Supervisory employees may face a new form of liability for wrongful discharge of an employee. Continue reading

Establishing a power of attorney warrants special care. Litigation is on the rise when it comes to agents and their actions under powers of attorney. Continue reading

Disinheriting a surviving spouse is harder than it may seem.... Continue reading

Virginia law generally disfavors the application of “retroactive laws.” Continue reading

Qualifying as executor or administrator of an estate in Virginia requires thought and planning. The probate process can be complex. The administration of an estate imposes obligations that are worth considering before assuming the legal responsibilities that come with being an estate's personal representative. Continue reading

Claims by employers against former employees, managers, or officers for breach of fiduciary duties abound. Frequently, in the case of employers who have implemented noncompetition agreements, also known as restrictive employment covenants, one or more claims against a former employee are based upon the terms of a “noncompete.” A recent... Continue reading

An accounting is, in essence, a remedy. Historically, accountings were equitable in nature. Today, the Code of Virginia prescribes various statutory modes of accounting. Virginia Code Section 8.01-31 affords a statutory right to an accounting “against any fiduciary,” for example. The Supreme Court of Virginia recently considered the extent of... Continue reading

The Supreme Court of Virginia recently took up the appeal of a son, David, who challenged the testamentary capacity of his father, Eugene, to make a 2002 will. Eugene had been found in need of a conservator in three different states, including Virginia, since Eugene suffered a head and spinal... Continue reading

In 2010, the Virginia Supreme Court issued no fewer than 10 opinions bearing on the laws affecting fiduciaries, executors, trustees, and the estates of decedents. Yet as civil litigators in Virginia are apt to remind clients (and potential clients) exploring an appeal, being granted an appeal in a civil case... Continue reading

Provisions in the Uniform Trust Code (“UTC”), adopted in a growing number of states, explicitly contemplate a modification or termination of a trust under circumstances not anticipated by the settlor. These provisions hold the potential to prevent or resolve trust litigation, particularly if all parties can concur on a desired... Continue reading

Picture your client: the executor of an estate. She wants to know from you whether and how to pay a mortgage that encumbered the decedent’s real estate. The decedent was the sole party liable on the loan, which was secured by the real estate in question. Your trouble, and the... Continue reading

Small business litigation presents a variety of challenges, particularly when a claim for breach of fiduciary duties is involved. To the litigants, the stakes are high—and the desire to pursue their claims often motivated by the business duress suffered at the hands of former partners. In Syed v. ZH Technologies,... Continue reading

Suing the Estate's Lawyer.... The final installment of our four-part series of posts on standing and proper parties in fiduciary litigation may (pleasantly) surprise even veteran probate lawyers. In Johnson v. Hart, another 2010 opinion of the Virginia Supreme Court, the question posed was whether “a sole testamentary beneficiary, in... Continue reading

May the Administrator Appeal pro se? The third of the Virginia Supreme Court's recent opinions in our four-part installment also turned on standing or, more accurately, lack of standing. In Hawthorne v. VanMarter, the decedent’s administrator was represented as a plaintiff by licensed counsel in the trial court on a... Continue reading

Thinking Before Qualifying as Administrator In Part I of our four-post series on the perils in Virginia estate litigation, we discussed a recent Virginia Supreme Court opinion on proper parties. In that case, naming the "Estate" as the defendant proved fatal to the plaintiff's claims. In Part II of our... Continue reading

“MEASURING TWICE” BEFORE FILING SUIT In 2010, the Virginia Supreme Court has published numerous opinions implicating the laws governing fiduciaries, wills, or trusts. Four of these decisions are particularly instructive about two continuing perils: standing and proper parties. Here is a little teaser: have you, as counsel of record, or... Continue reading