Phoenix, AZ
Probate Lawyer at Phoenix, AZ
Practice Areas: Probate, Estate Planning, Trusts
OUTCOME: Won
Ex-husband attempted to have a hand-written Will probated. He produced four witnesses who testified that they had seen Ms. Shumway sign the document. Using an expert witness, I was able to get the Will ... declared invalid.
OUTCOME: settled
This case involved an interpretation of a poorly drafted trust instrument. The trust document said that upon one spouse's death, the "survivor's trust" would remain amendable, but the remaining trust(s ... ) would be irrevocable and unamendable. My client's father (after his wife passed away) attempted to amend the trust to make a caretaker/lady friend the recipient of his house that was owned by the trust. The caretaker/friend, of course, claimed that the amendment was valid (so that she got the house). I raised the issue (on behalf of my client) that the original trust was not an "A-B" trust, the house was never transferred to a "survivor's trust," and there was no evidence that my client's parents had intended to allow the surviving spouse to be able to amend the trust. All parties eventually came to the conclusion that going to trial would be little better than a coin toss. As a final settlement, we ended up splitting the house.
OUTCOME: Successfully removed Personal Representative
The original Personal Representative was appointed by the court on October 2, 2003. The court found that between 2003 and 2007, none of the work required of a PR was performed. The Notice to Creditors ... was not published, the house was not put on the market or distributed, no Inventory was prepared, income taxes were not filed, etc. My client contacted me in November 2007. We filed our Petition for Removal and Substitution of Personal Representative on December 3, 2007. The original PR was removed by court Order on February 21, 2008, and she was replaced by my client.
OUTCOME: Successfully removed the guardian/conservator
One of Ms. Kovacs' daughters wanted to isolate her mother from my client (Ms. Kovacs' son) and another daughter. The daughter was appointed as the Temporary Guardian/Conservator on an emergency basis b ... y making false statements to the court. The daughter did this despite Ms. Kovacs having valid general and health care power of attorney documens. I was able to disprove the daughter's allegations at the evidentiary hearing. This was a very high-conflict situation, and we ultimately resolved it by convincing the Judge to appoint an independent fiduciary service as the guardian/conservator. The daughter had also obtained an Order for Protection, which I was successfully able to have dismissed.
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