Nichols and Retzner: Using a purpose trust in a business succession plan
The “purpose trust” should be in an estate planner’s “tool kit” and considered in a client’s business succession and charitable planning.
Trusts
Articles
Complex rules, costly mistakes: Why the stakes are rising in legal malpractice claims
Even as the number of legal malpractice claims has remained relatively flat, the severity of those claims continues to climb, with costlier mistakes and social inflation serving as two key factors driving the rise.
COA remands for fuller analysis of woman’s Medicaid eligibility
An administrative law judge’s analysis of a woman’s irrevocable trust as it relates to her Medicaid nursing home benefits eligibility was incomplete, the Court of Appeals of Indiana ruled in a Tuesday reversal.
Wife’s interest in trust is marital asset, COA affirms
A trust providing regular payments to a woman should be considered a marital asset and included in the assets under consideration for division in the woman’s divorce case, the Court of Appeals of Indiana ruled Wednesday.
COA reinstates challenge to trust amendment
A woman’s complaint against an amendment to a family trust was timely and should be reinstated, the Court of Appeals of Indiana ruled Monday.
COA: Trial court misinterpreted right of first refusal language in family trust
A man who had a right of first refusal to his late mother’s home should have been allowed to receive the home at its value at the time of his mother’s death, rather than the value of a purchase offer, the Court of Appeals of Indiana has ruled.
Museum will not see any funds from trust, COA affirms
The Court of Appeals of Indiana has affirmed summary judgment and the denial of a museum’s motion for partial summary judgment in matters involving the beneficiary of a marital trust.
COA affirms denial of woman’s lawsuit against lawyers over creation of trust
The Court of Appeals of Indiana tossed a woman’s complaint alleging malpractice and fraud against an attorney and his St. Joseph County law firm.
Retzner: Transferring Florida real estate: Proceed with caution
The first reaction when confronted with a client owning real estate outside Indiana is to transfer that property into a trust, LLC or other method. However, Florida’s property tax laws may yield a result that could be much worse than ancillary administration.
COA again shuts down daughter’s arguments in trust dispute, orders appellate attorney fees
A longtime legal battle between siblings over their mother’s trust recently made its way back to the Court of Appeals of Indiana, where the sister lost yet again. The appellate court’s ruling also included a warning for the sister’s longtime counsel.
Applegate: Helping your clients select a trustee: What to consider
Creating a trust comes with a crucial decision: choosing the trustee. There are some key things that are important for your clients to consider when determining the right trustee.
Soshnick: Marital property in Indiana: What words to trust?
By Andrew Z. Soshnick The treatment of trust interests as marital property under Indiana law has an underdeveloped and confusing history. The 1973 Indiana Dissolution of Marriage Act and statutory amendments do not directly address the issue of what trust interests are marital property. Likewise, few appellate opinions attempt to clarify when trust interests are […]
COA: Trust invalid due to unclear beneficiaries
A man serving as personal representative of his brother’s estate has failed to convince the Court of Appeals of Indiana that the language in a will left by his deceased brother created a valid trust in his name.
Rauch, Osborn and Roy: Supreme Court says trusts may include marriage restraint provisions
In its recent Rotert v. Stiles opinion, the Indiana Supreme Court honored established principles of statutory interpretation and judicial restraint in deciding that Indiana’s trust code does not prohibit restraints on marriage.
Justices reverse, rule for sister in siblings’ ‘restraint on marriage’ trust dispute
Indiana Supreme Court justices reversed Friday in a dispute between two siblings over a provision in their late mother’s trust regarding her son, holding the provision was not an unlawful restraint on marriage.
‘Restraint on marriage’ trust dispute granted transfer by justices
Indiana Supreme Court justices have granted transfer in a case involving a sibling dispute over their late mother’s trust.
Grandparents indicted for alleged bank fraud charges
Two grandparents, including an Indiana woman, have been indicted for allegedly stealing insurance funds from trust accounts they created for the benefit of their 8-year-old granddaughter after their son’s death.
Supreme Court to hear arguments in classmates’ personal injury damages dispute
The case involved the amount of damages Sydney Renner was entitled to after a 2016 accident that left her with a concussion.
COA affirms $245K judgment against brother in family farm dispute
An order for a brother to pay nearly $245,000, including more than $100,000 in attorney fees, in a dispute with his siblings over a breach of their mother’s revocable trust was affirmed Friday by the Indiana Court of Appeals.
Justices give Indianapolis lawyer probation for account mismanagement
An Indianapolis attorney and real estate broker whose overdrafts of his attorney trust accounts triggered a disciplinary commission investigation received a suspended suspension Thursday subject to at least one year of probation with accountant monitoring.