Business partners often agree that whoever outlives the other gets the first shot at buying out the deceased partner’s share. Ranching families do it. Oil and gas investors do it. Owners of closely held companies do it. The surviving partner assumes the deal will simply play out once the other partner passes away. But what...KEEP READING

When a parent dies and a new spouse takes control of the estate, the adult children from the first marriage usually assume they get a say. They are the decedent’s children, after all. So they file something in the probate court objecting to the new spouse serving as executor — and get told they have...KEEP READING

When a parent dies and leaves behind a blended family, a fight over the estate is close to a given. Stepparents, stepchildren, and children from a prior relationship all end up comparing what they were promised against what they actually received. When those disagreements turn into lawsuits, the money is only part of it. There...KEEP READING