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This is part 2 of an 8 part series with Henry E. Van Blunk, Shareholder in Stark & Stark's Business & Corporate Group, and Elizabeth Bloomer Nesvold, Managing Partner at Silver Lane Advisors. In this installment Mr. Van Blunk and Ms. Nesvold will discuss pricing multiples and structure.
Clients often ask what happens if they die without a will. It is a common misconception that if you die in Pennsylvania without a will that everything will be left to the Commonwealth. Because of the statutory scheme that Pennsylvania has in place, it is a rare occurrence that anything will be left to the Commonwealth.
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has developed what is commonly referred to as the laws of Intestate Succession. A person who dies without a will in Pennsylvania is said to have died “intestate.” The laws of Intestate Succession govern the disposition of a person’s property if he or she dies without a will, or if all of his or her property is not disbursed pursuant to a will. The Pennsylvania laws of Intestate Succession are designed to protect both the surviving spouse and children (if any). In addition to providing for spouses and children, the Pennsylvania laws of Intestate Succession may also provide for a decedent’s (a person who dies) parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, and their children and grandchildren under certain conditions.
The starting point is if the spouse of the decedent survives the decedent, the amount of property that the spouse ultimately receives is dependent upon which other relatives survive the decedent. So, who takes property and other assets pursuant to the Pennsylvania law of Intestate Succession? The law can be summarized as follows:
No Surviving Children
If the decedent is survived by his or her spouse and has no surviving children or parents at the time of death, the surviving spouse receives the decedent’s entire estate. If the decedent is survived by his or her spouse and one or both parents, the surviving spouse is entitled to the first $30,000.00 of the estate, plus one-half of the remaining estate.
Surviving Children
If the decedent is survived by his or her spouse and has surviving children, all of whom are also the surviving spouse’s children, the surviving spouse receives the first $30,000.00 of the estate, plus one-half of the remaining estate. However, if the decedent is survived by his or her spouse, and at least one of the decedent’s surviving children is not also the surviving spouse’s child, the surviving spouse is limited to one-half of the estate. The reason that the surviving spouse receives less if one of the surviving children is not also a child of the surviving spouse is because the law presumes that a surviving spouse will care for his or her own children, but not necessarily those of the decedent.
No Surviving Spouse
What happens if the decedent is not survived by his or her spouse or the surviving spouse is not entitled to take everything in the estate? Pennsylvania’s Intestate Succession law provides for distribution of the estate in the following order: 1) children; 2) parents; 3) brothers, sisters and their children; 4) grandparents; 5) uncles, aunts and their children and grandchildren; and 6) the Commonwealth.
It is important to note that will substitutes such as joint tenancy property, life insurance payable to specific persons, bank accounts with specific beneficiaries and the like will pass in accordance with their terms and will not be a part of the decedent’s estate to be distributed pursuant to the laws of Intestate Succession.
It goes without saying, that the best way to plan for the future and adequately provide for your loved ones is to have a will and other estate documents prepared by a trusted professional.
Elliot Kolodny, a Shareholder in Stark & Stark's Accident & Personal Injury Group, was recently appointed to the Business Advisory Counsel of the Guardians of the National Cemetery. The Guardians of the National Cemetery’s sole mission is to support the recently opened Washington Crossing National cemetery and the family and burial needs of veterans who are eligible for interment. They are dedicated to the development of buildings and a museum, provision of uniformed volunteers to perform Military Funeral Honors, Veterans Day and Memorial Day observances, design and construction of memorials and monuments, family transport assistance, and other activities to attain National Shrine status for the Washington Crossing National Cemetery.
In this video, Elliot Kolodny, Shareholder in Stark & Stark's Accident & Personal Injury Group, discusses what options are available to you if your child has sustained a birth injury. Mr. Kolodny reviews the leading causes of birth injuries and discusses the most common injuries sustained during birth, such as Cerebral and Erb’s Palsy.
Birth Trauma Litigation - Part 1 from Stark & Stark on Vimeo.
Melvin Simon, together with his brother and business associate Herbert Simon, built a business empire upon the then novel concept of the shopping mall. The company that he and his brother founded – Simon Property Group, Inc. – is now the largest mall owner on the United States with over 300 shopping malls in its property portfolio. Predictably, building a business empire of this magnitude made Melvin Simon a very wealthy man, and at the time of his death, his estate was valued at approximately $1 billion. It is what occurred just prior to and after Melvin’s death that draws attention to common fodder for Will contests for estates of all sizes.
Seven months prior to his death and suffering from cancer, Melvin Simon altered a Will that was then in effect, granting a greater portion of his estate to his wife, Bren Simon, diminishing the share of his estate that would be distributed to his adult children from a previous marriage. When Melvin Simon made these final changes to his Will, he was in the company of his wife, an attorney, and a long-time financial advisor. In Melvin’s weakened state, he required the aid of his financial advisor to guide his pen and sign his name on his revised testamentary document.
Not surprisingly, after Melvin’s death, a faction of his family consisting of his adult children viewed Melvin’s late change to his Will with suspicion, and through Deborah Simon, Melvin’s eldest daughter, sought to contest Melvin’s last Will in a legal contest. Citing the help given to Melvin by his financial advisor in signing his name, Deborah Simon claimed that her father lacked the capacity to make a Will and was the victim of duress, presumably perpetrated by her step-mother and Melvin’s financial advisor.
Will contests very often arise from situations, like the one involved in Melvin Simon’s estate, where a family becomes factionalized by events before a decedent’s passing. This factionalization, and the resulting desire to claim a greater share of an inheritance or deprive members of opposing family factions of their inheritance can often motivate scrutiny of a decedent’s Will and result in legal proceedings to contest a Will or series of Wills.
In Pennsylvania, those challenging a Will bear a significant burden in order to have a Will adjudicated invalid. First, the contestant must establish standing to contest the Will – meaning that the party seeking to invalidate the Will must show that his or her interest in the decedent’s Estate would be affected by probate of that Will in place of a prior Will or intestate distribution. Next, the contesting party must prove - by the standard of clear and convincing evidence – that the decedent lacked testamentary capacity when the challenged Will was made, that the decedent was the victim of undue influence, or both. Note that adequate testamentary capacity may be found even if the decedent suffered from a debilitating disease or would not have the capacity to enter a contract at law – the decedent need only have had an intelligent knowledge of the property he possessed and intelligent knowledge of how he desired to dispose of his property upon death. Undue influence is in the nature of fraud, and a contestant must show that the decedent’s Will was the product of coercive behavior and a level of control by another person that destroyed the decedent’s free agency.
Proving lack of testamentary capacity or undue influence by clear and convincing evidence is a very difficult task. Had the Melvin Simon Will contest been subject to Pennsylvania Law, the act of guiding the decedent’s hand at the Will signing – without more – would not constitute sufficient evidence to invalidate Melvin’s Will.
In this video, Eric Ludwig, Shareholder in Stark & Stark's Accident & Personal Injury Group, discusses the most common causes of construction site accidents and what you should do if you are injured on a construction site. Mr. Ludwig also addresses the major cause of construction site accidents: the imposition of unreasonably excessive production demands by the company running the job.
Construction Site Accidents - Part 1 from Stark & Stark on Vimeo.
In January of this year the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued updates to the Pennsylvania Support Rules and Guidelines. The guidelines are what our courts use to determine the amount of child support a parent must pay to the other parent or the amount of spousal support one spouse must pay to the other. The guidelines are required to be updated every four years. Usually there are only very minor changes. This year, however, there are some significant changes which will have a profound effect on the calculation of child or spousal support in certain cases.
For residents of Bucks County, as well as the rest of the state of Pennsylvania, The most significant change is in the application of the support guidelines to cases where the net household income is in excess of $20,000 per month. Currently the child support guidelines end when the combined net monthly income for the parties reaches $20,000. Above $20,000 net per month the parties are considered “off guidelines” and a much more complicated analysis would be performed to determine child support. The new guidelines now increase that threshold to $30,000 per month. This increase should provide some much needed uniformity in calculating support for parties who fall into this high income category. The new guidelines also chang the manner in which the court would determine a support obligation for parties with net income in excess of $30,000 per year. The change should result in a much more consistent and uniform child support awards in high income cases throughout the state.
The Supreme Court has also added language in the new guidelines to allow the trial court to consider the duration of the marriage when determining the duration of spousal support or alimony pendente lite (APL). This change was specifically implemented to prevent the unfairness that arises in a short-term marriage when the obligors are required to pay support over a substantially longer period of time than the parties were married and there is little or no opportunity for credit for these payments at the time of equitable distribution.
An additional change to the child support guidelines is the court’s presumption that the non-custodial parent (the parent paying the support) is spending at least 30% of the time with the child(ren). As such the non-custodial parent should also be making contributions for things such as food and entertainment. These payments are built into the new schedule. Under the new guidelines a deviation upward may be had where the non-custodial (paying) parent has substantial less than 30% time with the child. Conversely, a deviation downward may be had if the non-custodial parent has substantially more than 30% time with the child.
Lastly, under the current guidelines a spouse could be awarded an additional amount to assist in paying the mortgage on a marital residence. This amount could be ordered to continue being paid even after the parties obtain a divorce. The new guidelines now limit this “Mortgage Deviation Credit” and direct it cannot be applied after final resolution of the economic claims between the parties to a divorce.
The new guidelines go into effect May 12, 2010. Enactment of the new guidelines, in and of themselves, are not a grounds to change a current support order. If, however, a substantial difference exists in a support award calculated under the old and the new guidelines it is possible a court would grant such a modification. Parties who suspect their support award may be altered by the new guidelines should consult with a family law attorney to determine if it is worth their while to file for modification.
This is part 1 of an 8 part series with Henry E. Van Blunk, Shareholder in Stark & Stark's Business & Corporate Group, and Elizabeth Bloomer Nesvold, Managing Partner at Silver Lane Advisors. In this installment Mr. Van Blunk and Ms. Nesvold will discuss drivers of value.
In this video, Michael Donahue, Shareholder in Stark & Stark's Accident & Personal Injury Group, discusses product liability claims. Mr. Donahue offers a list of common defective products and what you are entitled to if you have been injured due to the negligence of companies who release unsafe or defective products.
Product Liability Litigation - Part 1 from Stark & Stark on Vimeo.
Facebook currently has over 350 million users, making it the most popular social networking site in the world. It has allowed millions of people to reconnect after many years and provides a means of making new friends. However, for those involved in a personal injury case, your facebook postings could damage or completely destroy your case.
At Stark & Stark we warn our clients that if they are a member of Facebook, MySpace, or any other social networking website, then they need to be careful about what they post. You never know who may be reading your posts. We know that some insurance companies, defense attorneys and private investigators are trying to view your Facebook accounts.
If there are recent photos of you posted by your friends, they can be viewed by people outside your network of "friends", despite your privacy settings.
Postings from Facebook have been admitted in courts and have been used by police, investigators and media. In fact, firms representing the insurance company can have their lawyers and clerks search Facebook for the injured party's pages, profiles and pictures. THIS HAPPENS!
The Internet and social networking sites have changed the face of litigation in this country. However, there are some precautions that you can take to protect yourself, short of boycotting the Internet all together. First, be careful in reviewing the photos and posts on your social networking site. Remove anything that you would not want an insurance company lawyer to see that could help them defend against your case. Next, check your privacy settings which enable you to block certain people from seeing you on a particular site (Facebook allows this). It is also helpful to search your name in the search field and see what comes up to make sure it is acceptable (it is advisable to do this on Google and YouTube as well). Finally never accept friend requests or respond to emails from people you do not know.
In short, be cautious of what you post on a social networking site and be aware of what others are posting.
In this video, John Cordisco, Shareholder in Stark & Stark's Accident & Personal Injury Group, discusses who can file a wrongful death claim when negligence, reckless or intentional misconduct has caused the death of a family member. Mr. Cordisco also discusses the different type of claims that can be filed and what surviving family members are able to be compensated for.
Wronfgul Death in Pennsylvania - Part 1 from Stark & Stark on Vimeo.
Elliot Kolodny, a Shareholder in Stark & Stark's Accident & Personal Injury Group, was recently elected Chairman of the Board of Special Equestrians. Special Equestrians is a therapeutic riding program whose mission is to improve the physical, mental, and emotional well being of individuals with disabilities through the equine experience in Bucks, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties.
Their clients collectively face over 60 physical and cognitive challenges - many facing multiple disabilities.They range in age from 4-54 and come from all ethnic and socio-economic communities. The majority of students are children suffering from cerebral palsy, muscular disorders and autism. Special Equestrians serves over 100 students a week. Over the years Special Equestrians has won many awards, most recently, Frommers listed it in 500 Places (in the world) Where You Can Make a Difference one of only three Pennsylvania entities to be so honored.
An Owner's Manual For Your Divorce is a 10 part podcast series presented by Joseph D. Visco, member of Stark & Stark's Divorce group. The series is intended to assist you in understanding the general process of a divorce from the initial discussions with your spouse to the post divorce follow-up.
The tenth and final installment will focus on moving on after your divorce. Mr. Visco discusses the fact that the Judgment of Divorce in and of itself is not going to improve your life. The divorce simply changes your legal status from being married to being single. What you do as a result of the change of status is now up to you.You can download a copy of the installment notes here. (PDF)
You can download the tenth installment here. (1.4 MB)
In this video, Kevin Bradway, Shareholder in Stark & Stark's Accident & Personal Injury and Workers’ Compensation Groups, discusses what you should do if you’re injured at work. Mr. Bradway discusses what rights you are entitled to, such as wage benefits and monetary compensation for your injuries, and also addresses what you should do if you’re currently receiving workers’ compensation benefits and your employer tries to take them away.
Worker's Compensation in Pennsylvania - Part 1 from Stark & Stark on Vimeo.
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