Summary of the Situation Many news sources (such as this and this and this) are reporting the following: -M. Richard “Dick” Robinson, Jr., longtime chairman, president, CEO, and owner of Scholastic, recently died. -Scholastic is one of the world’s largest … more

Tony Hseih was an early investor and CEO of Zappos. It appears he left behind no Will or other estate plan at his recent death. In this blog series, we have been looking at some of the issues in this … more

We have been looking at Tony Hseish’s estate as an example of issues that can come up when someone dies without a will or other estate plan. Usual and Unusual Consequences Besides some of the more basic consequences, this estate … more

In Tony Hseih’s estate, it appears there is the issue of no will. I wrote about that in more detail in my last post. However, there is also the issue of a “mess” left behind – including possible deals written … more

Whether you are Tony Hseih (an early investor and CEO of popular shoe and clothes company Zappos), Aretha Franklin, or an Average Joe like most of us, if you die without a will, there are certain basic consequences you should … more

Tony Hseih was an early investor and CEO of a popular shoe and clothes company called Zappos. He died recently, suddenly, and unexpectedly, according to his family. He may have been worth hundreds of millions of dollars according to Forbes. … more

If you do not plan ahead with a Last Will and Testament (or other estate planning documents and actions), the following will NOT happen: 1. Surviving Spouse If you have children, your entire estate will NOT pass to your surviving … more

Actor Chadwick Boseman recently died after a battle with cancer. Reports this week are that he died intestate or without a Will. (Of course those were the initial reports in the Aretha Franklin estate as well – before that situation … more

This post continues the topic of the law few posts: why does the law require most forms of wills to have witnesses, but the law does not require witnesses for handwritten or holographic wills? The last post looked at the … more

In the last post in this series on holographic wills, we discussed why the law does not require witnesses for holographic wills. The logic seems to be: examining a handwritten will can give many of the same protections that witnesses … more