Jay Brinker, Attorney

04/12/2021

The Morning Line - John Brannen Edition

Bit late on posting this, but I guest wrote Paul Daugherty's The Morning Line again on Friday. I went deep on the rift between Brannen and UC and concluded that UC should simply pay him his buy out money and move on because the relationship (and program) was irreparably damaged. UC fired him four hours later. I also wrote about the Bengals and their certitude that their ways are the best ways. I hope you like it.

Guest writer Jay Brinker cannot see how the University of Cincinnati athletic director John Cunningham and coach John Brannen can work moving forward.

01/24/2021

Texas Toast and Nebraska Will Contest

Michael Brinkman was murdered in 2016 by two men dressed in clown masks and Santa hats. They were looking for $200K he allegedly had in a safe. One of the men was caught and convicted based on DNA from a piece of Texas Toast from Raising Cane’s that fell out of his pocket and was traced to him.

Brinkman was survived by two children - Nicole and Seth. His will defined Seth as his son and the term “children” to include Seth and any children born after the will signing (Nicole was older). The will then left everything to his issue (a legal term for descendants). Nicole, who was not mentioned in the will, challenged it arguing that she was entitled to half of the estate because she was “issue” of Brinkman.

The Nebraska Supreme Court ruled that Nicole was entitled to half of the estate. To disinherit someone under a will in Nebraska, the person must be specifically excluded by the will.

Several quick points:

1. It is best to name disinherited children, or other possible excluded heirs, in a will so they cannot make the same argument that Nicole did.

2. Contrary to popular belief, one does not have to leave a dollar to someone who is being disinherited. Simply naming them as excluded is sufficient.

3. It is also best not to carry partially eaten fast food in a pocket, especially when engaging in criminal activity.

The Nebraska Supreme Court upheld the conviction of LeAndre Jennings, 32, in the December 2016 killing of Mike Brinkman.

01/21/2021

Where Does the Time Go?

I had lunch with Doug Corn today. With the inauguration of President Biden on TV, we toasted that Doug had invited Blair and me to attend the Inauguration of President Bush in 2005. My sister, Jen, was in DC and attended the festivities with us.

12/25/2020

Merry Christmas, from our family to yours. Wishing everyone the best.

12/23/2020

The Morning Line (First Time in Nine Months)

I wrote Paul Daugherty's The Morning Line blog on Friday. I made up and handed out year end "awards" particularly to the pitiful Cincinnati Bengals. I hope you enjoy it.

Jay Brinker provides Cincinnati Enquirer readers with some sports awards for an incredibly long 2020.

06/02/2020

Be Here

I am there.

04/10/2020

Tiger King Is Everywhere (Including Here)

“Tiger King” is the exploitative Netflix series that even has the DC press corps asking questions about pardons to President Trump. One of the plot lines is the disappearance of Don Lewis and Joe Exotic’s (and Lewis’ daughters’) allegations that Lewis’ wife, Carole Baskin, killed Lewis and fed him to their lions in 1997.

For those not watching the show, Lewis and his much younger wife operated a large cat sanctuary in Florida. Lewis had a limited education (he filed legal docs with “enough” spelled “enouf”) but had made decent money in scrap metals and better money buying real estate subject to unpaid property taxes.

Lewis disappeared in 1997 without a trace. He had purchased a plane ticket to Costa Rica where he owned property and where he allegedly went to have daily s*x while his wife was menstruating (gosh, I know this is ta**ry, but she blogged about it). His car was found at a small airport 40 miles from his home. His passport was not swiped in Costa Rica nor the U.S.

Lewis left a power of attorney prepared by his wife in late 1996 that said that she could control his finances in the event of his disability or “disappearance.” Although I have not seen his will, it allegedly referred to “his kidnapping or disappearance.” His wife reportedly inherited $4 million and Lewis’ daughters from his first marriage received $1 million from a trust when he was declared dead in 2002. His daughters allege that the will and powers of attorney were forged. They also have accused Carole of killing him. Due to the publicity generated by the series, the sheriff in Hillsborough County has re-opened the investigation into the disappearance of Lewis.

So many thoughts, but let’s keep them to a minimum which is difficult to do over 7 episodes and countless blog posts and Internet stories:

1. The power of attorney is available on-line. It is professionally prepared with no typos with full justification of the margins even though prepared by Carole. It is possible she downloaded the template from Nolo, but highly unlikely that it included “disappearance” relating to its effectiveness.

2. In 33 years of preparing powers of attorney, I have never conditioned their effectiveness on “disappearance.”

3. A will that refers to “kidnapping or disappearance” does not make sense because wills only become effective upon death.

4. The power of attorney and will allegedly had the same witnesses, one of whom later said she did not actually witness the signing.

5. Although Lewis’ daughters alleged “forgery’, they likely meant that their father was unaware of the specific of the documents he signed.

6. Lewis’ assistant, Ann McQueen, has alleged that she had the original power of attorney and will in her possession but Carole removed them from her office after his disappearance. When I suspect that documents might be contentious if they disappear, I offer to retain the originals.

7. Wow, there is a bunch of smoke here, including the refusal of Carole to take a polygraph test and allow an inspection of her property, but I have no snarky observation. A slander suit from these litigious folks is not worth it. 😜

TIGER KING has taken Netflix viewers by storm over the past few weeks, as the story of Carole Baskin and Joe Exotic has enticed watchers - however author Robert Moor has now claimed one of Carole's ex-boyfriends filed a restraining order on her after making a comment about "dead bodies".

03/27/2020

Black Mamba Trust

This is not about trusting a black mamba. In fact, when we were in Zambia last year, we were advised not to walk to our cabin by ourselves because of the presence of black mambas (and hippos). I was skittish and hyper-aware the entire time.

When Kobe Bryant, aka the Black Mamba, died in January he left a trust for the benefit of his widow, Vanessa, and their daughters. The trust was last amended before the birth of his youngest daughter, Capri, who is not mentioned as a beneficiary. His widow has petitioned the LA Superior Court to add Capri as a beneficiary of the trust.

Several brief points:

1. When drafting a trust, I usually refer to “children” so clients do not have to amend their trusts when they have additional children. The exception is when there is the possibility of illegitimate children who should be excluded.

2. Kobe created his trust in 2003 and had amended it when each daughter was born, except for his youngest. Apparently, it is easy to get distracted and waste time when retired.

3. Kudos to his widow. Usually, people are suing to exclude people from a trust rather than include them.

The NBA legend tragically passed away in a helicopter accident in January, along with his daughter Gianna

03/23/2020

Hard Work Pays Off

Juice WRLD was a 21 year old rapper who died late last year from an opioid overdose. He allegedly swallowed several Percocet pills to hide them from police who were waiting to search his private plane for drugs and guns upon landing in Chicago.

His mother has asked to be appointed as his estate representative. The estate was recently revealed to be worth $3.2 million. His assets consist of a Miami condo worth $1.5 million, a bank account valued at $1 million, and personal property (mostly watches and jewelry) worth $450K. TMZ reported that he might have additional assets in a trust

Several quick points:

1. Mr. WRLD’s estate will likely exceed what is initially reported because the listed assets do not include his music royalties.

2. His estate will increase in size because the single he recorded with Eminem and which was released posthumously (for him) hit Number 3 on the US music charts and went Number One in the UK (apologies for channeling Casey Kasem).

3. It is nice that TMZ finally acknowledged that celebrities might have assets in a trust which are not included in probate filings, but in this case that is misplaced. If a man did not have a will (his mom is asking to be appointed as administrator, she is not designated as executrix in his will), he did not have a trust.

4. Unsurprisingly, like most Millenials and Gen Z-ers, Mr. WRLD apparently did not own any stocks or bonds. Consider his heirs fortuitous.

RIP, Juice WRLD.

03/20/2020

Coronavirus Is Not the Only Threat to the Elderly

03/09/2020

Knives Out

The film “Knives Out” is an award nominated dark comedy written by Rian Johnson, who is best (and actually only) known as the writer and director of “The Last Jedi”, the 8th installment of the “Star Wars” saga. The film involves the death of the patriarch of a family, his will, and the machinations of his family to obtain his estate. It also involves the Hercule Poirot-esque detective played by Daniel Craig investigating the death.

Without revealing any significant plot parts, I noticed a few estate planning points:

1. Will readings are entirely a creative device for Hollywood. I have never been part of one in 30+ years of practice.

2. The grandchildren were part of the angry family pining for an inheritance, but rarely would grandchildren inherit a meaningful sum from their grandparent unless their own parent were deceased.

3. The film did correctly reference the Slayer Statute.

4.Channeling my Gene Siskel, skinny, late middle-aged, bald man critic mode - if you are looking for something to stream, “Knives Out” is much more entertaining than the multitude of sequels and re-makes released by Hollywood last year.

“Knives Out” is a worthy murder mystery/detective procedural, complete with the twists and turns we expect—and don’t. Agatha Christie’s “Murder on the Orient Express” (book, 1934) meets the classic board game “Clue” (first issued 1943). This Hollywood take, based on the inevitabili...