Where the decedent’s will ambiguously identified the beneficiaries, the circuit court erred by concluding that the decedent’s executor was the sole beneficiary. Overview Mark Gabi apparently drafted his own will using a template found on the internet. The will named ...

Tagged with: Supreme Court of Virginia Wills & Trusts

Although the circuit court correctly admitted a will to probate and appointed an estate administrator, the court incorrectly granted summary judgment to a German charity that was making a claim against the decedent’s brokerage account. Background Towsey, the decedent, had ...

Tagged with: Justice Stephen R. McCullough Supreme Court of Virginia Wills & Trusts

The commissioner of accounts properly held a hearing regarding a conservator’s accounting of the decedent’s estate, even though the information prompting the hearing came from a disinterested party. Background Kishna Minor was appointed conservator of Eric Witt Wilder, her incapacitated ...

Tagged with: Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Robert J. Smith Virginia Circuit Courts Wills & Trusts

Neither the Virginia Uniform Arbitration Act nor the Federal Arbitration Act compel arbitration of the parties’ trust dispute. Both statutes provide for arbitration of contracts. A trust is not a contract. Moreover, a trust beneficiary is not a party to ...

Tagged with: Justice Stephen R. McCullough Supreme Court of Virginia Wills & Trusts

Even though the testator did not sign a codicil to his will, clear and convincing extrinsic evidence shows that he intended to add to, or change his will. Overview Asmuth, the decedent, signed his will on Oct. 17, 2018. On ...

Tagged with: Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Robert J. Smith Virginia Circuit Courts Wills & Trusts

Where the bequests to certain beneficiaries were to be funded from the sale of the testator’s condominium, the sale of the condominium before the testator’s death adeemed the bequests. The Commissioner of Accounts erred by concluding otherwise. Her recommendation that ...

Tagged with: Fairfax Circuit Court Judge Richard E. Gardiner Virginia Circuit Courts Wills & Trusts

The circuit court correctly determined appellant was not entitled to a statutory accounting from her brother relating to his management of their father’s financial affairs under a power of attorney. The power of attorney document specifically prohibited such accounting. Further, ...

Tagged with: Justice D. Arthur Kelsey Supreme Court of Virginia Wills & Trusts

The circuit court correctly removed two brothers as co-executors of their mother’s estate and replaced them with a disinterested third party. The “strife and conflict between the brothers[,]” resulting in their inability to agree on even the most trivial matters ...

Tagged with: Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn Supreme Court of Virginia Wills & Trusts

A suit to impeach a will remains pending because the will contestant has standing to bring the suit. Her signature on a release, which appellant argues is an accord and satisfaction, does not bar the suit because the trial court ...

Tagged with: Supreme Court of Virginia Wills & Trusts

Where appellee revoked a trust, of which two of her children were trustees, and a New York guardianship court found that appellee was not an incapacitated person, the Fairfax Circuit Court incorrectly ruled that the New York proceeding collaterally estopped ...

Tagged with: Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn Supreme Court of Virginia Wills & Trusts