A Second Marriage And Children Of The First Marriage Fight With Murder Thrown In

Judge Patrick Maqubela, acting judge in the Western Cape High Court, was suffocated June 5, 2009 in his Bantry Bay flat. He wife of his second marriage, Thandi Maqubela, has been accused of co-conspiring to kill him.

At the time of his death, Thandi Maqubela declared her husband had died intestate or without a testamentary document in place. Later, she declared that she had found his will. The difference between how Mr. Maqubela's R20m estate would be distributed by the laws of intestate versus by a will it hugh.

According to the intestate laws of South Gauteng, Thandi Maqubela would receive half the estate and Mr. Maqubela's five children would receive the other half to be divided in five equal shares. With the will, the two children from Mr. Maqubela's first marriage are completely cut out of the will and Thandi Maqubela's daughter from a previous marriage is named a beneficiary. Mr. Maqubela's son from his first marriage, Duma, is contesting the validity of the will saying that he cannot believe his father would disinherit him and his sister, Patiwe.

A full article reporting on the situation can be read here.

Estate Planning Fraud Alert

There is danger in using online documents. Read our article here on "The Dangers of Internet Documents." This blog posting is to give you an update on the two class action suits mentioned in the article.

The Missouri Case:
Todd Janson, et al. v. Legalzoom.com, Inc., Case 1:10-CV-04018-NKL

Synopsis of case: This class action suit claims that Legalzoom.com, Inc. ("Legalzoom"), an internet provider of legal documents, is unlawfully practicing law in Missouri by providing legal documents and instructions over the internet.

A judge ruled against Legalzoom's request to dismiss the case. The case goes to trial August 22, 2011. We will keep you posted.

The California Case:
Webster v. Legalzoom.com, Inc., No. BC 438637 (Los Angeles Super. Ct. filed May 27, 2010)

Synopsis of case: Katherine Webster, the executor of an estate, claimed that Legalzoom created a trust that was legally defective causing the estate to pay over $10,000 to undo damage done by the flawed trust. Ms. Webster claimed that Legalzoom used unfair and deceptive business practices as well as engaging in the unauthorized practice of law.

Legalzoom is settling with the Plaintiffs in the Webster case which will also resolve a related class action suit, Whiting v. Legalzoom.com, Inc. Legalzoom is not accepting blame for the defective trust. They are offering to settle in order to stop legal costs in the courts. We will keep you posted.

Future Updates:
We will be covering a serious of online articles regarding the issues of the unlawful practice of law and online legal document companies in the next few weeks. It is a serious matter, and it is important for you to be aware of the issues in order to protect yourself from being harmed.

Inheriting Double Eagle Gold Coins Might Not Be Easy

Israel Switt, a Philadelphia jeweler, died in 1990. In 2003, Switt's daughter, Joan Langbord, discovered ten gold coins in a safety deposit box owned by her father. She is now suing the U.S. Government for the right to inherit those gold coins.

The gold coins in question are called double eagles. In 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt ordered all double eagle gold coins to be melted back into gold bars. The double eagles were never released by the U.S. Government. But a few of these gold coins mysteriously got out.

Ms. Langbord insists the government has the burden of proof in this case. This could mean that if the government cannot prove Israel Switt personally stole the double eagles, the gold coins would pass to Israel Switt's heirs. And Israel Switt's heirs could inherit coins that are worth millions of dollars.

A few articles of interst regarding Mr. Switt's double eagle gold coins are:

"Heirs Battle U.S. Mint Over Prized Gold Coins" by the Wall Street Journal
"Family fights government over rare 'Double Eagle' gold coin" by Yahoo
"Pa. family fights US over rare 1933 gold coins" by Associated Press

For more information regarding inheritance issues look here.

After 36 Years, 100 Greek Relatives No Longer Prevail

A Florida judge ruled today that a will disposing of Jack Kerouac's estate is a fake. Kerouac, the Beat Generation author, left his estimated $20 million estate to his mother Gabrielle in a valid and accepted will. Gabrielle in turn allegedly signed a will, leaving Kerouac's estate and royalties to Kerouac's divorced wife Stella Sampas Kerouac, who was a devoted caretaker of Gabrielle. Gabrielle then died in 1973. For 21 years, Kerouac's estate and royalties were controlled by Stella Sampas Kerouac's family.

In 1994, Jan Kerouac, the author's daughter by another marriage, saw a copy of her grandmother Gabrielle's will and brought a suit contesting the validity of Gabrielle's will. During the process of the litigation, in 1996, Jan died and the suit was taken up by a nephew, Paul Blake.

The court ruled that Gabrielle was too sick before her death and could not have signed the will. Handwriting experts also determined Gabrielle's signature was fake.

The AP reports that shortly before his death from alcoholism at age 47, Jack Kerouac wrote his nephew Paul a letter, expressing his desire to leave all of his work and belongings behind to his mother, "and not to leave a dingblasted (two expletives) thing to my wife's one hundred Greek relatives," he wrote. Unfortunately, it seems the Greek relatives prevailed, until now.

Commentary by Hughes Estate Group. The entire problem here revolves around Jack's and Gabrielle's estate planning. First, if Jack did not ever want his estate going to his prior wife Stella, there are numerous things he could have done to prevent that and provide for his mother at the same time. Jack just didn't think clearly here.

Second, Gabrielle obviously did not do proper planning before she died. If she wanted to leave everything to Stella, she could have done so. If not, she could have done so. She apparently did not do anything, allowing her daughter-in-law Stell to prepare and sign a forged will.

Third, Jack's daughter Jan should have been all over this situation back in 1973, when her grandmother Gabrielle died. Why did she wait for 21 years until 1994 to bring a lawsuit? Hmmmm, there is more to this story than is reported. But, nevertheless, the problem ultimately rests with Jack and Gabrielle and their shortsightedness.

I (Craig Hughes) never cease to be amazed at the frequency in which many wealthy people turn off their minds when it comes to adequate estate planning. I can understand folks with modest estates not getting around to planning, but the frequency of stories in which the wealthy disengage their minds in regard to estate planning is interesting.

The Connecticut state attorney general stepped into a probate proceeding to challenge the sales agreement stemming from 2005 that challenged the legitimacy of a sales agreement in which an elderly Greenwich woman agreed to sell her home to two men for less than half of what it was worth at the time.

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal intervened after Mona Lee Johnson, of Greenwich, agreed to sell her home, estimated to be worth $1.2 million, for $500,000, a month before she passed away.

The Attorney General's Office alleged that her neighbor, Mark Lovallo, had urged Johnson to sign off on the sales option while she was sick in the hospital. The deal also included her longtime accountant, David Alfano.

Blumenthal said that Johnson never intended to approve the deal, which would have significantly lowered the amount of money that would have been donated to eight of her favorite charities. Johnson's will divided nearly all of her $1.5 million estate to charities including the Greenwich Library and Perrot Memorial Library in Old Greenwich.

"I fought successfully to stop this suspect agreement denying hundreds of thousands of dollars to charities intended to benefit from the home's sale," said Blumenthal. "In charity law, the donor's wishes are paramount. This donor never wished to sell her home at a bargain-basement price, significantly slashing the proceeds to charities named in her will."

Blumenthal said the "suspect" agreement caught his attention because his office is in charge of enforcing charity laws and often reviews probate cases involving charitable donations.

"We were the only ones to challenge this agreement. It came to our attention through filings in the probate court," said Blumenthal.

If the sales agreement had gone through and Johnson's home was sold for $500,000, Blumenthal said the estate's total value would have been about $300,000 less.

"Ill and infirm, this woman supposedly signed papers while hospitalized and in the last month of her life, raising grave doubt the agreement reflected her true wishes," said Blumenthal.

Probate Judge Daniel Caruso voided the agreement earlier this month. The house will now be offered to Lovallo and Alfano for one month at the original fair market price at $1.2 million. Blumenthal said if they fail to act on the deal, the executor of the estate will put it on the market to be sold for at least $800,000 or more.

Johnson's estate also includes $700,000 in stocks and cash.

After expenses, all but $100,000 of the estate will be divided among eight charities including, Weimaraner Foundation, AKC Canine Health Foundation, Perrot Memorial Library, Greenwich Library, Cornell University Veterinarian School, University of Pennsylvania Veterinarian School, Tufts Veterinarian School and the Embroiders Guild.

Calls to Lovallo and Alfano Friday were not immediately returned.

See article here.
For information regarding estate planning look at our website here.

Estate Planning Fraud Alert

$16 M default judgment entered against seller of living trust
By Michelle Massey, Texarkana Bureau
Southeast Texas Record
4/1/2009 7:25 PM

U.S. District Judge Harry F. Barnes granted plaintiffs a default judgment for more than $16 million against The Estate Plan, a company accused of ripping off senior citizens in Texas and Arkansas.

The Estate Plan and other living trust sellers are facing allegations of "masquerading as qualified financial advisers, estate planners, lawyers, and paralegals" to "exploit and prey" upon senior citizens with the creation and selling of "unnecessary and often useless" living trusts.

The suit claims companies intentionally misstate the law, and use fear of the estate tax to get senior citizens to buy "plans," that are often ineffective and unnecessary.

Once the plans are purchased these operators convince senior citizens to use their IRA accounts or other tax-exempt accounts to purchase variable annuities without disclosing the risks, fees, surrender charges, or commissions.

Defendants are accused of fraud, unauthorized practice of law, negligence, breach of fiduciary duty and conspiracy.

Defendants named in the lawsuit are John R. Vermillion, John Vermillion and Associates LLC, CLA USA Inc., CLA USA Insurance Services, CLA Marketing, CLA Estate Services, CLA Insurance Services, Charles Loper Jr., Charles Loper III, Steven Morgan, Robert Reese and The Estate Plan Inc.

The plaintiffs filed an amended complaint on Sept. 11 adding defendants Winning Strategies Marketing, Inc., Quest Staffing Group Inc., James E Bradshaw Jr, Joel Carson and Olaf Turek.

Correction: U.S. District Judge Harry F. Barnes granted plaintiffs a default judgment for more than $16 million against The Estate Plan after failing to answer the complaint. The Estate Plan has been severed from the suit. Charges are still pending against the others and all are maintaining their innocence. The commenter below is correct.