A judge refused to rule on the dispute over two items, a bible and Nobel Peace Prize, in Martin Luther King Jr.’s estate, putting the issue off until trial. Dr. King’s estate is not a probate estate but a for-profit estate where his three children control his name, image, likeness, and possessions. The current controversy revolves around an agreement that all of Dr. King’s personal property would be returned to the estate, but no personal property was ever listed. This confusion could have been muted with a well-planned estate that detailed all of the estate’s property and did not leave management of the estate in the hands of three different personalities.
See Ettinger Law Firm, Family Feud Forever: Dr. King’s Family Squabbles Continue, New York Estate Planning Attorney Blog, June 19, 2016.
Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.)) for bringing this article to my attention.
