Bielski Law Office, Ltd.

TV Star Sues Stepsons

A reality TV personality is suing her stepsons for what she claims is an attempt to steal a home belonging to her late husband that should rightfully belong to her.

The Real Housewives reality TV series is well-known for the family drama it produces. Viewers seem to appreciate seeing the types of family issues they share in common with the wealthy women who star on the show.

Now, one of the stars of Real Housewives of Miami, Alexia Echevarria, is having another issue with family that many other people have.

She is fighting with her stepchildren over part of her late husband's estate, as the Daily Mail reports in "Real Housewives of Miami star Alexia Echevarria accuses her stepsons of trying to seize her $3 million Miami Beach home and Maserati after her husband's sudden death."

Prior to marrying, Echevarria and her husband picked out a home in Miami Beach that he purchased in his name alone. A prenuptial agreement was signed which included a provision that upon his death, ownership of the house would be transferred to her.

The two announced that they were separating in 2015, but according to Echevarria they continued to live together until his death in 2016.

His estate went to his two sons from a previous relationship. Echevarria claims they are attempting to seize the house as part of the estate.

It is not uncommon for stepparents and children to have disputes over an estate.

One thing that can help with a situation like this, is to include any specific details about what should go to the surviving spouse in an estate plan, even if a prenuptial agreement already includes the information.

Reference: Daily Mail (March 21, 2017) "Real Housewives of Miami star Alexia Echevarria accuses her stepsons of trying to seize her $3 million Miami Beach home and Maserati after her husband's sudden death"

Victory for Jackson Estate

Michael Jackson's estate has become notorious for its many ongoing legal battles, including feuds between family members and a long fight with the IRS. The estate was recently victorious in one battle.

The estate of Michael Jackson has seen more than its fair share of legal disputes. It is likely that legal disputes over the estate will continue for many years. However, the estate can take some relief that one case appears to be over, after a judge ruled in the estate's favor.

This particular claim against the estate was brought by four former business associates of Jackson's. They claimed that in 2006, three of them met with the singer in a Tokyo hotel room.  They said that he gave them all shares in his business to reward them for their loyalty.

In 2014, they sued the estate for the shares they claimed they were given as TMZ reported in "Michael Jackson Victory for Estate ... Judge Tells Ex-Biz Partners to Beat It."

This particular case appears to have been an easy one for the judge to decide.

The business associates had never reduced the alleged agreement with Jackson to writing and they never made an attempt to claim any shares in his business while he was alive. The lack of a written agreement, made it easy for the judge to dismiss their claims and to decide that the case was frivolous. The judge also ruled that they filed the case too late.

While Jackson's estate undoubtedly celebrated this decision, other tougher cases for the estate to win are still upcoming.

Reference: TMZ (March 27, 2017) "Michael Jackson Victory for Estate ... Judge Tells Ex-Biz Partners to Beat It."

Dementia Patients Are Not Children

It is obvious that elderly people are not children. However, many elderly people with dementia are often treated as if they were young children. That can be harmful to them.

Everyone can tell when another adult is talking to a very small child or a baby, even if they do not see the child or have previous knowledge that a young child is present. This is true because we are all able to recognize that most adults have a different way of speaking to young children than to other adults.

Most adults would be offended if someone talked to them in the same way they speak to a young child. However, there is a group of adults who are often spoken to in a similar manner. It can be harmful to them, as the Daily Mail reports in "Don't call me sweetie! Why we should never use 'elderspeak' to talk down to dementia patients."

Elderly people with dementia are often talked to in a form of baby talk, that researchers have dubbed "elderspeak." It is common for dementia patients to be called names, such as "sweetie" and "dear."

While the speaker does not mean any harm, it can be harmful to the patients.

Talking to dementia patients in that way comes across as patronizing and may increase their feelings of isolation. It can worsen their problems.

This is something caregivers and elder law advocates should be aware of. Obviously, there can be no legislative ban on elderspeak, but it is important to know that it can cause problems for the elderly, so we can mindfully refrain from using it.

Reference: Daily Mail (March 24, 2017) "Don't call me sweetie! Why we should never use 'elderspeak' to talk down to dementia patients."

Who Is Afraid to Die?

Researchers at Oxford University have discovered what might be somewhat surprising findings about what types of people are the least afraid of passing away.

One of the reasons that people put off estate planning is they are afraid to die. Most people do not think that they will hasten their own deaths by planning for their estates.  However, that was a common superstition in the distant past.

Estate planning makes people think about what will happen after they pass away. For many people, that leads to think about the act of death itself, and they are deathly afraid of it. Unfortunately, that causes some people to delay estate planning for too long and they pass away without estate plans.

Oxford University researchers have analyzed what types of people are the most and least afraid of dying.

The “least afraid” list includes those people who are extremely religious and, interestingly enough, atheists. The analysis shows that those on the “most afraid” of death list are those people who are mildly religious and who may only join a religious group for social and economic reasons.

The Daily Mail reported these findings in "How afraid are YOU of dying? Researchers say atheists and the most religious are the least scared."

Of course, people cannot act on this information to make themselves have less fear of death. It is difficult to force yourself to be more or less religious than you are.

However, those who have put off estate planning due to a fear of passing away, can use this information to understand that their fear is normal. That in and of itself might help some overcome their fear long enough to do the necessary estate planning.

Reference: Daily Mail (March 24, 2017) "How afraid are YOU of dying? Researchers say atheists and the most religious are the least scared."