The aging of the parents of Boomers is beginning to crest, with 7 trillion dollars at stake. Boomers, unlike their parents, are less forgiving of relatives, caregivers, fiduciaries and attorneys who fail to protect their expectancies. Tax law, despite a kinder, gentler IRS, is a minefield for practitioners, guaranteeing a steady source of disputes when tax realities crunch simple-minded estate plans. I had been teaching the estate and trust litigation program for CEB since 1981 and realized the need for a book to help the planner or general practitioner to evaluate potential litigation, to determine whether he or she had the expertise to embark on a disputed matter, and to provide the essential materials and forms. There were plenty of practice books out there, but none of them dealt with intertwined trust and probate issues and none of them provided a roadmap for the occasional litigator to determine whether he or she should become involved.
Most texts deal with administration issues with a paragraph here or there about litigation.
Hence we structured a book that would take you through the initial steps to see whether you could participate consistent with ethical guidelines, whether you would get paid for your efforts, how to collect and analyze the elements of a probate or trust dispute, and then to provide a guideline for strategy. We also wanted to provide significant legal research materials to cut the cost and time needed for the general practitioner to evaluate and litigate such cases. More about Dominic Campisi Dom Campisi has been litigating trust and estate matters for over twenty years. He is a fourth generation Californian. Twisted at an early age, he cross-examined his first witness at age 14 under the direction of a Jesuit debate coach.