SPRINGFIELD — A New York man will serve two years in federal prison for bilking his dementia-stricken grandfather in Greenfield while serving as his court-appointed guardian. Michael Ostrowski, 42, of East Patchogue, N.Y., also was ordered to serve three years of supervised release, pay more than $185,000 in restitution, and forfeit $179,500 in cash stolen Keep Reading…
According to documents filed with the court by Halifax mayor Peter Kelly in 2005, Mary Thibeault’s estate was valued at $503,730.37, almost all of it in cash and bonds. That amount, plus the $160,000 or so that Kelly had transferred from Thibeault’s personal bank account to his and his son’s control (see “A trust betrayed,” Keep Reading…
The House Republican freshman class has ratcheted up pressure on Speaker John Boehner to draw a sharp contrast with Democratic progressives and bring full repeal of the federal estate tax — popularly derided as the “death tax” — to a vote on the House floor. Congressional Republicans, GOP freshman class president Rep. Austin Scott wrote in a Keep Reading…
Taxes can’t be avoided, even in death, and the IRS has just filed a creditors claim against Anna Nicole Smith‘s estate alleging that the former Playboy Playmate owes almost $300k in back taxes, RadarOnline.com is exclusively reporting. Smith died on February 8, 2007, of a drug overdose in a Florida hotel room, several months after her son Daniel also died of Keep Reading…
SAN JOSE, Calif. — The girlfriend of the late artist Thomas Kinkade — recently described by Kinkade’s brother as a “good person, a sweet person” — is now being portrayed by lawyers for the artist’s estate as a ruthless gold-digger out to “tear down” Kinkade’s reputation and do irreparable harm to his widow and children. Keep Reading…
Hans Bader, senior attorney and counsel for special projects with the Competitive Enterprise Institute,comments on a recent New York Times story that sheds light on a phenomenon Walter Olson of the Cato Institute tags as the creation of “ADA filing mills.” Bader writes: Thanks to generous attorney-fee provisions contained in federal civil-rights law, trial lawyers are feasting on Keep Reading…
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. – A cooperating witness testified Wednesday that he crashed a heavy plumber’s wrench into the skull and face of a Florida millionaire’s mother in an attack planned by the millionaire’s wife and her brother. And after he was congratulated on “a good job” in the fatal attack, he was recruited into another Keep Reading…
Lawyers working for Courtney Love on a legal dispute with, erm, her former lawyers, have requested to be removed from the case because of a dispute over unpaid fees. As previously reported, Love was sued by lawyer Rhonda Holmes and her firm Gordon & Holmes over allegations the Hole frontwoman made on Twitter. Holmes had Keep Reading…
Jason Trawick, Britney Spears‘s fiancé, was approved as a co-conservator for the pop star by a Los Angeles judge Wednesday. “Jamie’s thrilled,” his attorney Geraldine Wyle told reporters following the hearing, referring to Spears’s father. “It’s all in the family.” Wyle also clarified that the request to add Trawick came at Britney’s request, not Jamie’s. Conservators typically Keep Reading…
BATON ROUGE, La. (Legal Newsline) – Weeks before a Louisiana House committee voted on a civil litigation reform measure, state Rep. Neil Abramson said he was lured to a remote part of the capitol and had his career threatened by an individual whose identity he is not revealing. “In my five years of public service Keep Reading…
A Montana judge has ruled that David Gilmore, a New Port Richey attorney whose client gunned down the mother of a teenage prodigy he was obsessed with, is not responsible for his client’s actions. In October, Gilmore was named as a defendant in a federal lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Montana by the Keep Reading…
The Legal Services Board (LSB) has released proposals which it says will deliver greater protection to consumers that are writing wills by ensuring everyone providing services in this area is regulated. The proposals follow an LSB investigation into the practice that found systemic problems including “consistent patterns of sloppiness, simple errors and poor communication often Keep Reading…
New Hanover County’s Department of Social Services serves as the court-appointed guardian for 66 elderly and disabled people to ensure their health, safety and well being. On July 1 that number could swell to at least 81, or by 22.7 percent, if a court-ordered plan by the state Department of Health and Human Services is Keep Reading…
The lawsuit that Britney Spears former manager, Sam Lutfi, has filed against the popstar and her parents, Jamie and Lynne Spears, for libel, defamation, breach of contract and assault, is unlikely to settle and will go to trial this fall, RadarOnline.com is exclusively reporting. Lutfi is suing the Toxic singer and her parents, Jamie and Lynne Spears. Lynne wrote a book,Through The Storm, that Keep Reading…
Estate of Denial® provides news, analysis and commentary on abusive practices occurring in probate courts and via probate instruments (wills, trusts, guardianships, powers of attorney). We provide original perspective to educate the public regarding this growing threat to both individual freedoms and property rights.Detroit— The Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development and its co-founder, Elaine Steele, filed court action late Tuesday accusing a Wayne County probate judge and two court-appointed lawyers of conspiracy in the long-standing battle over the estate of civil rights icon Rosa Parks. Steele’s attorney, Steven G. Cohen, added he also has filed Keep Reading…
Lee Bailey’s eurweb.com (Electronic Urban Report) has once again picked up Sue Summer’s latest article from The Newberry Observer on the questionable actions surrounding administration of James Brown’s estate. The article is introduced as follows: For those who’ve been keeping track of the James Brown probate case, or if you’re simply interested in know where Keep Reading…
Forget women! Hell hath no fury like a lawyer scorned – or at least that would seem the case as per this latest Danny Tate posting at Impeachrandykennedy’s Blog. A conservatorship (guardianship) can strip a person of their individual liberty and property rights. While Nashville musician Danny Tate admits his struggle with alcohol and drug Keep Reading…
An estate lawyer accused of a “wrongful scheme” to steer money to himself from the estates of the late June M. Farrington and her surviving brother will pay back $410,000 as part of a settlement. Estate lawyer Stephen M. Newman also resigned as executor and trustee of all of the estates and trusts he set Keep Reading…
Shannon Price failed to prove that she and Gary Coleman had a common-law marriage after their 2009 divorce. Fourth District Judge James R. Taylor ruled Monday that while Price had lived in the former “Diff’rent Strokes” star’s home after their marriage ended, the relationship failed to meet the state’s standard for a common-law marriage. “There Keep Reading…
Taxpayers should do ‘homework’ on Belton ISD bond election (TX)
Last year a column Taxpayers should do ‘homework’ on Temple ISD bond election analyzed TISD residents’ local debt ahead of a bond election on the May 2011 ballot. While that measure passed, local debt is becoming a more prominent public policy concern than even in 2011. The Belton Independent School District’s May 12 election seeking Keep Reading…