Living in America – so nice with your bare self
Living in America – I feel good!
One of the founders of funk music, James Brown died on Christmas Day 2006 at the age of 73. In 2009, after years of litigation over his estate, the state’s attorney general brokered a settlement. The settlement had split the singer’s estate giving nearly half of it to a charitable trust, a quarter to his widow and the rest to his adult children.
On Wednesday, the South Carolina Supreme Court overturned the settlement ruling that the attorney general had failed to follow Brown’s wishes in brokering the deal. The Court ruled that Brown was of sound mind and body when he made his estate plan before he died of heart failure. The Court ruled that the deal brokered by the attorney general was inconsistent with Brown’s intent.
See NY Times recent article at http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/27/court-overturns-settlement-of-james-browns-estate/
His estate plan was not signed on his deathbed. Rather, the plan was signed over six years preceding his death. At the time of the signing of his estate plan, he had not yet given birth to his son, James II, nor had he yet married his wife, Tomi Rae Hynie. Irresponsibly, his estate plan was neither amended after the birth of his son nor after his marriage. This failure became the ingredient for litigation.
The Probate Pro generally advises clients to review their estate plans at least yearly and after any life events, such as marriage, births, deaths, or divorce. The goal is to have a plan that accurately reflects your intentions as of your death. Of course, the actual date of death cannot always be predicted. That is why planning ahead is so important
Whoa! I feel good, I knew that I would, now
I feel good, I knew that I would
So good, so good, I got you
So good, so good, I got you
So good, so good, I got you