An argument by the testator’s son that she was competent to name him as her attorney-in-fact did not bar his later claim that she was not competent to execute her will only a few months later. Background In June 2012, ...

Tagged with: Justice William C. Mims Supreme Court of Virginia Wills & Trusts

After a four-year marriage, decedent Declan Irving obtained a divorce that included a property settlement agreement. The agreement stated, in part, that “no children were born of the marriage.” Additionally, “the infant child known as Patrick D. Irving is not ...

Tagged with: Justice William C. Mims Supreme Court of Virginia Wills & Trusts

Midgett v. O’Brien (VLW No. 017-8-110, 9pp.) (Lannetti, J.) Norfolk Cir.Ct. Case No. CL17-4956. Holding: Where the plaintiff-son and defendant-daughter dispute the terms of their mother’s will regarding a provision allowing the son to purchase his sisters’ shares of a ...

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

Molina-Ray v. King  (VLW No. 017-6-075, 10 pp.) (Order) Appealed from Albemarle Cty. Cir. Ct. (Probate) In a dispute over competing claims to a family farm governed by a trust agreement,  plaintiff children of the deceased mother claimed that ownership ...

Tagged with: Supreme Court of Virginia Wills & Trusts

A Norfolk attorney accused of mismanaging multiple trusts and charging excessive fees in the pro­cess will have to pay over $2.5 mil­lion in damages. Chesapeake Circuit Judge John W. Brown found June 20 that Philip R. Far­thing of Norfolk breached ...

Tagged with: Chesapeake Circuit Court Judge John W. Brown Wills & Trusts

A family business that operated a miniature golf course in Virginia Beach and whose majority owner died, cannot recoup “excessive compensation” paid to the minority owner, decedent’s son, who operated the business, says a Virginia Beach Circuit Court. The executor ...

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

After imposing a constructive trust against a woman’s niece and former attorney-in-fact, who allegedly used the woman’s personal funds to pay for the niece’s home improvements and personal expenses, the Alexandria U.S. District Court grants summary judgment to plaintiffs, the ...

Tagged with: Judge Liam O'Grady U.S. District Court - Eastern District Wills & Trusts

In this dispute between the testator’s children who served as executors of her estate and a daughter to whom the testator deeded her home and all her personal property in the home, the trial court erred in striking the executors’ ...

Tagged with: Justice Elizabeth A. McClanahan Supreme Court of Virginia Wills & Trusts

A neighbor of an elderly man who became friendly with him and offered to manage his personal affairs and assist with estate planning, and who then became trustee, attorney in fact and executor of trusts and of his holographic will, ...

Tagged with: Fauquier County Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey W. Parker Wills & Trusts

In this med-mal case with a “long and tortured procedural path” due to plaintiff’s counsel’s mixed signals about the elderly plaintiff’s personal capacity to sue and her lawyer’s filing of petitions for appointment of a guardian or conservator, and efforts ...

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