By Sheila Pursglove
Legal News
Attorney David Skidmore, who has represented individuals eliminated from estate plans, notes many cases were not just about money, but about relationships and the emotional wound from being rejected, sometimes suddenly and unexpectedly.
A partner with Warner Norcross + Judd in Grand Rapids, with a slew of awards and recognitions, Skidmore recalls his first will contest, where an elderly lady had left her substantial estate to charity—but in the last year of life, signed over all her assets to neighbors. Skidmore was assigned to find witnesses to whether the decedent had declined mentally when she made that move.
“I not only found witnesses who testified the neighbors had forcibly driven them out of the decedent’s life, but also witnesses who had firsthand knowledge the decedent had declined mentally and suffered delusions—including being kept awake by ‘aliens knocking at the windows.’ It was a classic case of mental incapacity and undue influence,” he says.
“Probate litigation is not only about trying to recover lost inheritances but also trying to prove that damaged relationships were caused by an interloper’s interference and did not reflect the true intent of the decedent. It is very meaningful work.”
Skidmore was lead counsel for plaintiff siblings in a case involving elderly parents. A coin collector, the father had told his five children his collection’s value would pay for nursing home care if his wife survived him.
One son took the collection home for safekeeping—and delayed returning it after their deaths. When he finally did, a logbook was missing. The collection was professionally appraised at $20,000, far less than the father had believed. Three siblings believed their brother had pilfered coins, the value of which the same appraiser estimated to be $1.2 to $3.2 million. A jury returned a verdict of $2.2 million against the son; the court ordered his share of the estate forfeited and authorized seizure of other assets.
In another case, a man with alcohol addiction was survived by his second wife, who was entitled to their house.
His children from his first marriage sued their stepmother in probate court, claiming she had bought their father alcohol that caused his death and she should be disinherited under Michigan’s “slayer statute.”
Overwhelmed with stress and the cost of litigation, the widow was on the brink of signing the house over to the stepchildren, when Skidmore agreed to help; he got the lawsuit dismissed, and the widow kept the house.
“It was a small matter, and I wrote off most of my fees, but it was very rewarding to protect this vulnerable person,” he says.
Skidmore also recalls a man with a revocable trust whose wife filed for divorce. When marital assets were tallied, most were titled in the trust. The husband then left all the assets to his son from a prior marriage; and when the husband told the wife, she took no action. But in their divorce action, the wife rejected the husband’s offer of 50 percent of all marital assets, holding out for more.
The man died before the divorce was finalized, and the divorce action dismissed. The wife received assets by right of survivorship but less than she would have received in a divorce; and she sued the husband’s trust.
Representing the husband’s trust, Skidmore got all claims dismissed by the probate court, a ruling affirmed by the Michigan Court of Appeals.
“There was no evidence of fraud; the husband told his wife what he had done,” he says.
“And it’s common for a person involved in a divorce proceeding to update his estate plan in light of the breakdown in the marital relationship.”
A Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Council, and a member of the American Bar Association, Skidmore is a civil mediator with the Kent County Probate Court.
“Litigation is very expensive. People involved in litigation report feeling miserable and unable to enjoy life. Going to trial is risky because it’s usually an all-or-nothing proposition, and the judge or jury could take a very different view of the matter,” he says. “I try to bring together feuding parties—who are usually related somehow—on an agreement for how to resolve the dispute, which is only possible if both sides are willing to compromise. I don’t tell the parties what to do, but I can give each side a frank and confidential assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of its case.
Legal News
Attorney David Skidmore, who has represented individuals eliminated from estate plans, notes many cases were not just about money, but about relationships and the emotional wound from being rejected, sometimes suddenly and unexpectedly.
A partner with Warner Norcross + Judd in Grand Rapids, with a slew of awards and recognitions, Skidmore recalls his first will contest, where an elderly lady had left her substantial estate to charity—but in the last year of life, signed over all her assets to neighbors. Skidmore was assigned to find witnesses to whether the decedent had declined mentally when she made that move.
“I not only found witnesses who testified the neighbors had forcibly driven them out of the decedent’s life, but also witnesses who had firsthand knowledge the decedent had declined mentally and suffered delusions—including being kept awake by ‘aliens knocking at the windows.’ It was a classic case of mental incapacity and undue influence,” he says.
“Probate litigation is not only about trying to recover lost inheritances but also trying to prove that damaged relationships were caused by an interloper’s interference and did not reflect the true intent of the decedent. It is very meaningful work.”
Skidmore was lead counsel for plaintiff siblings in a case involving elderly parents. A coin collector, the father had told his five children his collection’s value would pay for nursing home care if his wife survived him.
One son took the collection home for safekeeping—and delayed returning it after their deaths. When he finally did, a logbook was missing. The collection was professionally appraised at $20,000, far less than the father had believed. Three siblings believed their brother had pilfered coins, the value of which the same appraiser estimated to be $1.2 to $3.2 million. A jury returned a verdict of $2.2 million against the son; the court ordered his share of the estate forfeited and authorized seizure of other assets.
In another case, a man with alcohol addiction was survived by his second wife, who was entitled to their house.
His children from his first marriage sued their stepmother in probate court, claiming she had bought their father alcohol that caused his death and she should be disinherited under Michigan’s “slayer statute.”
Overwhelmed with stress and the cost of litigation, the widow was on the brink of signing the house over to the stepchildren, when Skidmore agreed to help; he got the lawsuit dismissed, and the widow kept the house.
“It was a small matter, and I wrote off most of my fees, but it was very rewarding to protect this vulnerable person,” he says.
Skidmore also recalls a man with a revocable trust whose wife filed for divorce. When marital assets were tallied, most were titled in the trust. The husband then left all the assets to his son from a prior marriage; and when the husband told the wife, she took no action. But in their divorce action, the wife rejected the husband’s offer of 50 percent of all marital assets, holding out for more.
The man died before the divorce was finalized, and the divorce action dismissed. The wife received assets by right of survivorship but less than she would have received in a divorce; and she sued the husband’s trust.
Representing the husband’s trust, Skidmore got all claims dismissed by the probate court, a ruling affirmed by the Michigan Court of Appeals.
“There was no evidence of fraud; the husband told his wife what he had done,” he says.
“And it’s common for a person involved in a divorce proceeding to update his estate plan in light of the breakdown in the marital relationship.”
A Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Council, and a member of the American Bar Association, Skidmore is a civil mediator with the Kent County Probate Court.
“Litigation is very expensive. People involved in litigation report feeling miserable and unable to enjoy life. Going to trial is risky because it’s usually an all-or-nothing proposition, and the judge or jury could take a very different view of the matter,” he says. “I try to bring together feuding parties—who are usually related somehow—on an agreement for how to resolve the dispute, which is only possible if both sides are willing to compromise. I don’t tell the parties what to do, but I can give each side a frank and confidential assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of its case.
“I find it very rewarding when I can help bring about a settlement that ends current litigation and the threat of future litigation and allows the parties to put the dispute behind them and get back to enjoying life.”
The vast majority of Skidmore’s clients are individuals – lay persons – whom he will represent on a single legal matter.
“My clients have a steep learning curve. I have to teach them not only about how civil litigation works, but also about the substantive trust and estate law that governs the dispute,” he says.
He notes most people who engage in disability-planning and/or estate-planning will designate a non-professional person, often a family member, to serve as agent under durable power of attorney, medical patient advocate, personal representative, and/or trustee.
“The problem is, these are fiduciary roles, subject to an extensive body of fiduciary duty law, and lay people often have no idea of the legal requirements,” Skidmore says.
“It’s very easy for lay persons to make mistakes and violate their fiduciary duties, and legal advice is often sought only after the mistakes have been made and caused a big mess.
“The best advice I can give ... is to consult a respected trust and estate attorney before you start acting, for a primer on fiduciary duty law and mistakes to be avoided.”
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