The Michael Jackson Estate has been the subject of regular court hearings as Katherine Jackson battled for control over the last several months.  She routinely objected to the decisions of the co-executors John Branca and John McClain.  Recently, she hired a new attorney with the promise of taking the case in a new direction, as I discussed in this recent article about the Michael Jackson case .

Her case took a new direction, all right.  She decided to drop her claim.  That’s right, she stopped fighting and agreed to let the executors run the show without her. Surprised?  I was.  And I was far from the only one.  Here’s what a lawyer in the case said about Katherine Jackson’s change of heart, according to CNN: “She has now reneged on her obligation to her family.”  This same lawyer then said that it was “one of the most despicable displays” he’d ever seen in court.  He even accused Katherine of colluding with the estate executors in a “secret deal”. So who was this attorney representing?  None other than Joe Jackson — Katherine’s husband of 60 years.  Granted, they don’t live together, but obviously, he was taken aback about what happened. And Joe and his attorney

Read rest at: Katherine Jackson’s shocking change of heart

Martin Luther King, Jr.'s three children have been fighting with each other in court over control of his estate and financial legacy.  Here are my prior articles about the Martin Luther King, Jr. estate fight .  Two of the three children had sued Dexter King, their brother, who had the legal authority to make decisions regarding the King Estate.  The Estate was run through a corporation, which Dexter oversaw, until the 2008 lawsuit filed against him in Georgia. Recently, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Ural D. Glanville had ordered the trio to hold a shareholders meeting and try to resolve their differences.  He also ruled the case would go to trial if no settlement was reached.  Obviously, no one involved wanted the legacy of Martin Luther King fought over in a very public courtroom. So the three children settled, reported today by the Associated Press.  They agreed to allow a neutral person to act as ”temporary custodian” to manage the King legacy and corporation, and give the three children time to repair their fractured relationship. This temporary custodian will have a lot on his or her plate.  The King family fight included disagreements over a movie deal with Stephen Spielberg's DreamWorks Studio and a $1.4 million book deal about their famous father's life.  Now the decision to finalize these deals will fall to this temporary custodian. The two warring factions of the King family will each propose three people to serve in this important role, and the judge will interview at least one person from each list and select a single custodian to manage the King estate and legacy. So now a stranger will be left to make decisions about how to protect and uphold the all-important legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.  If he had created a basic will before he died (or better yet, a revocable living trust), King could have hand picked the person or people to manage his affairs and specified what role his children would play.  If he had done so, this entire fight might have been avoided. It's also a good lesson for families facing disputes over the administration of an estate or trust.  The King lawsuit was started because Dexter King's siblings claimed he refused to share information with them and entered into business deals in secret.  Secrecy is rarely a good policy in this situation.  When a loved one dies, families that talk, share information and communicate like a family should can usually avoid feuds like this one.  So do your estate planning, with the help of an experienced attorney.  Hand pick the person you want to manage the savings of a lifetime that you worked so hard for.  And if you lose a parent or other loved one, work together with your siblings and other heirs so that everything is out in the open and no one is left in the dark.  Posted by:  Author and probate attorney Andrew W. Mayoras, co-author of Trial & Heirs:  Famous Fortune Fights!  and co-founder and shareholder of  The Center for Probate Litigation and  The Center for Elder Law   in metro-Detroit, Michigan, which concentrate in probate litigation, estate planning, and elder law.  You can email him at blog @ trialandheirs.com.

Martin Luther King, Jr.'s three children have been fighting with each other in court over control of his estate and financial legacy.  Here are my prior articles about the Martin Luther King, Jr. estate fight.  Two of the three children had sued Dexter King, their brother, who had the legal authority to make decisions regarding the King Estate.  The Estate was run through a corporation, which Dexter oversaw, until the 2008 lawsuit filed against him in Georgia.

Recently, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Ural D. Glanville had ordered the trio to hold a shareholders meeting and try to resolve their differences.  He also ruled the case would go to trial if no settlement was reached.  Obviously, no one involved wanted the legacy of Martin Luther King fought over in a very public courtroom.

So the three children settled, reported today by the Associated Press.  They agreed to allow a neutral person to act as ”temporary custodian” to manage the King legacy and corporation, and give the three children time to repair their fractured relationship.

This temporary custodian will have a lot on his or her plate.  The King family fight included disagreements over a movie deal with Stephen Spielberg's DreamWorks Studio and a $1.4 million book deal about their famous father's life.  Now the decision to finalize these deals will fall to this temporary custodian.

The two warring factions of the King family will each propose three people to serve in this important role, and the judge will interview at least one person from each list and select a single custodian to manage the King estate and legacy.

So now a stranger will be left to make decisions about how to protect and uphold the all-important legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.  If he had created a basic will before he died (or better yet, a revocable living trust), King could have hand picked the person or people to manage his affairs and specified what role his children would play.  If he had done so, this entire fight might have been avoided.

It's also a good lesson for families facing disputes over the administration of an estate or trust.  The King lawsuit was started because Dexter King's siblings claimed he refused to share information with them and entered into business deals in secret.  Secrecy is rarely a good policy in this situation.  When a loved one dies, families that talk, share information and communicate like a family should can usually avoid feuds like this one. 

So do your estate planning, with the help of an experienced attorney.  Hand pick the person you want to manage the savings of a lifetime that you worked so hard for.  And if you lose a parent or other loved one, work together with your siblings and other heirs so that everything is out in the open and no one is left in the dark. 

Posted by:  Author and probate attorney Andrew W. Mayoras, co-author of Trial & Heirs:  Famous Fortune Fights! and co-founder and shareholder of The Center for Probate Litigation and The Center for Elder Law in metro-Detroit, Michigan, which concentrate in probate litigation, estate planning, and elder law.  You can email him at blog @ trialandheirs.com.

Read more from the original source:
Martin Luther King, Jr. Estate fight is resolved

By Katana Abbott, Certified Fiancial Planner and founder Designated Daughter

Almost 20 years ago, my mother remarried the most wonderful man who changed her life.  It was a marriage made in heaven… 20 years later; they were still in love at 86 and 72. 

Since I was a Certified Financial Planner, when they married, Dale asked me to do a financial plan; he was 72 and my mom was 58.  He created a living trust that gave my mother a life interest, but the principle transferred to his children at his death.  He also purchased life insurance and long term care for both him and my mom.  My mother’s long term care policy was $100/day with a 5% inflation rider and lifetime benefits. 

In the fall of 2005, at 86, Dale was diagnosed with lung cancer.    If we had left things the way he originally set them up, when they were first married, which was the typical joint ownership with rights of survivorship, his children would have been disinherited, my mother would not have had long term care insurance and would have used up all his assets.

Because his estate planning had been in place for years, and reviewed annually, we were able to focus on his quality of life and quality of care that last year. 

During the last three months of his life, Hospice was with us daily, we had moved his bed into the living room, so he could look out at the ducks on the pond.

The week before Dale died; he looked up at me and whispered, “You’re my miracle worker”.  I will never forget his words or the impact his planning has had on his loved ones lives.

He knew that he had done a great job; my mom was set for life and I know he had overheard us talking when we received the call from the insurance company that my mother had been approved for her long term care insurance claim.  She had recently been diagnosed with dementia and the insurance would provide her with up to $150/day for life—with an increasing benefit to keep up with inflation.  This was almost $55,000 a year of additional income that would be tax free.

Between her survivor pension and tax free long term care benefits, my mother was able to move into Sunrise Assisted Living without using any of her investment income.  In addition, we saw that she would probably never need the assets from my step father’s trust, so we made an immediate gift of $100,000 to his children who were just a few years younger than my mother. 

I am so thankful that Dale had agreed to do this planning decades before when they had many options, and were not under stress. 

I was able to play a video that I had taped of my step-father and mother for Dale’s children and grandchildren the Christmas after his death.  He still looked great in the video; the lake and flowers in the background were cheery as my step father told stories about his past, as well as stories about his father and grandfather.

His children may never have known these stories if I had not taped that video that day.  In addition, I came across some wonderful photos of his father and grandfather in northern Michigan working as loggers at the turn of the century.  I will be creating a professional legacy video this year and giving the video and some prints to his family this Christmas. 

I had always wanted to be able to do this for my clients during my 20 years as a financial planner, but I did not have this process in place at the time.

I think passing the story along with the money could help many financial and legal professionals develop a deeper relationship with their clients as well as with the next generation. 

What do you think?  What is your story?  I would love to hear from you!

Visit www.SmartWomensCafe.com for an interactive on-line community featuring  the Designated Daughter Caregiving, Legacy and Aging Experts who work together as a team in the Designated Daughter Tea Room!