Mina N. Sirkin

Preventing Elder Financial Abuse Seminar

Elder Financial Abuse: Identification and Prevention Seminar

Sponsored by the State Bar of California

 

Come learn how to identify and prevent financial elder abuse.

Date: Sat. Dec. 5, 2009, 11:30a-12:30p

 Sherman Oaks Hospital, Circle of Care Conference Room

 4929 Van Nuys Boulevard, Sherman Oaks, CA 91403

 

Speaker:

Mina N. Sirkin, Esq.

Board Certified Specialist Attorney

Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Law

by the State Bar of California

SIRKIN & SIRKIN

818-340-4479

RSVP: Karen Reyes at 818-340-4479 or by email to SirkinLaw@aol.com.  

 

REGISTER HERE

    

Refreshments will be served.

This is a free seminar.  General Public and Attorneys all welcome.

RESOLVING DISPUTES IN CALIFORNIA TRUST LITIGATION CASES

Management of trustee and beneficiary disputes and their resolution in trust litigation cases involve many variables.    California trust beneficiaries have been given many tools which protect them against malfeasance by trustees.

California fiduciaries are held to a standard of care.   Trust documents often describe the standard of care of the trustee, but where they fail to specify the care, California law states that the trustee is held to a reasonable trustee standard.    At the same time, where the trustee has special skills, the courts can expect the trustee to use his special skills in managing the assets of the trust.   Trustees who invest the trust's assets are held to a prudent person standard in California unless the trust specifically relieves them of that specific standard.

For example, the trust may specify that the trustee may hold a property vacant for a period of time after the death of the settlor.  

Litigation can occur where the parent has left no specific instructions before death and one child lives in the property of the parent and refuses to pay rent.

Managing expectations of the beneficiaries where one child may live in the property of the parent can be a simple task, if done when the parent is alive and competent.   For example, the trust instrument may allow any beneficiary to live in the property for a specific period of time after death of the settlor rent-free, or at a low rent.

What can a successor trustee do to manage potential disputes among a successor trustee and beneficiaries?

1.   Give Notice of Proposed Action.   For example, a trustee who seeks to charge a beneficiary rent during the period of administration, but before distribution should give Notice of Proposed Action to determine the level of potential disputes.

2.   Give Notice of Proposed Inaction.   California law allows a trustee to give Notice of Inaction where the trustee seeks not to take action on a particular issue.   

3.   Seek pre-litigation mediation.    Trustees and beneficiaries who may not agree on certain issues, such as sales price, sale date and distribution date can often prevent future disputes when parties realize the cost of litigation and want to act timely to prevent harm in a declining market. There are many times in a declining market where the beneficiaries do not recognize market value as a result of a failure in communication and an early agreement regarding sales price and sales timing.

4.   Obtain instructions from the court.   Before a trustee takes action, he or she can seek instructions from the court.    This can be an especially useful tool where the trustee expects disputes regarding the manner of distribution or trustee's compensation.

5.   Present a settlement agreement early.   Settlement agreements which involve specific actions of the trustee can be drafted quickly and prevent future disputes on single issue disputes.  Once entered, the trustee and beneficiaries can limit the scope of the settlement, but agree on its enforcement and admissibility in the event there is a future disagreement on that issue.   A settlement agreement can be presented before mediation or during mediation and often protects all parties from significant legal fees which can be expended during litigation.

Mina N. Sirkin is a Trust and Estate Litigation Attorney in Los Angeles, California.   Ms. Sirkin is a Board Certified Specialist Attorney in Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Law by the Board of Legal Specialization of the State Bar of California.   For consultation appointments, contact Karen Reyes at 818-340-4479.   http://SirkinLaw.com/attorneys.html  

FDIC - Final Rules on Deposit Insurance of Revocable Trusts

Here is the link to the final rule on FDIC insurance on revocable trusts:

http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/financial/2009/fil09053.html

Walter Cronkite Estate

The New York Post recently published an article about the estate of the late, great broadcaster Walter Cronkite who died on July 17, 2009 at age 92.  NY Post Article here

The article and some of the comments to the article questioned why Cronkite did not leave any part of his estate to his girlfriend, Joanna Simon.   Many readers are asking why and here is what I gathered:

1.  His relationship to Simon was a four year relationship. 

2.  He stated that he did not want to leave her anything out of respect to his deceased wife.

3.  His children were his natural heirs.

4.  He was generous to Simon during his lifetime knowing he was not leaving her anything in his will.

5.  Not marrying his girlfriend eliminated some of the martial property issues.

6.  Not leaving her anything, and not specifically disinheriting her made her an uninterested person and in the event of litigation, would give his lawyers an extra argument to raise on the issue of standing.

So was it right or wrong? We will not know yet, but it certainly was the way he intended it.

Mina N. Sirkin is a Certified Specialist Attorney in Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Law by the Board of Specialization of the State Bar of California.  Ms. Sirkin has been a legal expert in the areas of trust and estates to CBS, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, Inside Edition, KNX, KFWB and many others.  http://SirkinLaw.com/attorneys.html.  Tel: 818-340-4479.  

Inside Edition reports Debbie Rowe lashes out; Michael Jackson Estate

Mina Sirkin on the Estate of Michael Jackson on Inside Edition: Debbie Rowe lashes out.

Video not posted.

Mina Sirkin on CNN regarding Michael Jackson

Mina Sirkin, TV Legal Expert asks: Is the Michael Jackson will authentic? HMMM!

Mina Sirkin, an expert Trust and Estates attorney in Los Angeles says, "I have seen a lot of wills in my career, but the copy of Michael Jackson's will leaves me with way too many questions as a trust and estates lawyer!"

Los Angeles, CA--July 2, 2009 (PRNEWSWIRE)

While some believe everything they see filed in the courts as true, sometimes, you just have to ask questions about those documents.   You should also ask questions about any document you see on the internet!

In Michael Jackson's case, the copy of Michael's signature on the will (copy) doesn't look like the copy of Michael's signature on the birth certificate of his son Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr., also known as Prince Michael Jackson.  Some people may say, it's just the size of the signature because it is in a small box, but look closer ...

See the Will and copy of signature of Michael Jackson on the copy filed with the court here:

Michael Jackson Will Copy

See copy of Birth Certificate Picture here: Copy of Birth Certificate of Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr.

See link to the matrimonial document allegedly signed by Michael and Lisa Presley:  Link to Michael's Matrimonial Certificate to Lisa Presley

Just to clarify and be fair, I can't authenticate any of these.  In fact, they are linked to copies of documents on the internet.   Without a document examiner examining originals, the public can't make any conclusions as to the veracity of any of these documents.

I'm not a document examiner, but I'm sure if the original actually turns up, that there will be dozens of forensic document examiners looking at the original signatures on all documents Michael may have signed around 2002.

Now, looking at all the other flaws, I noticed that the press version of the copy of the will redacted all the names and addresses of the witnesses, but my pre-press copy has the names of all the witnesses.

Two of the three witnesses are John McLain and Barry Siegel.  Barry Siegel, a CPA who ran the Provident Financial Management, appears to have declined to act as a co-executor.  But the letter attached to the petition which looks like a declination is not current.  It is dated in 2003. This is unusual in that in most cases where a nominated executor declines to serve as executor, he or she will usually sign a declination after the death of the testator.  This might infer some incident which caused Siegel to refuse the duty of executor between July, 2002 and August, 2003.  

Is it possible that perhaps Mr. Siegel would not want to become a fiduciary in the estate or the trusts as becoming a fiduciary would have also made him a fiduciary to Jackson's creditors?  A fiduciary with knowledge of assets and perhaps no attorney-client privilege can actually put himself and the estate or trust in a very vulnerable position.  Think about it.

Need I say that even the copy of the signature of Barry Siegel on the alleged declination letter dated 2003 doesn't looks like the copy of the Barry Siegel signature on the witness area dated 2002!    Why on earth would there not be a current declination, and merely a declination referred to in the August 26, 2003 letter?  Who would think of that one?

The addresses of John McClain, and Barry Siegel are both redacted.   The signature of the third witness is not legible.   In California, at least two witnesses are needed to authenticate a typed will.  My guess is that Mr. McLain and Mr. Siegel will be available for comment to the media and to the court! (or in the words of Desi Arnaz, "they may have some esplaining to do... ."

"They say, why, why, tell em' that it's human nature...." -Michael Jackson

Mina Sirkin is a Family Trust Lawyer in Los Angeles, California.  She was the expert on the Anna Nicole Smith case for CBS/KCAL9,  Britney Spears Conservatorship and is currently the expert to CNN, Inside Edition (CBS), and KNX.  Read more about Mina Sirkin. 

http://SirkinLaw.com [Site may be down for maintenance 7/3/09] 818-340-4479.  Press and Media Contact only:  SirkinMediaContact@gmail.com or Karen Reyes for interview scheduling: 818-340-4479 and 818-438-7170. 

Link to CNN video: Link to see Mina Sirkin on CNNhttp://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/showbiz/2009/07/02/dcl.lemon.jackson.staples.cnn?iref=videosearch

Will the Michael Jackson estate plan be a public disaster?

The real thriller will remain to be seen with the Jackson estate.   His estate is said to have many legal issues, those not easily determined without much court action.

Michael's children:

His two children with his former wife, Rowe, will be likely to be target of a nasty legal battle between Rowe and any nominated guardian.   As for the guardianship of the person of those two children, it is unlikely that the nominated guardian will be able to prevail, unless he proves that Rowe is an unfit parent.   Incidentally, her parental rights were not terminated by the court, but she voluntarily gave the custodial rights to Michael!!

His adopted child however will be subject to a guardianship proceeding according to the named guardian selected by Michael.

This case is a good example of a case where guardianship nominations won't work where the other parent's rights are not terminated.

More importantly however, his concert promoters who take out huge insurances on the talent may be out of luck if Michael lied on his insurance applications about his prescription or non-prescription medications.

More to come soon.

Mina N. Sirkin is a TV Legal Expert and Attorney in matters of Trusts, Estates, Conservatorships and Guardianships in Los Angeles, California.  http://www.SirkinLaw.com. 818-340-4479.  MEDIA CONTACT:  Karen Reyes 818-438-7170.

Court removes Paulson as trustee for horsing around

A San Diego Superior Court judge has ruled that Michael Paulson, son of the late Thoroughbred owner and breeder Allen Paulson shall be removed as trustee of his father’s living trust.

In a decision handed down on March 24, Judge Robert P. Dahlquist found that Paulson “Put his own personal interests ahead of the interests of the trust beneficiaries, misused trust assets for his own personal benefit, and used his position as trustee to harm, or seek to harm, other beneficiaries.”

As for additional grounds for removal, Paulson was found to have “committed a breach of the trust and has paid himself trustee’s compensation, which is excessive under the circumstances.”

Paulson did not comment on the ruling.

BloodHorse.com reported: Allen Paulson died in 2000.  His legendary racing and breeding operation was one of the most successful in the sport’s history, and he raced such standouts as Cigar, Theatrical, Estrapade, Blushing John, Eliza, Ajina, Opening Verse, and Arazi. His living trust set forth disposition of his assets, which the court estimated at approximately $37 million pre-tax, to various extended family members; his third wife, Madeleine; and his three adult children, Michael, Richard, and James.

In his ruling, Dahlquist wrote that “The gifts to extended family members have not yet been paid in their entirety...and nothing has been paid” to the three adult children.

Judge Dahlquist cited “the trustee’s failure to sell the trust’s racehorses even though the trust instrument states the horses were to be sold promptly upon Allen’s death.”  This is a failure to administer trust and itself a breach of fiduciary duties.

Under Michael’s direction, the living trust raced the champion Azeri to a Breeders’ Cup Distaff (gr. I) victory at Arlington Park in 2002. Last January at Keeneland, the living trust bought back Azeri after a final bid of $4.4 million fell short of her reserve. In September, Azeri’s A.P. Indy yearling colt, Vallenzeri, was bought back by the trust for a Keeneland-record $7.7 million.

The court apparently did not agree with the purchases, and found them to be in contradiction with the terms of the trust.   Following removal of Paulson, the court appointed James and Vikki Paulson as trustees.

Los Angeles attorney Neil Papiano, who represented James and Vikki Paulson in the case said, “There are allegations of a tremendous waste of money for nearly 10 years while the beneficiaries got very little. Now the beneficiaries will take over and try to restore as much as they can to the trust."

How to detect a scam directed at lawyers

You thought the the legal industry was free from scams? Well, you were wrong.

The number of scams that have hit the legal market have increased in the last two years.

Here are the signs of some scams:

1. The scammer makes outrageous claims of financial success.

2. Scammer claims that he/she achieved the alleged multi-millions or huge success in a relatively short amount of time.

3. The scammer wants you to believe that you too can make a huge amount of money in a short time, if you just pay for the product or membership. Scammers use peer pressure to engage you as part of a society of outrageous claimants.

4. Scammer usually has left multiple versions of the outrageous claims on the internet, usually with facts that are different. (e.g. Jones made $$$ in one month on one site and the same garbage is put on another site with different dollar amounts and different time frame).

5. The scam product or service makes you believe that you do not know the secret of making money.

6. The scammer generally jumps from business to business, when the outrageous claim is called into question by people.

7. The scammer is audited by the IRS for having made the outrageous claim.

8. The scammer hangs out with other friends who are also making outrageous claims and who are or were under IRS investigation. These friends all show up on sites giving testimonials which are not based on facts, but only are of opinion.

9. The scammer usually wants you to believe that the money you will be spending with him/her is an investment in yourself, or it will make you part of an elite group. (Remember Madoff?)

10. The scammer makes claims that just because many other people have fallen for it, that you must too, because all those people just simply can't be wrong!?

11. Scammer asks that you commit to pay a monthly or weekly fee to use something which you can usually get free or hire a VA to do at a small charge, and which they claim was the source of their outrageous success.

12. Scammer makes you believe that you will get leads from the product if you just subscribe to the product or site.

13. Scams usually offer low cost products first, then slowly move you to higher priced products over time.

14. Scammers spam to try to get you excited about their outrageous claim.

15. Scammer will never agree to show you his/her tax returns as proof of income.

16. Scammer wants you to go borrow or to get a business loan to pay for plan or product and makes you believe that without borrowing, you can't achieve success.

17. Scammer usually uses other scammer's products and tries to sell them to his/her new found target audience.

Remember this: If it sounds too good to be true, it is.

New National Network for the Legal Industry

Join me and a lot of other people connected to the legal industry: http://LawMarketing.ning.com.

This is where you can add your blog posts, videos, content, and make lots of friends in the legal industry.

See you there.

Mina N. Sirkin is a Board Certified Specialist Attorney in Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Law by the State Bar of California.  MSirkin@SirkinLaw.com.   http://www.SirkinLaw.com