Merry Christmas

From my family to yours.  We are thankful for your friendship.

The Morning Line

I subbed for Paul Daugherty's The Morning Line Blog again on Friday. I compiled a Christmas Wish List for local sports teams and wished three lumps of coal for the University of Louisville. I hope you enjoy it.

Once a Deceiver

Robert Oesterland and Sarah Pursglove made an enormous fortune in various business such as promising people credit cards, forming membership style clubs for various items such as DVDs, and selling web browser toolbars promising to remove computer viruses. When Pursglove started divorce proceedings, Oesterland swore in court that he was only worth several million dollars. Although Pursglove was unaware of their financial details, she knew they had several assets alone worth more than that, including a $30 million Toronto penthouse and a yacht that cost several million dollars annually to operate. When Pursglove started investigating their finances, she discovered they were difficult to determine because of the opacity provided by the use of myriad LLCs and trusts in tax haven destinations. The divorce is still on-going.

Several points:

1. Wealthy individuals use off-shore trusts to protect their wealth from creditors as an advanced form of asset protection planning.

2. Wealthy individuals also use off-shore trusts to hide their assets from taxation in an illegal form of tax avoidance.

3. It is no surprise that a man who made money by signing people up for memberships that continually charged their credit cards, promised credit cards to people but only gave them a list of credit card companies, and sold browser toolbars with no benefits would deceive his wife in divorce proceedings.

                                         Illustration from New York Times
                                         License:  Fair Use for Education Purposes

When Plans Work Out

The below photo is from the front page of today's Cincinnati Enquirer. Jack, in yellow, and his St. X teammates wanted to run all out for 400 yards in the Turkey Day Race so they could be in the lead and "make the paper." Somehow, that plan came to fruition. I love the smiles and the gap to the pack.

His Prerogative

A Bobbi Kristina Brown update. An Atlanta judge ruled earlier today that Nick Gordon, the boyfriend of Bobbi Kristina Brown, is liable for $36 million in damages to her estate and to her father, Bobby Brown, for allegedly causing her death by providing her the drugs in her body at the time of her death and for assaulting her. The judge determined the amount of damages after Gordon stopped appearing in the case a year ago and the estate was awarded a default judgment (because Gordon stopped participating in the case) in September.

Only two points:

1. Gordon does not have the funds to pay the judgment and will likely declare bankruptcy to avoid paying them.

2. There is no word on when Bobby Brown will be held liable for providing drugs to, and ruining the career of, Whitney Houston.

A Singing Will

Taking a break from celebrity and other newsworthy estate planning items, I ran across an interesting article in the NYT this weekend. The writer discussed having an end of life playlist to listen to on one's deathbed. He mentioned how Benedictine monks always chanted, perhaps for a week, around a dying monk, and how music has long provided comfort to others dying. He then discussed songs on his playlist.

A couple of quick thoughts:

1. Of course this does not work for people dying a sudden, unexpected death.

2. As your tastes change, you would have to revise your list lest you be stuck listening to "Funky Town" while dying.

3. One could skip the playlist idea and simply play Sufjan Steven's "Carrie and Lowell" and "Casmir Pulaski Day" on repeat.

4. Thankfully this idea was not idea was not around when I was younger or I would have had Head East's "Never Been Any Reason" on my list although the lyric "save my life going down for the last time" would be tastelessly appropriate.

TML - Tommy Tuberville Should Go Edition

I subbed for Paul Daugherty's The Morning Line blog in the Cincinnati Enquirer again this morning. I am critical of UC's Tommy Tuberville and listed some possible replacements. I hope you like it.

Between a Rock and Hard Place

Bill Cornwell lived in a Greenwich Village brownstone with his same sex partner for 50 years. When he died two years ago, his will left the building and all of his possessions to his partner. However, the will was only witnessed by one individual while NY law requires two witnesses. Without a valid will, his estate will pass to his closest living relatives who are his nieces and nephews who recently sold the building for $7 million. The partner has since filed suit trying to prove that he and Mr. Cornwell were actually married, although they were not, so he can be considered the closest heir.

So many points and such short attention spans:

1. All wills require two witnesses not related to the individual and who will not receive any assets under the will.

2. Using a DIY will kit could lead to problems with properly executing wills (among other issues)

3. The legal arguments made by the partner verge on stupid. One of them is that even though they lived in NY, which does not recognize common law marriage, they bought a dog in Pennsylvania in 1991 as a symbol of their commitment to each other and because Pennsylvania used to recognize common law marriage they should be considered as married.

4. The 85 year old partner would be better off dropping the law suit and accepting the offer of the nieces and nephews to live in the apartment for 5 years at a monthly rental of $10 and receive $250,000 upon the sale of the building.

5. The entire problem could have been avoided if they had simply married each other once gay marriage became legal.

6. One niece claimed, apparently with a straight face, that her uncle did not want his partner to inherit or he would have properly executed the will. She also suggested that perhaps the men were just friends or great companions. The address of the rock under which she lives is unknown.

Married Without Children

In lieu of much newsworthy, I will resort to the evergreen story of the seemingly penniless senior citizen who left a large bequest to a charity in his will. Ken Millen was born in Aberdeen, WA, attended Grays Harbor College there, worked as shoe salesman until the store went out of business in the '80s, and always lived in the house in which he was born. He inherited some funds 20 years ago from a brother who was an attorney in the South. When Millen died last year, he left some crappy personal property, including his 1979 car, to his neighbors who treated him like a family member. He left the remaining $1 million to his alma mater. The neighbors ended up hauling most of the personal belongings to the dump because they were worthless.

A few non-legal points:

1. As heart warming as these stories are portrayed, they are actually somewhat bothersome in that an individual who was treated decently and warmly by neighbors for years eschews leaving them any funds in lieu of giving it to an institution he attended 65 years ago but likely did not have much present contact with.

2. Estate planning attorneys need to do a better job with clients without living relatives to guide them to leaving some meaningful assets to important individuals in their lives rather than faceless institutions. 

3. Mercifully Grays Harbor College does not have a football team so the bequest cannot be wasted on an unnecessary scoreboard.

4. To quote Aberdeen's most famous resident: "I found it hard, it's hard to find, Oh well, whatever, never mind."

Pet Cemetery

NY recently passed legislation permitting people to be buried with the remains of their pets. Only four states permit humans and pets to be buried together. Ohio law is silent on this matter although some cemeteries bury both humans and pets in separate sections. There is no word on whether Jennifer Lopez intends to be buried with Casper Smart.

Your Money Is Ours

Hillary Clinton announced an updated estate tax proposal today. After previously supporting an increase in the estate tax rate from 40% to 45% and decreasing the amount of tax free assets to $3.5 million, she now wants to tax estates exceeding $10 million at 50%, estates exceeding $50 million at 55%, and estates exceeding $500 million at 65%. She also wants to remove the stepped up basis provision for estates so appreciated assets would also be subject to capital gains tax at death.

Two quick points without being too political because the proposal speaks for itself:

1. Apparently Hillary believes the Senator Warren adage that "you did not build this" so we are going to tax it mantra.

2. No word from her billionaire buddies Soros, Zuckerberg, Gates, and Buffet on how they feel about the government possibly taking 65% of their wealth and, frankly, I don't give a damn about them.

Old Adult Fiction

A former University of New Hampshire librarian who lived frugally, left his entire $4 million estate to the university. The UNH promptly fulfilled his mostly unrestricted bequest by allocating $100K to the library where he worked (some might say toiled) for 50 years, $1 million for a video scoreboard for the football stadium, and $2.5 million for the career center to presumably assist students with worthless majors like women's studies, anthropology, and fine arts find jobs other than as baristas. 

Several points only marginally associated with estate planning: 

1. By leaving his entire estate to charity, the former librarian will not incur state or federal estate tax. 

2. Even though he spent the last year of his life in an assisted living facility watching (and finally learning about) football, I highly doubt that he would approve of UNH spending $1 million in his name on a video scoreboard for their minor league football team (avg attendance 6,000 last year). I doubt the absence of a video scoreboard is keeping people away. 

3. Although assisting students with job placement after they selected useless majors is a questionable use of one's savings, it is no less worthy than leaving money to a library in the 21st Century when most functions of a library are available on on-line (except for providing a physical warm or cool space for the homeless during the Winter or Summer).

TML Again

I wrote Paul Daugherty's The Morning Line blog again today. I covered UC's Big 12 candidacy, Notre Dame's quarterback situation, and myriad other topics including Bruce Springsteen's forthcoming autobiography. I hope you enjoy it.

Meanest Man Begets Mean Daughter

Sam Huff is an NFL Hall of Fame linebacker who played for the NY Giants and Washington Redskins. He was known as the Meanest Man in the NFL during the 1960's. He is long divorced,has lived with Carol Holden for nearly 30 years, and now suffers from dementia. His daughter picked him up one morning in late March to take him to a dentist appointment and has not returned him to his home. Some might call this kidnapping. The daughter then took him to an attorney to have herself appointed as his health care decision maker (she was already his financial decision maker) and her mother, Huff's ex--wife, as the alternate. She also asked a court to appoint her as his guardian.

Several points:

1. The prior structure of Huff's health care and financial powers of attorneys was what I usually recommend in a second marriage situation - the spouse/partner can make the medical decisions but the child can make the financial decisions.

2. The validity of Huff's new health care power of attorney is certainly questionable given his dementia diagnosis which is further evidenced by him naming his elderly, ex-wife as his alternate decision maker.

3. I am always disappointed at the vitriol that children have towards the second spouse/partner of their parents no matter how long they have been together.

4. It is no surprise that the Meanest Man in the NFL would would have an incredibly mean daughter.

What Happens in Vegas, Stays In Vegas?

Las Vegas billionaire Kirk Kirkorian died last June a the age of 98. His $2 billion estate has been subject to litigation since his death. A young woman who claimed to be his daughter, but was proven long ago to be the child of the notorious lothario Steve Bing, recently settled her challenge to Kirkorian's will. Non-paternity notwithstanding, Kirkorian paid $50,000 per month in child support to Kira Bonder until she was 10. As part of her mother's divorce settlement with Kirkorian after their 30 day marriage, Bonder was supposed to receive $7 million in trust upon Kirkorian's death. Nonetheless, she challenged that provision and settled for $8.5 million.

Several obvious points:

1. As the daughter of another man, Kira Bonder was not entitled to any of Kirkorian's estate so challenging a bequest seems to be without legal merit.

2. For Bonder's sake, I hope that the attorney who handled the will contest charged her based on time spent or on contingency for the increase from $7 million. It would not be fair to her to have to pay him a percentage of the $7 million she was promised and provided.

3. The first dollar Bonder receives from Kirkorkian will likely be more than she ever receives from her biological father who also contentiously fathered a child with Elizabeth Hurley.

4. What happens in Vegas is not necessarily applicable to the rest of the U.S.

This Never Works, So Why Try - Redux

A Penn State professor was allegedly murdered last week by the woman to whom he offered shelter and her friend. The professor was allegedly pushed off a cliff because he had recently revised his will and they thought they would benefit from his death. The woman was also miffed because he had criticized the parenting of her child. One of the reasons cited by the police in their arrest of the couple was they were "known drug users."

 One legal point and two "I can't believe this" points":

1. Most states, including Ohio and Pennsylvania, have "slayer statutes" which preclude murderers from benefiting from the will of someone they murdered.

 2. It is incredibly presumptuous of the woman and her friend to assume that they were named as beneficiaries of the professor's new will.

 3. If "known drug user" is a marker for a criminal, then half of the adult population of Colorado are suspects for crimes there.

Two Words, George. Pre-Nup.

Johnny Depp and Amber Heard settled their divorce case this week for $7 million which Heard has pledged to charity. She had reportedly been seeking spousal support and half of his net worth as a result of their 15 month marriage. During the proceedings, Heard alleged that Depp had abused her. The couple did not have a pre-nuptial agreement.

Several brief points:

1. Depp should have insisted on a pre-nuptial agreement which could have provided that he owed Heard nothing in the event of a divorce.

2. The absence of a pre-nup does not entitle Heard to half of Depp's net worth, but only to what he earned during their 15 month marriage.

3. Anyone making bets on the length of a marriage between a hard partying heterosexual male and a declared bi-sexual woman 20 years younger than him should always take the under.

4. I have long told Janice that her crush on Depp was misplaced. I might finally be vindicated for that opinion.

Purple Reign?

The Santa Monica Observer, a weekly newspaper, is reporting that a DNA test shows that a Washington man in his 30's is the illegitimate son of Prince. The man's mother reportedly played in the same clubs as Prince in the 1980's. He and his mother are reportedly estranged due to her contacting him after Prince's death by a Facebook message imploring him to call her by saying "Prince might be your, father call me."

Several pithy points:

1. If the story is true, the man would be Prince's closest living relative and in position to inherit his entire estate.

2. However, if the man had been adopted by another man, his right to inherit from Prince would be closed off because Prince would not be considered his father.

3. Odd that this story is reported only by the Santa Monica equivalent of City Beat which is known for concert listings, hating all Republicans and the local and state government, and for classified ads of men seeking men and women seeking women.

4. Perhaps the national media is too busy asking about Hillary's missing e-mails, her health, and her refusal to hold a press conference in 2016 to bother themselves with updating the search for Prince's heirs.

Two Halves Do Not Make a Whole

Stepping away from celebrities for a minute and focusing on estate laws, yesterday the IRS issued proposed regulations to minimize valuation discounts in estate planning. In a nutshell, the regulations prohibit taxpayers from dividing property between family members and then claiming their proportionate shares are not worth the exact proportion because that small proportion does not have control of the property. Wonky? Yes.

Three small points:

1. These regulations have been bandied about for 25 years.

2. From a practice viewpoint, I have never completely bought into the idea of valuation discounts for marketable securities transferred to an LLC or partnership solely for the purpose of obtaining a reduced value for estate tax purposes.

3. Nonetheless, this issue seems to be one for Congress to address through legislation rather than one more edict from a lame duck (re: imperial) administration to issue in its waning days.

Simon Says This Is Not a Gift

Mel Simon owned the Indiana Pacers with his brother, Herb, for 16 years. After the Malice in the Palace in 2004, the Pacers started losing money and Simon became disenchanted with his ownership of the team. He sold his interest to his brother in a very quiet deal that was two years in the making. The terms included being released from various personal guarantees. Simon died shortly thereafter of pancreatic cancer. The IRS determined that the deal was so favorable to his brother that his estate owes a gift tax of $21 million. His widow has sued the IRS for a refund of the gift tax paid.

Several quick points:

1. An individual may give away $5.45 million during his life before he has to start paying gift tax.

2. The gift tax rate is 40%.

3. The donor is the person responsible for paying the gift tax.

4. This deal between brothers sounds complicated. It is doubtful that one brother would intentionally give the other $83 million.

5. The widow can afford the tax bill - Simon's estate was valued at $2 billion because of his pioneering development of shopping malls.

6. Ironic that Simon's loss of interest in basketball ownership is tied to the Malice in the Palace. Ron Artest - the gift that keeps on giving.

Back At It

In addition to a dearth of worthy estate planning news, it has been a busy and awesome two weeks. Two concerts, a soccer game in Columbus, business trip to Cleveland, and usual bike rides. With all of that, Jack's smile is the highlight of the past two weeks. Post to follow.

Attacking Camelot

Socialite Alicia Clark died in February. Her will left her $17.5 million estate to the Humane Society. Her estate is in the news because the administrator of her estate has filed a Freedom of Information request to open a file which might shed light on whether Clark was the mother of JFK love child even though she had long denied having a child with the late President. 

She had reportedly planned to blackmail President Kennedy's father in the early 60's related to such rumors. The blackmail attempt only became public after her then attorney went public after she did not pay his $1.2 million bill (in 1961 dollars) for negotiating a will with her soon to die husband which gave her $10 million for 13 days of marriage. Meanwhile, a man in the Bahamas claims the will is fake and that her valid will is a handwritten will she made in the Bahamas in 2001. That alleged will left one million to each of the doormen at her NYC apartment and the caretaker of that apartment, and the rest to the guy in the Bahamas. Got it? 

So many possibilities, so let's try to stay focused on the salient points: 

1. The JFK love child angle seems to be irrelevant. If Clark had a child and raised him, she would have provided for him in her will and would have been seen with him in the past 55 years. If she gave him up for adoption, that child has no rights under law because his rights to her estate would be terminated due to the adoption.  

2. Some (re: me) might think that the estate administrator is grandstanding (successfully because he made the news) or is running up a larger bill than necessary in looking for a love child who likely has nothing to do with the estate, even if he exists. 

3. Clark's former attorney's $1.2 million bill for what is essentially a pre-nuptial agreement seems excessively large by any standards much less those of 1961. Those agreements are not typically handled on a contingent fee basis which must have been the basis on which he billed. 

4. That said, $10 million for 13 days of marriage to a dying man might be worth a $1.2 million fee. 

5. Lastly, the Bahamas guy must be suffering from sunstroke or island fever. Everyone besides the writers of Harold and Maude knows that Manhattan socialites do not create handwritten wills on vacation to leave their estates to their staff and random guys in the islands.

Not Friends

Jennifer Aniston's recently deceased mother allegedly left Aniston out of her will. Even though Aniston reportedly supported her mother in recent years, her mother left her personal belongings and condo to another unidentified relative. Aniston and her mother had been estranged for years and had only somewhat reconciled two weeks before the mother's death.

Several very brief points:

1. Aniston's mother was not required to leave any assets to Aniston by law. She may leave them to whomever she chooses.

2. Aniston certainly does not need any of her mother's money.

3. Like any 40-something year old, it is doubtful that Aniston would want/need any of her mom's tsochktes.

4. It is refreshing to read an article about Aniston that does not involve pregnancy speculation although it does mention Brad Pitt.

The Nest

Gosh, times are slow in the newsworthy estates and trusts area, except for the conga line of people claiming to be heirs of Prince. Reluctantly resorting to fiction for material, "The Nest" by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney is on many best books of summer lists. It has several estate planning lessons which can be gleaned from the following plot facts (all of which are in the first 40 pages so hopefully I not spoiling anything for anyone who wants to read the book). 

A father created a trust for his four children. The trust was to be distributed when the youngest child reached the age of 40. His wife had the power to invade the trust in the event the children needed the funds earlier. One of the children had a power of attorney from his husband which allowed him to mortgage their vacation property without the husband knowing about the mortgage (trust me, I got the pronouns correct). Another child had a legal predicament which resulted in his mother lending him the entire proceeds of the trust to bail him out and hoping that he would re-pay the amount (called "the nest" by his siblings). 

Points to be learned: 

1. One should never give a power of attorney to a non-aged spouse unless it is contingent on disability. The potential for abuse is too great otherwise. 

2. This trust should have divided into separate shares either at the conception or when the children were in their early 20s. Each child could have then borrowed from his or her share only, if necessary, rather than from the entire trust. 

3. The wife/mother of the children should not have had the power to distribute all of the funds without being held to a prudent investor standard. 

4. Of course, if there had been good estate planning there would not have been a novel, nor would I have a blog.

Back From California

Just returned from a four days in California Wine Country with Janice. Post to follow soon.

The Morning Line

I subbed for Paul Daugherty on his The Morning Line blog yesterday for the Cincinnati Enquirer. I reviewed the best and worst of the first half year in sports. I hope you enjoy it.

Broken Refrigerator

Scraping a bit for probate and will related news this week. William "Refrigerator" Perry shot to stardom as the large defensive lineman who sometimes played running back for the awesome 1985 Chicago Bears. He allegedly could dunk a basketball even though he weighed 300 pounds. He now lives in South Carolina under a legal guardianship created by his brother when he was near death 7 years ago. Fridge's son wants to remove the brother as guardian while a court has stated that the guardianship can be removed if Fridge files the appropriate paperwork. Fridge, meanwhile, spends his days drinking with various friends, walking assisted by a walker, and generally not taking care of his health.

Several points:

1. Any interested party can apply to be the guardian of another with the supporting medical documentation. The son could have applied to serve as guardian in 2009 but did not.

2. Guardians are compensated for their services. Despite the son's allegations, the $1,250 annual compensation received by the brother is not the reason he continues to serve as guardian of Fridge.

3. A guy who starts drinking first thing in the morning and is unmotivated to file paperwork to remove a guardianship likely still needs the protection of the guardianship.

4. This has bothered me for 30 years. It has always been reported that Fridge could dunk a basketball. How hard would it have been to ask him to do it? It is not as if basketball courts are as scarce in this country as bobsled courses.

Who Is Philthy?

Phil Taylor, also known as Philthy Animal, was the drummer for Motorhead. He died of liver failure last November. Prior to his death, he divorced his wife of 15 years who he had not seen since several weeks after their wedding.  He also omitted her from his will. His estate was rumored to be worth $10 million.

Stretching to make several points:

1. In Ohio, a spouse can elect to receive 1/3 of the assets passing through the probate estate even if omitted from the will.

2. A former spouse has no statutory rights so Taylor was wise to finalize the divorce prior to his death.

3. I am surprised that someone with Taylor's reputation for wild behavior was able to organize his affairs to divorce his long missing spouse and prepare a will omitting her, just in case, prior to his death.

4. $10 million is a lot of money for the drummer of the 'worst band in the world". Of course, the Kardashians are Exhibit A that talent and net worth are not correlated.

Props to Jetblue Passengers

A woman was on a Jetblue flight to Orlando to attend the funeral of her grandson who was murdered last weekend by the Islamic terrorist. A Jetblue flight attendant whispered to each passenger about signing a sheet of paper to show their support for her. She wound up needing many pieces of paper because people were writing paragraphs of compassion for the grandmother. When the woman left the plane, every single passenger hugged her.

Read the whole article. Have your Kleenex at hand.

Shake Down the Thunder

Aubrey McLendon was an Oklahoma City businessman who made his fortune in the energy business. He died in a March auto accident the day after he was indicted for allegedly rigging the price of oil and gas leases. He also owned 20% of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Attorneys for one of the lenders to his business have already filed motions in the probate court asking for input into the sale price of his interest in the NBA team. They fear the estate will sell it to his widow for less than the maximum price even though it is not currently for sale. They stated that the primary purpose of the probate court is to protect the interest of creditors.

Several quick points:

1. Under Ohio law, creditors have six months from the date of death to file a claim to protect their interest.

2, Once the claim is filed, they sit back and wait for the estate to be settled. Distributions may not be made until the creditor's claim has been paid.

3. I love it when high priced corporate lawyers bring their white shoes, prestigious degrees, high billable rates, and commensurate bluster to the serene probate area where the purpose, contrary to their belief about protecting creditors, is to ensure the orderly transfer of assets pursuant to a decedent's wishes in due time. Actually, I do not love it - I find it annoying.

Back From Vacation

Just returned from a week in the Caribbean. The British Virgin Islands are special. Post to follow soon. Meanwhile, here is the family pic from Cooper Island Beach Club.

Unduly Influenced Boss (Sumner Redstone Pt. 5)

Viacom and CBS President, Sumner Redstone, is back in the news this week. He removed Phillipe Dauman and George Abrams, who are directors of Viacom, as Trustees of one of his trusts. They are contesting their removal by alleging he is incompetent. In a huge twist of irony/self-preservation/whatever you want to call it, only six months ago they testified he was competent to remove a girlfriend as his health care proxy.

Three brief points:

1. The stakes in the previous battle involved who could make his health care decisions if he could not (while the real plot was whether he could change his will to disinherit his former girlfriend) while these stakes are who gets to control Viacom and CBS after Redstone's death.

2. I think if Redstone is in a wheelchair, being fed by a feeding tube, and able to communicate only through an aide now, and was in the same condition six months ago, he was likely incompetent at both junctures.

3. Dauman and Abrams have reaped what they have sown. Being close to Redstone is like having an alligator as a pet - it might seem cool, but eventually it (i.e. he) will devour you.

Hillary and Hypocrisy Both Start With "H"

Hillary Clinton's recently released financial disclosure statement reveals that she and her husband both created a qualified personal residence trust in 2010 and transferred ownership of their NY home to it. They did not transfer their more expensive Washington DC house to a similar trust.

Several quick educational points:

1. A qualified personal residence trust allows them to transfer the house at a discounted gift tax value based on how long they wish to reside in the house and the current interest rates.

2. For example, if they decided to live in the house for the next 20 years (and not die), they would be able to transfer the entire $1.7 million house to Chelsea while only valuing it at $400K for gift tax purposes.

3. Future appreciation is also excluded from their estate.

4. They would have been wise to transfer the DC property via this technique because that house has doubled in value while the NY property has only increased nominally.

5. While this estate planning technique is available to everyone, I find it hypocritical that a woman campaigning for higher estate taxes and other taxes in the name of the greater good does everything she can to avoid those taxes.

Laughing at Death

When a Richmond, VA woman died last week, her obituary read "Faced with the prospect of voting for either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, Mary Anne Noland of Richmond chose, instead, to pass (into the eternal love of God).

No pithy comments, she already made one.

One Disinherited Ex-Girlfriend

The reports of a settlement between Sumner Redstone and Manuela Herzer over her replacement as his health care proxy were premature. There actually was a brief trial over the dispute which ended with the judge dismissing Herzer's suit to remain as his health care decision maker. The judge relied on a 7 minute deposition of Redstone in which the few intelligible sentences he uttered were "Manuela is a ****ing bitch" (twice) and "I want Manuela out of my life. Yeah." Of course Herzer's attorneys have vowed to appeal.

Several points:

1. This case remains about Redstone's will which he changed at the same time as his health care power of attorney. Herzer was reportedly to receive $70 million at his death.

2. Herzer, who smartly declined an offer of marriage from Redstone, has reportedly received $75 million in gifts from him while the woman who did become his second wife only received $10 million because she signed a pre-nup.

3. While Redstone, like the recently deceased Prince, believes he will live forever, at least he has planned for his death by having a will and various trusts.

Float Like a Butterfly, Get Stung By a Bee

The ever not so eloquent, Snoop Dogg, was asked this week if he had a will or estate plan. His NSFW response was, "I don’t give a f--- when I’m dead. What am I gonna give a f--- about? This goin’ on while I’m gone, you know?"

And continuing in his non-King's English, he added, "Hopefully, I’m a butterfly, I come back and fly around and look at all these motherf-----s fighting over my money and s--t, like, 'Look at all these dumb motherf-----s.' Ha!”

Only four sentences, but so many points. Minimizing them:

1, Snoop can make life easier for his loved ones if he spends a bit of time deciding who should inherit the wealth accumulated from his questionable talents. He could eliminate any people claiming to be his illegitimate child by naming people in his will.

2. Prince reportedly has had 900 people come forward for DNA testing claiming to be his haIf-siblings while anyone who can establish that he is Prince's child, will hit the jackpot and inherit all of Prince's wealth.

3. Raise your hand sheepishly if you think Snoop has fewer illegitimate children than Prince. You would be wrong.

4. I doubt Snoop views his family as loved ones when he refers to them as "dumb motherf-----s."

5. Maybe it is just me, but if I were reincarnated, unlike Snoop I would prefer to return as something more fierce and substantial than a short lived insect with pretty wings.

TML Guest Blogginig

Paul Daugherty allowed me to guest write his TML Blog for the Cincinnati Enquirer. I covered today's sports news plus a few UC sports issues. I hope you enjoy it.

Piece of Britney

When Britney Spears had her breakdown in 2008 (think shaved head and window smashing), her father and attorney became her conservators. In Ohio, they would be known as guardians. They manage both her physical well being and her finances. As such, they make sure she takes her medicine for her unspecified illness as well as manage her career.

In recent years, Britney, who has been described as shy has not testified at hearings about continuing the conservatorship. She reportedly is only interested in seeing her sons. Her father receives 1.5% of the $17.5 million annual revenues from her Planet Hollywood shows and the same cut from the merch sales. Her court appointed attorney has received $2 million in fees since 2008 and the other conservators have received $6.7 million.

Three brief points:

1. Britney clearly needed someone to assist her in 2008 while she was crumbling. She is likely still alive, while Michael Jackson and Prince are not, because of that.

2. Guardianships can be temporary and Britney's seems to be a perfect example of temporary intervention being all that is required. She should have the right to make stupid decisions on her own.

3. I doubt that I am the only one who read the NYT article who thought that Britney was nothing more than a trained seal performing at the behest of her inner circle for the reward of seeing her sons.