Francis X. Morrissey Jr. were appropriately convicted in 2009…

Mar 27, 2013 9:15 PM CDT

Kennedy is considered tie-breaker in DOMA case; is a Roberts ruling possible?

Court watchers will be following the remarks of Justice Anthony M. Kennedy when the U.S. Supreme Court takes up gay marriage again today, this time in a challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act banning federal benefits for same-sex married couples. The plaintiff, Edith Windsor, had to pay an estate…

Mar 27, 2013 1:03 PM CDT

Judge accused of stealing elderly neighbor’s $1.6M life savings resigns from bench

A California judge who is facing a 32-count case concerning his alleged theft of a now-deceased elderly neighbor’s life savings of $1.6 million or more has voluntarily stepped down from the Alameda County Superior Court bench. Judge Paul Seeman agreed to resign Thursday and never seek to serve on the…

Mar 21, 2013 10:40 PM CDT

Bryan Cave legal secretary gains $100K, thanks to Ed Koch

Former New York Mayor Ed Koch has bequeathed $100,000 to his longtime secretary. Mary Garrigan, now 63, began working with Koch in his congressional office in 1975. She remained with him as he governed New York and when he joined the Manhattan law firm Bryan Cave, the New York Times…

Mar 12, 2013 12:45 PM CDT

James Brown estate settlement overturned by state Supreme Court

The South Carolina Supreme Court has overturned a settlement of the late singer James Brown’s multimillion-dollar estate. In its ruling Wednesday, the court chastised former state attorney general Henry McMaster, who brokered the settlement between Brown’s survivors, for turning a blind eye to the late singer’s wishes, the Associated Press…

Feb 28, 2013 11:09 PM CST

Suspended lawyer is charged with impersonating dead client, in order to bilk his estate

A suspended Minnesota attorney has been criminally charged with impersonating a deceased client in order to bilk his estate. Linda Ann Brost is charged in Ramsey County District Court with identity theft, theft by swindle, aggravated forgery of a document and insurance fraud, the Star Tribune reports. Her license to…

Feb 26, 2013 8:03 PM CST

Reclusive fan wills estate worth up to $1 million to two ‘80s-era actors he never met

A reclusive man who lived in a central Illinois farmhouse without running water and drove a Ford truck from the 1960s nonetheless had an estate worth up to $1 million when he died last year. And 71-year-old Ray Fulk, who never married and had no children or close family members,…

Feb 11, 2013 6:33 PM CST

Another BigLaw firm drops a less lucrative estates practice. Was lockstep compensation the reason?

Debevoise & Plimpton is eliminating its trusts and estates practice, following in the steps of Biglaw firms Weil, Gotshal & Manges and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher. Estates work is less lucrative for law firms than deal-making and litigation, explains the New York Times DealBook blog. The work doesn’t require armies…

Feb 6, 2013 12:23 PM CST

Lawyer’s blog posts about ‘sleazy world of probate’ bring ethics complaint

Corrected: A patent and trademark lawyer who blogged about alleged corruption in Chicago’s “sleazy world of probate” is facing an ethics complaint that accuses her of undermining the administration of justice. Chicago lawyer Joanne Denison is accused of knowing that her statements were false or made in reckless disregard of…

Feb 4, 2013 1:20 PM CST

$7M in gold coins found in intestate man’s garage will be auctioned at courthouse

A reclusive Nevada man who died without a will last year has left some unusual issues for a court in Carson City to deal with. One of the biggest: What to do with the gold coins found in Walter Samasko Jr.’s garage, among cans of tuna fish? Although he had…

Jan 29, 2013 8:11 PM CST

Death of a Practice: After Lawyer Dies, Her Friend Is Faced with Closing Down Her Firm

Sole practitioner Diane Denniston lived her last days in the dining room of fellow Missouri attorney Alicia Beeler Villines this past summer. A Kansas City-area lawyer of more than 20 years, Denniston had expected to return to her home, as well as to her clients, when she was diagnosed with…

Jan 1, 2013 11:09 AM CST

Letters: Sister Strength

SISTER STRENGTH The African Probate & Policy Initiative (“Where There’s No Will, There’s Sometimes a Way,” November) should consider using sister cities relationships to make its program more comprehensive. I see that Arusha, Tanzania, has Durham, N.C., and Kansas City, Mo., as sister cities; and Dar es Salaam has Lansing,…

Jan 1, 2013 10:39 AM CST