Forbush Legal, PLLC

Chuck, our Office Manager, in the News!

Here at Forbush Legal, we pride ourselves on having the best quality people as part of our team. 

Today we have a fun brag-worthy reason to showcase some of that! 

Chuck Smith joined our team in 2007 as our office manager and is always going above and beyond behind the scenes. 

The Colorado Springs Gazette recognized Chuck in the business section for being  a "Mover & Shaker" for his recent appointment to the Board of Directors for Pikes Peak Habitat for Humanity. 

How cool is that? 

Chuck has always been very involved in his church and our community. 

Thank you, Chuck, for all that you do and for representing us so well!  We know you will do amazing things with and for Pikes Peak Habitat for Humanity!

Where Is Aaron Hernandez’s $9 Million?

Hernandez put millions of dollars in an irrevocable trust.

It appears that Aaron Hernandez, who committed suicide while in prison, might have placed money in an irrevocable trust for the benefit of his daughter. However, concerns of fraud have come to light, according to Yahoo! Sports in "Report: Aaron Hernandez may have hidden money in trust, before his death."

Hernandez of the New England Patriots suffered from an advanced case of CTE, a debilitating brain injury common in football players.

When he was arrested for the murder of Odin Lloyd, the Patriots paid him $9 million as required under the terms of his contract.

Hernandez was subsequently convicted of the crime and committed suicide in prison. Lloyd's family has been trying to get damages out of Hernandez's estate.

However, there is a problem because the estate is already underwater.

It owes more money than it has in assets. However, what happened to the $9 million? It has not been accounted for.

Assets placed in an irrevocable trust are usually shielded from creditors, including the Lloyd family. However, if the assets were put in the trust for the specific purpose of defrauding known creditors, then the trust could be dissolved.

That makes it important to know when Hernandez created the trust and what assets were put into it.

Toy Drive 2017

Every year we hold a toy drive to collect gifts for foster children in Colorado Springs.  Every year we are absolutely amazed at the generosity of our clients and collaborative partners who donate to this cause.

Not only did we filled up the back of my SUV with tons of awesome gifts and toys, but we were also able to hand over $300 in gift cards and $400 in cash donations to Hope & Home.

If you are not familiar with Hope & Home and what they do for foster kids in our city - go check them out.  They are amazing!

This year we even had Bonaventure, an assisted living facility here in town, join us in collecting gifts to donate.  That was super exciting and we hope to have more partners next year!

None of this is possible without you.  Thank you so much for supporting us in this cause!  

This is a wonderful tradition that we have here at Forbush Legal that we will continue for years to come.  We are already looking forward to making this even bigger and better next year!

From our family to yours: Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah,  Happy Holidays! 

New Year Brings New Beginnings

 

The end of 2017 is an especially interesting and busy time for our firm and we would like to share some exciting news as we head in to the New Year. Effective December 15th, 2017, Doug Goldberg and I [Kevin Forbush] have decided to separate our practices and continue serving the Southern Colorado community independently. Forbush Legal, PLLC began service on Friday, December 15th.

As part of our transition to Forbush Legal, PLLC, we are also excited to announce the addition of two new team members to support our growing practice! In July we hired Tim Connors, a former Coast Guard Judge Advocate (JAG) who retired as Chief Counsel of NORAD & USNORTHCOM and settled here in Colorado Springs with his wife and three daughters. Tim has been working and practicing law here in the local community for the last few years and will be serving as my Partner focusing on estate and Medicaid planning.

In November we added attorney Julia Paris as an associate attorney. Julia studied law at Northwestern University, worked for a time for the Internal Revenue Service, and brings a wealth of tax and other experience to our estate and business planning practices. Besides adding a couple of new team members, all the familiar faces and voices remain on the Forbush Legal team.

We remain committed to the family focused values and principles that have always set us apart from other local firms. With our energetic new team in place we are extremely confident that we will continue to provide the best in class client-focused legal services and professionalism that you are accustomed to.

Thank you so much for your continued faith and trust. We appreciate and value our relationship with each and every one of you. You are the keys to our success. The entire Forbush Legal team is truly excited for the new beginnings that 2018 will bring!

Estate Administrator Sentenced to 7 Years

How many people do you truly trust with your money?  The temptation of holding large sums of money that belong to someone else must be great... so it would be wise to set up your estate in a way that allows you to choose who that person will be after your passing. 

I would think if that person is offering, perhaps your internal red flags might go up!!!

A judge sentenced an estate administrator to seven years in prison for misusing assets, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch in "Charlottesville businessman gets 7 years for defrauding best friend's widow out of $32 million."

When Victor M. Dandridge III's best friend passed away in 2005, he offered to take care of the estate for the widow, Lynne Kinder. Dandridge promised her that he would invest her late husband’s assets conservatively for her.

Instead, he took millions of dollars out of the accounts and used them to invest in his own failing businesses.

Dandridge claims he always meant to pay her back, when his businesses got better and he had the money.  (I'm sure.)

The broad powers and often limited oversight estate administrators are given, makes it possible for them to take estate assets for their own use.

Since courts cannot micromanage everything, the beneficiaries of estates need to be diligent.

If you suspect something improper is happening, you should seek the assistance of independent counsel immediately!

Best way to avoid this altogether?  Get your estate plan in order!  :)