Litigated estate cases run hot. They are like hard fought name-calling political campaigns. Allegations and counter-allegations abound. Much that is said in the heat of the moment is later softened or withdrawn altogether. This is not about the heat of the moment. It is not about estate differences, however cantankerous, between personal administrators, executors, trustees, heirs, beneficiaries or estate creditors. It is about out-and-out theft from an estate. We handle a good deal of estate litigation. I’m happy to report that estate embezzlement is rare but disheartened to report that it still exists. When estate theft is discovered, there is near universal surprise and consternation. How could this happen? Well it does happen –[...]

Over years of litigating probate, trust and estate battles, our clients frequently ask the question: Do many families go through estate battles like the one we are experiencing? What first comes to our mind, as a response to the inquiry is Leo Tolstoy’s observation from Anna Karenina: “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Estate litigation battles, often outgrowths of unhappy families, have their own distinctive troubles. That said, the more estate battles we see, the more certain prevalent patterns become evident. We represent people who challenge the wrongdoing of others in estate-related matters. Familiar grounds of challenge often arise from undue influence and financial elder abuse a[...]