Crazy Is As Crazy Does

A Scottish nurse falsely accused her grandfather of sexually abusing her when she was younger in an attempt to accelerate her inheritance.   After the charges were found to be bogus, she was sentenced to 22 months in jail for fabricating the claims which forced her grandfather to spend some time in jail after they were made.

Several points:

1.  Her plot was as poorly conceived as the USC football player's story about jumping off a balcony to rescue a drowning nephew.  There is no law that treats criminals as deceased and then accelerates an inheritance.

2.  While she is in jail she might wish to study a table of consanguinity and learn that even if her grandfather were dead, her grandmother would inherit his estate.  Her own parent would inherit if her grandmother were deceased.

3.  Consider it a hunch, but I suspect she will now never inherit a dime (or should I say shilling) from her grandfather.

It's Too Late

Do not wait too long to revise your will.

To Have and Have Not (a Trust)

The executors of Lauren Bacall's estate filed her will in probate court on Friday.  Her will, which she executed last fall, left her $27 million estate in equal shares to her 3 children save for a few small five figure bequests to household staff and to her son to care for her dog.    She also left $250K to each of her grandsons to be used for college with them receiving the remainder at the age of 30.

Several points:

1.  A funded trust would have provided her privacy so the public would not know about her intentions.

2.  A trust would also be a more efficient means of managing the funds for her grandsons.

3.  With college tuition increases not grounded in economic reality, I hope the $250K is enough to fully cover college expenses for her grandsons.  

 

The Morning Line (Again)

Paul Daugherty of the Cincinnati Enquirer has once again graciously allowed me to write his The Morning Line blog.  

Free Nelson Mandela's Estate

Winnie Mandela, the ex-wife of Nelson Mandela, filed a claim against his estate seeking control of his ancestral home for her daughters.  Mandela divorced Winnie in 1996 after he charged that she had been unfaithful to him during his 27 year imprisonment.  Mandela's  will left the ancestral home to his 3rd wife who later waived her right to half of his estate in exchange for  properties in her native Mozambique. Mandela's grandson later ordered the exhumation of the bodies of 3 of Mandela's children from the ancestral home, but Mandela's daughter had the bodies re-interred at the disputed home.

Several points, if I must:

1.  It is odd that an elderly mother would be the one to file a claim on behalf of her middle aged daughters.  Adolescence is seemingly prolonged every year.

2.  If the South African court system moves at the same pace as it did for the Oscar Pistorius trial, Winnie and the third wife will die before there is a resolution.

3.  Whoever can convince the various members and factions of the Mandela family to have a group hug deserves a Nobel Peace Prize.

R.I.P. Robin Williams

My favorite piece was his take on golf.  He will be missed.