Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Make It Rain

Micky Liu is described as an HBO IT exec. When he died in 2015, he left his life insurance proceeds, and 401(k) plan balance and other retirement benefits to Veronica Beckham, a stripper he had met 9 months earlier. His sister contested the $223K left to Beckham alleging that Beckham (no relation to David) had seduced Liu. A court ruled against the sister on the grounds that the only person who could contest the beneficiary designation was Liu’s prior beneficiary, an ex-girlfriend.
A few minor points:
1. The court made the correct ruling because Liu had no presumption of leaving the benefits to his sister or any other family member.
2. Undue influence is more difficult to prove in a non-will matter than a will contest.
3. As a rule of thumb, women who hang with Snoop Dogg are not usually romantically interested in IT guys.  
4. $223K total benefits (including presumably 1X salary in life insurance)? The term “exec” has become as watered down as the term “porn star.”


Photo Credit:  Instagram
License:  Fair Use/Education (from linked article)