Old Pueblo Legal Observer

Karp & Weiss Proud to Support the FC Tucson Desert Diamond Cup

Over four nights from February 22 to March 3, four Major League Soccer teams – the Los Angeles Galaxy, the New York Red Bulls, the New England Revolution, and Real Salt Lake – will descend on Tucson to compete in a round-robin tournament hosted by the FC Tucson Desert Diamond Cup. Karp & Weiss is proud to support FC Tucson, Tucson’s own United Soccer League Premier Development Team, and the Desert Diamond Cup.

The Desert Diamond Cup launches FC Tucson’s effort to develop a “Cactus league” soccer spring training series for Major League Soccer based here in Tucson. In spring 2011, FC Tucson presented the first Desert Cup, an exhibition series between FC Tucson, the Phoenix-based Arizona Sahuaros, Sporting Kansas City, and the New York Red Bulls. With barely a few weeks’ lead time, the Desert Cup drew more than 10,000 fans to Hi Corbett Field for an energetic weekend of professional soccer. Heading into this year’s Desert Diamond Cup, the hosts expect more than 50,000 fans and visitors will flock to Tucson, embracing Tucson’s newest “home team” and engineering momentum for soccer as a new economic and cultural engine for southern Arizona.

FC Tucson has currently invested more than $110,000 in converting the baseball diamonds at Kino Sports Complex into professional –level soccer fields. Sporting Kansas City and the San Jose Earthquakes are already in Tucson using Kino as a base for preseason training. The Desert Diamond Cup will be a chance for FC Tucson to prove to MLS that they can present a professional sporting experience, and that the wider region – comprised of southern Arizona and Sonora, Mexico – has the passionate fan base to support a spring training league based in Tucson. With the departure of Major League Baseball, the arrival of Major League Soccer presents a singular opportunity for Tucson to create its own sports – and economic – future.

For more information visit fctucson.com, or click here to buy tickets for the 2012 Desert Diamond Cup.

Adult Adoption as Asset Protection in a Wrongful Death Case?

It's not often that the issues of adult adoption, estate planning, DUI, and wrongful death intersect. But now here comes the case of John Goodman, charged with DUI and being sued for wrongful death by the parents of Scott Wilson, a 23-year-old who was killed when Goodman, whose blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit, ran a stop sign in his Bentley and crashed into Wilson's car.

Goodman, who estimates his net worth as "several hundred million dollars", has revealed that this fall he adopted his 42-year-old girlfriend, which makes her a one-third beneficiary of the trust he initially established for his two children.

Discuss.

(FYI, this sort of adoption would not be permitted under Arizona law.)

Estate Planning Lessons from The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

by Elizabeth D. Spilotro

The recent release of the American film version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo has brought renewed attention to the author, Stieg Larsson, his premature death, and the subsequent dispute over his estate.

Much like Mikael Blomkvist, the journalist protagonist of Dragon Tattoo, Larsson was also an investigative journalist well known in Sweden for coverage of right-wing extremism, and had been subject to death threats throughout his career; in fact, much suspicion clouded his death, which stemmed from a heart attack. Larsson’s three novels that make up the Millennium series were published posthumously and have since become bestsellers and launched both Swedish and American film adaptations.

Larsson was involved in a longtime relationship with Eva Gabrielsson, a fellow journalist he never married, ostensibly due to the fact that Swedish law requires public release of addresses and other personal information which the couple felt would put them at risk of harm. After his death, a 1977 self-made will (called a “holographic will” in the US) was found naming the Socialist Party as the beneficiary of his estate, but as the will was not properly witnessed in accordance with Swedish law it was declared invalid, resulting in the entirety of his estate going to Larsson’s father and brother, from whom he had been largely estranged.

Despite having cohabited with Larsson for the 30+ years of their adult lives, Gabrielsson was excluded from his estate entirely. She continues to challenge the family’s decisions in disseminating Larsson’s work, and is in possession of his laptop computer which supposedly contains a nearly-complete fourth novel that Gabrielsson has indicated she would be capable of finishing on Larsson’s behalf. She has written her own book, “There Are Things I Want You To Know” About Stieg Larsson And Me, which chronicles her struggle with grief as well as her ongoing fight with Larsson’s family to secure the rights to control Larsson’s work. She was offered a substantial cash settlement by the family, which she declined.

While the circumstances at play here are extreme and some elements of Swedish law unique, there are lessons to be learned from the sad story of Stieg Larsson. First, anyone in a committed relationship who wishes to provide for their significant other must seek the assistance of an attorney to ensure their intent is accomplished. Second, holographic wills may be purport to be “simple estate planning”, but the requirements of executing one successfully are not, and vary state by state. While Mr. Larsson may not have anticipated that his estate would end up amounting to much, he would have been better served by professional assistance in ensuring his wishes were met and unanticipated consequences avoided. There’s nothing simple about resolving an estate plan that goes awry.  

Who Gets The Cadillac?

by Marian C. Abram

So, you own a car or truck and want your favorite nephew to get it when you are gone.  You could place your nephew on the title to the vehicle now – “You AND Your Nephew”, but that may not be possible (or advisable) if the title is held with the car loan creditor.  You could mention the vehicle in your will, i.e., “The 1975 Black Cadillac Sedan to my favorite nephew.”, but if your estate is valued high enough, then the transfer must be done through probate.

If your estate is not valued sufficiently high to require probate, the answer has been to your nephew to present an affidavit to the Motor Vehicles Division under Arizona statute 14-3971.  However, this provision limits the value of all personal property to $50,000.  So if your savings and checking account are also given to the nephew and the value of the accounts and the Cadillac is greater than $50,000, your estate must be administered through the probate court.

Now, there is a new statutory solution available.  Under Arizona statute 28-2055, you are able to complete a beneficiary form and attach it to the original title in your possession.  Then, when you are gone, your favorite nephew need only present the title with the attached form and an original death certificate to the Motor Vehicles Division to transfer ownership without going through probate and without being subject to the $50,000 limit.

 This strategy may not be for everyone, however, so please contact Marian Abram or Elizabeth Spilotro at Karp & Weiss to see which option is best for you and your favorite nephew.

Year-End Gift Opportunities

by Elizabeth D. Spilotro

As 2011 comes to a close, consider three options to reduce your overall estate and minimize tax impact:

• The 2011 annual exclusion gift amount remains $13,000 for individuals ($26,000 for married couples filing jointly, using gift splitting). This means you can gift up to that amount to anyone and as many people as you wish. Annual exclusion gifting is a nice way to remove assets from your estate and pass them to your loved ones.
• Keep in mind that direct payments made for medical and educational expenses do not count as gifts. Paying for a grandchild’s braces or school tuition (at any level) can be a nice way to reduce your estate and ease financial pressure for family members. Note: you have to make the payment directly to the medical service provider or the educational institution!
• Tax provisions permitting direct charitable gifts from IRAs are set to expire on December 31, 2011. If you are 70 ½ or older, you can direct your IRA custodian to make a direct gift up to $100,000 to a qualified charity (generally a public charity). You will not receive a charitable deduction for the donation, but the contribution will count toward your required minimum distribution, but the distribution will not count toward your annual income. In other words, redirecting part or all of an IRA distribution that you are required to take but don’t actually need can benefit a charity of your choice as well as your tax bill.

Risks of Fraud in International Adoption

 

 

By Elizabeth Spilotro, Esq.

Earlier this summer, a Guatemalan court ordered that a six-year-old girl who had been adopted four years ago by a Kansas City couple be returned to her home country on the grounds that her adoption was fraudulent. The court order is a first among the many disturbing tales of unresolved abuse and corruption in the international adoption market, and has sent a chill through the community of adoption professionals and prospective adoptive parents in the United States.

Many couples seeking to establish or grow their families are drawn to international adoption as a means to provide an orphaned or abandoned child living in unstable, often third-world circumstances the chance to thrive in a welcoming, stable, and first-world family environment. Sadly, though, the “marketization” of adoption, especially in corrupt third-world countries, has meant that unscrupulous individuals seeking to profit off this scenario have constructed often-elaborate schemes to traffick children who, in too many cases, are not actually orphans or abandoned in the first place.

As a result, the avenues to adopt in popular sending countries such as Ethiopia and Cambodia have dramatically contracted, countries such as China and the Ukraine have implemented extensive new requirements of prospective adoptive parents, and adoption from Guatemala has been at a halt since early 2008 while reforms can be implemented. The risks, delays, and uncertainties of international adoptions, coupled with their often prohibitive financial costs, are leading increasing numbers of American couples to look again at building their families through domestic adoption.

Whether an adoption is sought abroad, across the country, or locally, the single element that can best counter the risk of disruption is quite simply the ethics of all parties involved. Seeking the advice of trustworthy and competent professionals at every stage of the process is a prospective adoptive couple’s best bet to successfully grow a “forever family”.  

Leonard Karp Named Tucson Best Lawyers, Family Law Lawyer of the Year for 2012

PRESS RELEASE (Available for immediate release)

Best Lawyers, the oldest and most respected peer-review publication in the legal profession, has named Leonard Karp as the “Tucson Best Lawyers Family Law Lawyer of the Year” for 2012.

After more than a quarter of a century in publication, Best Lawyers is designating “Lawyers of the Year” in high-profile legal specialties in large legal communities. Only a single lawyer in each specialty in each community is being honored as the “Lawyer of the Year.”

Best Lawyers compiles its lists of outstanding attorneys by conducting exhaustive peer-review surveys in which thousands of leading lawyers confidentially evaluate their professional peers. The current, 18th edition of The Best Lawyers in America (2012) is based on more than 3.9 million detailed evaluations of lawyers by other lawyers.

The lawyers being honored as “Lawyers of the Year” have received particularly high ratings in our surveys by earning a high level of respect among their peers for their abilities, professionalism, and integrity.

Steven Naifeh, President of Best Lawyers, says, “We continue to believe – as we have believed for more than 25 years – that recognition by one’s peers is the most meaningful form of praise in the legal profession. We would like to congratulate Leonard Karp on being selected as the ‘Tucson Best Lawyers Family Law Lawyer of the Year’ for 2012.”

Karp & Weiss grants "Superior Sponsor" donation for PCBA Judicial Reception

In its continuing effort to support the Pima County Bar Association (PCBA) and greater Tucson legal community, Karp & Weiss has made a donation to the PCBA for the Judicial Reception, hosted by the PCBA Young Lawyers Division (YLD), for which Karp & Weiss attorneys Maricela Meza and Mark W. Heckele (of counsel) are the former President and current President-Elect, respectively.  The Judicial Reception is set for Thursday, September 22, 2011 from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. at the Arizona Inn, and will feature a silent and live auction; the proceeds will go towards the PCBA YLD's Holiday Party for the benefit of the children at St. Nicholas of Myra Adoption Center.

The donation gives Karp & Weiss a Superior Sponsor designation.

Karp and Weiss Attorneys Head Up Effort to Bring Major League Soccer Spring Training To Tucson

From the beginning of this process, Karp and Weiss has played a significant role as a founding sponsor of FC Tucson. We are gratified to see that the community may embrace a long term vision of bringing Major League Soccer Spring Training to Tucson.

SPRING TRAINING: BASEBALL, SOCCER OR BOTH?
Tucson groups want to entice pro leagues


Patrick Finley and Matthew Casey Arizona Daily Star | Posted: Saturday, July 16, 2011 12:00 am | (0) Comments

Tucson groups put feelers out to entice pro leagues in 2 sports

After touring Southern Arizona's vacant spring training baseball facilities last week, Major League Soccer executive Nelson Rodriguez told his FC Tucson tour guides he loved the area's resorts, people and locker rooms.

"But," said FC Tucson co-owner Greg Foster, "he didn't see a soccer field."

Bringing an MLS training camp to Tucson as early as next February requires creating soccer fields at Hi Corbett Field or Kino Sports Complex by converting baseball diamonds.

On Tuesday, Tom Tracy, chairman of the Pima County Sports and Tourism Authority, told the Board of Supervisors dual use of the fields is problematic because they would have to be re-engineered to accommodate drainage and grass requirements for professional soccer that don't work for baseball.

Still, baseball and soccer executives, including Tracy, said this week that field availability and renovation would not pit the two sports against each other.

"Whether it's Kino that's repurposed or Hi Corbett that's repurposed or a to-be-built facility, the concept of MLS doing spring training and conditioning here is a spectacular idea," Tracy said.

But the bottom line, he said, is, "We have the same problem with that concept that we do with baseball - there's no money."

Foster, who met with Kino Sports Complex officials July 8, said it was "premature" to discuss the cost of field renovation, or who would pay for it.

City Councilman Paul Cunningham said he does not want to use taxpayer money, adding that private funding "can get it done."

Pima County could finance overhauling the fields at Kino for soccer, County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry said, and he is quite willing. But first the county will have to see that the economic impact exceeds the investment.

"That's the restaurants and hotels and everyone else," he said.

Tracy said this week that the organization has spoken with five Major League Baseball teams, two in-depth, about moving spring training to Tucson, though no earlier than 2015.

By then, Tracy hopes, the authority will have money - $15 million a year - via a ballot proposal the Legislature approved to be put up for vote in 2013.

Tracy's group is not actively involved in the MLS recruitment, though Tracy said they are a "cheerleader" for the idea.

If FC Tucson can find money to entice MLS, Tracy said, "Let's do it tomorrow."

Tracy said sharing between soccer and baseball was far more likely at Kino Stadium than Hi Corbett because Kino has more fields and space.

FC Tucson has not reached a deal with either facility.

FC Tucson's plan, Foster said, is to book "high-quality training fields" from Feb. 1 to March 15, 2012, and to rotate four MLS teams.

Then, over five dates between March 1 and March 15, four teams would participate in the Desert Cup series in a stadium. At least two MLS teams would be housed in Tucson.

"We're in the early part of the growth curve of an event MLS wants to create," Foster said.

FC Tucson will bid on the 2013 MLS combine, a late January event at which scouts examine draft prospects.

"Then we'd be talking about seven weeks of MLS in Tucson, from January to March," Foster said.

Area complexes could get crowded.

The Arizona Wildcats want to play baseball at Hi Corbett Field next year. The Tucson Toros' lease there is being revoked by the city.

The Triple-A Tucson Padres play at Kino Stadium, where general manager Mike Feder said he was willing to "bend over backwards to help out."

Huckelberry said the county became involved in MLB spring training to stimulate economic development and tourism.

The arrival of MLS could fill the economic gap created when the Chicago White Sox, Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks left town in 2009 and 2010.

Still, Huckelberry said, it would be ideal to have both.

"We have some pretty smart folks around here," he said. "I think if they just kind of work together, we could solve that problem."

Copyright 2011 Arizona Daily Star. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Read more: http://azstarnet.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_0e920c46-f567-5f47-90ba-24429ef32e93.html?mode=story#ixzz1SHJCvD6u

Karp and Weiss helps bring Major League Soccer to Tucson

Ryan Recker's latest podcast discusses MLS soccer in Tucson and FC Tucson's inaugural season with FC Tucson Managing Partner and Karp and Weiss attorney, Greg Foster. Link to the podcast here: http://ryanrecker.com/blog