Mary Goodblood grew up believing that she was the only daughter of Cash Goodblood. One day, 25 years after Cash died, and to no one’s surprise after the lucrative sale of the Goodblood family business was plastered on the front page of the local newspaper, Mary received a Facebook message from a woman named Désirée that said “Hi, I think your Dad is also my Dad. Do you want to exchange DNA?” After doing some research, Mary discovered that Désirée’s mom, Candy Onenight, had a very brief relationship with Cash long before Cash and Mary’s mom married. What should Mary do? If Désirée can first prove paternity – that Cash is her biological father – does she have a legitimate claim to share equally with Mary in Cash’s trust created from the sale of the Goodblood family business?
Continue Reading Illegitimate Heirs – Trust Language: “Hi, I Think Your Dad is also My Dad” – Part 2
Ernest “Big Daddy” Bux’s great Auntie Heidi Loper moved to a retirement community when her husband Sam retired years go. A short time later, Sam died. Over the years Heidi’s handyman Don Meetdirts and his wife Ada befriended Heidi. They persuaded her to leave them millions of dollars in cash and other items. Prior Wills would have left Heidi’s property to her family of whom she was very proud – both of the Bux family name and of the assets she and Sam had acquired. When the Wills were changed, Heidi had failing eyesight, deteriorating health and a delicate mental condition. When Big Daddy and the Bux family learned at Auntie Loper’s death that the Meetdirts were the only beneficiaries under the last Will, they asked their favorite attorney if they have a claim of undue influence to deny the Meetdirts any inheritance. Do they?
Just before her 80th birthday, Ernest (“Big Daddy”) Bux’s octogenarian Auntie Delusional (Auntie Del) died without a will or any other estate plan in place to give guidance to her husband (Uncle Tom) and their two adult children. “Who needs one?” was her retort for decades. And, “Wills are so over-rated.” Was Auntie Del right? Is a will or other estate planning really necessary?