Did a hospital coerce a reclusive copper heiress to give away part of her $300 million dollar estate? That is what relatives of Huguette Clark are claimed in a suit filed in Manhattan Surrogate’s Court. Ms. Clark was admitted to Beth Israel Medical Center in Manhattan in 1991 when she…
It is still as true today as it was in 1789 when Benjamin Franklin coined the phrase “nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Despite his best efforts to avoid falling victim to this inviolable inevitability, Japanese supercentenarian Jiroemon Kimura, who was recognized by Guinness World…
http://www.floridabar.org/DIVCOM/JN/JNJournal01.nsf/8c9f13012b96736985256aa900624829/e000e018d4b1357685257bd4006aa1bc!OpenDocumentThe law applying to LLCs in the state of Florida is about to undergo a number of changes that will affect every single LLC that is currently doing business in the state of Florida, as well as those LLCs that have yet to be created by enthusiastic entrepreneurs. The Florida…
On Tuesday, June 4, 2013, a group of animal rights advocates spent their day at the Miami-Dade County Commission waiting for the final approval of the “Pets’ Trust,” only to hear that the city had deferred the decision for two weeks. The “Pets’ Trust,” which was overwhelmingly approved by voters…
This month the Supreme Court ruled that a widow was not entitled to the proceeds of her husband’s life insurance policy worth $125,558.03. The Court held that her husband’s ex-wife was entitled to the proceeds as the result of an all too common mistake-he forgot to change his life insurance…
In a story that seems to be match made for an Alanis Morissette song (see, e.g., Ironic), the largest sole lottery jackpot winner in U.S. lottery history is none other than eighty-four year old Gloria C. MacKenzie of Zephyrhills, FL. With her net payout expected to be roughly $270 million,…
In Florida, a beneficiary under a will or trust can only inherit property from a decedent if the beneficiary survives the decedent for a specified length of time. Yet, the advent of the train, automobile, and airplane brought an increase in deaths of closely related persons in common disasters, particularly…
In Florida, a tenancy by the entirety is a form of property ownership which can only exist between a husband and wife. Under Florida law, when a married couple owns assets as tenants by the entirety, each spouse is said to own the property “per tout,” meaning that each spouse…
There are three issues that were raised by the challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”). One issue was whether or not Congress overstepped its authority by infringing on a matter that is traditionally left to the states. Historically, states have had authority to regulate marriage and issues relating…
The Case The Supreme Court of the United States recently overturned the Defense of Marriage Act when it found the act to be unconstitutional in United States v. Windsor. The following provides the background of that historic and monumental decision. In 1996, after Hawaii state court seemed likely to permit…