InfoAnda - The big lessons from celebrity estate wars |

Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case
Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival
Thursday, August 6, 2009

AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e

Merkel's support dips, regional ally resigns International
Thursday, September 3, 2009

By Sarah Marsh and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German

Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who

Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an

Indonesia landslide search ends, 12 still missing | 1 March 2010
Facebook fervor feeds "The Social Network" fascination | 19 September 2010
Sarkozy urged to tell Kazakhstan to improve rights | 5 October 2009

Summer movie-ticket sales fall 6 percent from 2009 | 1 September 2010

Forum Views () Forum Replies ()

Read more with google mobile : The big lessons from celebrity estate wars |

Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Home Business Business Home Economy Davos 2012 Technology Media Small Business Legal Deals Earnings Summits Business Video The Freeland File Markets Markets Home U.S. Markets European Markets Asian Markets Global Market Data Indices M&A Stocks Bonds Currencies Commodities Futures Funds peHUB World World Home U.S. Brazil China Euro Zone Japan Mexico Russia India Insight World Video Reuters Investigates Decoder Politics Politics Home Election 2012 Issues 2012 Candidates 2012 Tales from the Trail Political Punchlines Supreme Court Politics Video Tech Technology Home MediaFile Science Tech Video Tech Tonic Opinion Opinion Home Chrystia Freeland John Lloyd Felix Salmon Jack Shafer David Rohde Bernd Debusmann Nader Mousavizadeh Lucy P. Marcus David Cay Johnston Bethany McLean Edward Hadas Hugo Dixon Ian Bremmer Mohamed El-Erian Lawrence Summers Susan Glasser The Great Debate Steven Brill Geraldine Fabrikant Breakingviews Equities Credit Private Equity M&A Macro & Markets Politics Breakingviews Video Money Money Home Tax Break Global Investing MuniLand Unstructured Finance Linda Stern Mark Miller John Wasik James Saft Analyst Research Alerts Watchlist Portfolio Stock Screener Fund Screener Personal Finance Video Money Clip Investing 201 Life Health Sports Arts Faithworld Business Traveler Entertainment Oddly Enough Lifestyle Video Pictures Pictures Home Reuters Photographers Full Focus Video Reuters TV Reuters News Article Comments (0) Slideshow Paris Spring/Summer 2012 Paris Haute Couture The latest from the Paris runways. Slideshow Jean Paul Gaultier Haute Couture Spring 2012 Chanel Haute Couture Spring 2012 Stephane Rolland Haute Couture Spring 2012 Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read U.S. outrage as Egypt bars Americans from leaving 2:33pm EST Corruption scandal shakes Vatican as internal letters leaked 3:20pm EST Old mortgages rise from the dead, haunt homeowners 2:56pm EST Iran devalues in bid to stop rial slide 12:04pm EST Paterno's long goodbye ends with public memorial 3:09pm EST Discussed 364 Subculture of Americans prepares for civilization’s collapse 215 Abortion safer than giving birth: study 160 Romney reports tax bill of $6.2 million for 2010-11 Watched Why George Soros bought Italian bonds - Freeland File Tue, Jan 24 2012 Angelina Jolie fascinated by "bizarre" Republican presidential race Sun, Jan 22 2012 Building collapses in Rio Wed, Jan 25 2012 The big lessons from celebrity estate wars Tweet Share this Email Print Analysis & Opinion How religion is infiltrating public schools Must read: Deal Prof’s study of competition for M&A litigation Related Topics Entertainment » Fashion » Money » Lifestyle » 1 of 2. Seminole tribal elder Bobby Henry watches a news conference next to a photograph of Jerry Garcia at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York December 7, 2006. Credit: Reuters/Brendan McDermid (UNITED STATES) By Amy Feldman NEW YORK | Thu Jan 26, 2012 2:33pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Philanthropist Brooke Astor. The Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia. There are a few celebrities who, in death, at least in certain circles, have become as known for the litigation over their estates as for how they lived their lives. While the dollars are mind-boggling in these cases, anyone thinking about wealth transfer faces the same issues: dysfunctional families, potentially unequal positions in the family business, perhaps multiple marriages with kids from each. We spoke with Russell Fishkind, an estate attorney and a partner in the East Coast law firm of Saul Ewing and author of "Probate Wars of the Rich and Famous: An Insider's Guide to Estate Planning and Probate Litigation," about what regular folks can learn from these high-profile estate battles. Q: What's the most common scenario you see? A: Hands down, most common was a second marriage, or third marriage, with children from multiple marriages. If the estate plan does not adequately provide for Spouse No. 2 and for the children from the first marriage in a way that tries to achieve equality, you're basically buying a litigation case. The two most notable celebrities were Anna Nicole Smith, who at 26 married an 89-year-old billionaire, and Jerry Garcia, who had numerous children with different women, and then, just before he died, married Wife No. 3. The first turned into the longest estate litigation case we've seen in 100 years. The second led to litigation over custom guitars, Cherry Garcia ice cream and Jerry Garcia ties. Q: What's happens if the family is in business together? A: A huge amount of our wealth is from family business owners, and often mom or dad runs the business, and one or two children are in it, and one or two children are not. If I'm a dentist in California, should I not get a share of the business? Or what if the son in the business gets gifted the business? There are a lot of emotional ticking time bombs in family businesses that create litigation. The most shining example of that would be the Koch brothers, who had the largest family-owned business in the United States, and feuded for decades. Q: In the case of Brooke Astor, there was fraud. Does that happen much? A: I see a lot of these cases. When mom is alone and weak, and one child starts caring for her, somewhere along the line they start thinking they are entitled to more than their fair share. So the person will go to UBS or Morgan Stanley, and say, 'Mom wants to change title from her to me because I'll be dealing with this day-to-day, and I'm paying for her care, and she wants me to watch her portfolio.' Invariably, what gets left out of the conversation is that because these are now jointly-titled assets, they will pass to that child, and that is also the intent of the antagonist. The titling of accounts trumps the terms of the will. Q: So you could have a very good will, and it will end up being meaningless? A: Correct. I can give you an example where there's no glitz and no glamour. I handled a case involving a guy who never had any money, but was an inventor, and when he was 76, his invention hit, the company went public, and he was worth $50 million. The wife had the account retitled for his name and her name. When he died, the kids thought they were going to get the motherlode, but everything went to the wife. Q: Is litigation over estates going up? A: There's not a doubt in my mind that it is. I've asked surrogate judges informally in chambers, and they all say the same thing. The incidence of probate litigation is on the rise, and the fact patterns are consistent. Q: What would you do to avoid these situations? A: If there's a second spouse, make sure to give that spouse what was bargained for in the (prenuptial agreement). Where there is a likelihood of dissension, appoint an independent fiduciary or trustee. And for the family business, you really want to document your intentions so that if you are giving an interest to one child, and not to the other three, there is no mystery. If you are appointing one child to be CEO, write it down and explain it to everyone. Don't leave it to chance, or to petitions filed in court. Q: The cases you point to entail significant amounts of money. What about for folks with smaller estates, who won't be affected by any estate-tax issues, and so might not have planned as carefully? A: This is not just about the money. It's about who's living in the house? Where's mom's engagement ring? Where are her photo albums? This is not just something for millionaires. It is day-in and day-out, Main Street-type stuff. It's not unusual nowadays for a grown child to be living with mom and dad. If the second spouse dies, and the kid's still living in the house, the other siblings may battle because the house is worth $300,000. It's not so much about the money, but that the situation is bad. It would be better to have a will that says, the house is valued at $300,000, and the son who is living in it gets it, but he has to take out a mortgage and give the other siblings $150,000. You need to address it. These issues are not unique to people having money. They are common issues. (Editing by Beth Pinsker Gladstone and Jan Paschal) (The author is a Reuters contributor. The opinions expressed are her own.) Entertainment Fashion Money Lifestyle Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above. Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Back to top Reuters.com Business Markets World Politics Technology Opinion Money Pictures Videos Site Index Legal Bankruptcy Law California Legal New York Legal Securities Law Support & Contact Support Corrections Advertise With Us Connect with Reuters Twitter Facebook LinkedIn RSS Podcast Newsletters Mobile About Privacy Policy Terms of Use Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance Our next generation legal research platform Our global tax workstation Thomsonreuters.com About Thomson Reuters Investor Relations Careers Contact Us Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

Other News on Friday, 27 January 2012
U.S. to Iraq: don't blow this opportunity |
U.S. outrage as Egypt bars Americans from leaving |
MSF quits prisons in Libya city over torture |
US and Philippines eye stronger defense ties |
Italy ship captain wasted precious hour |
Iraq says to take legal action for Haditha victims |
AT&T reports $6.7 billion loss on hefty charges, iPhone costs |
House lawmakers seek Google answers on privacy policy |
Eyes on Samsung smartphone sales, spending plans |
Leonard Cohen's new take on Old Ideas |
Spinoff for The Office in the works at NBC |
Private: #1 Suspect tops Bestsellers List |
The big lessons from celebrity estate wars |
Security Council meets on Syria; revolt nears Damascus |
Carnival sued by crew member over cruise ship disaster |
Sectarian attack kills 14 of same family in Syria |
Fear shrouds election race in Manipur, India's dark jewel |
Ill-fated Italian ship inspired by EU |
Four dead, 22 missing in Rio buildings collapse |
Former Guatemala dictator faces war crimes charges |
PNG's failed mutiny worsens investment risk: S&P |
Two Uighurs deported from Cambodia to China get life |
Smartphones power record Samsung profit; sets $22 billion capex |
Nintendo sees profit next year, but shares tumble |
Analysis: Asia may not be such easy pickings for Apple |
Apple overtakes Samsung in Q4 smartphone sales: report |
Lawmakers press Google on privacy policy changes |
Twitter to restrict user content in some countries |
Facebook takes on 'clickjacking' spammers in court |
Motorola posts loss, awaits Google deal approval |
McAfee rejects Symantec claim about market share |
Michael Jackson's legacy cemented by children |
Pat Sajak: Vanna White and I were drunk on Wheel of Fortune |
Welcome Back, Kotter star Robert Hegyes dies at age 60 |
Finding Paul Simon, seeking Sugar Man at Sundance |
Costa offers settlement for passengers |
Taliban willing to compromise, Afghan negotiators say |
Iran could ban EU oil exports next week: lawmaker |
German Angst as U.S. troops bid Auf Wiedersehen |
Suicide bomber kills 31 in Baghdad attack |
Germany reminded of neo-Nazi peril on Holocaust day |
Kenya counters vote-rigging with electronic register |
Yemen's parallel revolution inspires street-level protests |
German court rules against Samsung in suit with Apple |
Investors tune in to Philips outlook, TV sale |
French telco regulator to inspect Free's network |
Michael Jackson's legacy cemented by children |
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights

USD EUR - 1 year graph		BlogMeter 1.01