One of China's wealthiest men recently passed away at the
age of 93. He left behind a will that gave almost all of his assets to charity.
His sons are contesting the will.
Hong Kong real estate magnate Yu Pengnian passed away with a
fortune believed to be worth US$1.55 billion. Throughout his life, Pengnian
gave generously to charity. He created a will that would continue that
charitable giving.
All of his assets, except for the contents of two safes given
to his grandsons, were directed by will to go to a charitable foundation. His
two sons were left nothing in the will. Those sons have filed will caveats with
the probate court overseeing the will, which is essentially filing the same
thing as a notice of intent to challenge the will.
Ejinsight reported
this story in "Heirs gird for court battle over late
billionaire's fortune."
It is possible that we will see many similar will contests
all over the world in the coming decades as a recent trend has seen the
extremely wealthy pledge to leave at least half of their estates to charitable
causes. With billions of dollars at stake, it should come as no surprise that
the families of these wealthy philanthropists might not always be pleased with
giving so much away to charity.
By giving all of his money to charity and leaving nothing
for his sons, Yu Pengnian might have made an avoidable mistake. It might have
been better to leave something of value to his sons and include a no-contest
clause in the will.
Even if there is a no-contest clause in Pengnian's will,
which is unknown, it would not have stopped the sons from contesting the will
as they receive nothing from it now. On the other hand, if they succeed in
challenging the validity of the will, then they will each receive half of the
assets of the estate.
If you have questions about Charitable Gift Planning in
Orange County, please visit our website at www.OCElderLaw.com
or contact one of our attorneys for a private consultation. We can be reached at 714-525-4600.
Reference: Ejinsight (Dec. 10, 2015) "Heirs gird for court battle over late
billionaire's fortune."
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