Home state looks to honor Prince and protect his legacy. Right to publicity laws, which protect the image of entertainers, have been enacted in only a few states and Minnesota, where Prince recently passed away, is not one of those states. Without such a law, it is possible the scope of his estate’s rights to […]

The estates of the two sons of Bernie Madoff have to defend lawsuits. Bernie Madoff, who has been convicted of a Ponzi scheme, had two sons but both passed away with one committing suicide and the other dying of cancer. However, lawsuits had been filed against them and the estates of the sons are now […]

Prisoner in Colorado jail claims he is the son of entertainer Prince. Despite the fact that there is no record of Prince having any children, it is expected that many people will step forward with a claim against the very valuable estate and there is already a claim filed from a prison in Colorado. It […]

Cost of nursing home care continued to rise in 2016 but at slower pace than past years. The Genworth study for 2016 has some positive news but also some bad news as Elder Law Answers reports in “Nursing Home Care Costs Are Only Slightly Higher in 2016.” And, while nursing home costs are higher in […]

Why do the estates of some musicians grow after death while others fade away? The legacy of a musician isn’t always luck as the Guardian recently explained in an article about Jeffrey Jampol, “‘This is the pop culture legacy business’: JAM Inc manages artists after death.” Some musicians slowly fade from memory. Their albums stop […]

Japan’s aging population creates need for corpse hotels in residential areas. An increasing elderly population and a real estate shortage have overwhelmed Japan’s crematoriums and there is scarce land for building new crematoriums. The country’s solution is to allow what are being called corpse hotels as reported by AOL in “Japan’s corpse hotels upset some […]

With the U.S. estate tax hitting the century mark there are many questions arising as to its value. The much discussed estate tax has now reached its 100th birthday sparking considerable study on the reasons to repeal the law as Forbes recently listed in “Top Five Reasons The Death Tax’s 100th Birthday Should Be Its […]

Snoop Dogg has followed in the footsteps of entertainer Prince and does not have an estate plan. Snoop Dogg also has no intention of getting one. Despite the recent death of Prince who did not have an estate plan or a will there are still entertainers who don’t mind how difficult it will be to […]

California joins three other states in U.S. that allow physician assisted suicides. Controversy continues in California as the date approaches when assisted suicides become legal. On June 9, 2016, California will become the fourth state to allow doctors to assist terminally ill patients to commit suicide. Beginning on that date, residents of California can request […]

More and more Americans are including their pets in their estate plans. Your estate plan does not have to be just for your heirs. It can include a trust or other measures to ensure continued care of your pets after you pass away. The National Law Review recently offered some advice on steps people can […]