A woman’s stated intent to con­tinue tinkering with her will “on my deathbed” did not prevent a Nor­folk Circuit Court from finding that a handwritten will found in a note­book in her kitchen after her death was in fact her ...

Tagged with: Judge David W. Lannetti Norfolk Circuit Court Wills & Trusts

Although the testator gave her daughter with her surviving husband the remainder interest in real estate in which husband had a life estate, that daughter predeceased testator without children, and the remain­der interest is divided with one third going to ...

Tagged with: Judge David W. Lannetti Norfolk Circuit Court Virginia Circuit Courts Wills & Trusts

An Arlington County jury has found for the son of a well-known local restaurateur in a multi-mil­lion-dollar tug-of-war over assets left after the man’s death. The case could be headed for the Supreme Court of Virginia. Tom Sarris owned restaurants ...

Tagged with: Arlington County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Fiore II Million-Dollar Verdicts Wills & Trusts

An Arlington County jury has found for the son of a well-known local restaurateur in a multi-million-dollar tug-of-war over assets left after the man’s death. The case could be headed for the Supreme Court of Virginia. Tom Sarris owned restaurants ...

Tagged with: Supreme Court of Virginia Wills & Trusts

Lawyers who do trusts and es­tates work may have to do some extra foot work these days to find a bank that will accept an account with co-executors or co-trustees. Driven towards higher levels of au­tomation, many larger banks are ...

Tagged with: Loudoun County Circuit Court Wills & Trusts

A charitable organization, as intended beneficiary of a will, wins a $603,409.90 legal malpractice judgment against a lawyer who failed to draft a will conforming to the testa­tor’s wish to have her entire estate pass to the charitable organization; a ...

Tagged with: Justice LeRoy F. Millette Jr. Supreme Court of Virginia Wills & Trusts

Will-writing lawyers are wast­ing little time before they start to draft a possible legislative fix for a June 2 decision by the Supreme Court of Virginia that has sparked worries about their long-term liability exposure. The court upheld a six-figure ...

Tagged with: Judge Paul M. Peatross Jr. Justice Elizabeth A. McClanahan Justice LeRoy F. Millette Jr. Richmond Circuit Court Supreme Court of Virginia Wills & Trusts

This special section focuses on Trusts & Estates Practice. It contains stories that hit on some of the current issues in this field, including: Elective share. A Northern Virginia firm will be trying a malpractice suit this fall relating to ...

Tagged with: Wills & Trusts

Virginia lawyers have had a tool to validate wills that fail to meet the strict requirements of authentic­ity for almost nine years. Lawyers report increasing use of what has been called the “harmless error rule” for wills that don’t quite ...

Tagged with: de facto will Judge Catherine Hammond Judge Robert J. Smith Supreme Court of Virginia Wills & Trusts

Some time ago we received a call from an attorney who was afraid he might be facing a lawsuit for caus­ing a client to lose the $250,000 federal tax exemption on the sale of the client’s principal residence. It seemed ...

Tagged with: Taxation Wills & Trusts