NFTs—or non-fungible tokens—have been making headlines in recent months as the newest investment craze. “At a very high level, most NFTs are part of the Ethereum blockchain. Ethereum is a cryptocurrency, like bitcoin or dogecoin, but its blockchain also supports these NFTs, which store extra information that makes them work differently from, say, an ETH coin.” NFTs can be anything digital but are currently extremely popular for buying and selling digital art. Popular NFT marketplaces include OpenSea, Rarible, and Nifty Gateway, and some NFTs have been bought and sold for tens of millions of dollars. This new digital artwork platform has, unsurprisingly, sparked many intellectual property disputes. Most recently, famous…
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“TIGER KING” JOE EXOTIC POUNCES ON FEDS WITH $94 MILLION LAWSUIT
Foremost, if you haven’t seen Netflix’s seven-part, true crime documentary series “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness”, do yourself a quarantine favor and watch it now. Joseph Maldonado-Passage f/k/a Joe Schreibvogel a/k/a Joe Exotic is a former big cat breeder and roadside zoo owner who is currently serving a 22-year prison sentence for two counts of murder for hire, eight counts of falsifying wildlife records, and nine counts of violating the Endangered Species Act (in part, for killing five tigers). Launched from his jail cell in Grady County, Oklahoma and serving as his own attorney, Exotic is suing the U.S. Department of the Interior and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and…
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2019 ALZHEIMER’S ASSOCIATION WALK TO END ALZHEIMER’S®
On Saturday, November 2, Lindley Law completed the 2019 Walk to End Alzheimer’s® in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the many people affected by the disease and to celebrate the efforts to find a cure. Our firm is also proud to announce it exceeded its $5,000 fundraising goal by raising $6,252! Thank you to all who donated. With your help, we are that much closer to finding a cure.
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LINDLEY LAW WILL PARTICIPATE IN THE 2019 ALZHEIMER’S ASSOCIATION WALK TO END ALZHEIMER’S ®
On November 2, 2019, Lindley Law will participate in the Alzheimer’s Association Walk to End Alzhiemer’s ®. This will be the second year we participate in the Charlotte walk, one of more than 600 nationwide, to raise awareness and money for Alzheimer’s. A significant portion of our practice is devoted to protecting the elderly and those suffering from all forms of dementia, including Alzheimer’s, from fraud schemes and elder abuse. This is an issue near and dear to our hearts, and we are excited to make a positive impact! Our firm set a fundraising goal of $5,000 to go toward research, care, and support. If you wish to donate, please…
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LAMARRE V. MARTINEZ: A (QUIET) DISCUSSION OF ACTIONS TO QUIET TITLE
The recent North Carolina Court of Appeals decision in LaMarre v. Martinez addresses an action to quiet title between parties to a real property transaction. Specifically, the court provides guidance for determining the applicable statute of limitations. Actions to Quiet Title In North Carolina, an action to quiet title may be brought to determine the validity of adverse claims by multiple persons to an estate or an interest in real property. The court’s role in such actions is to determine the rightful owner to a particular piece of real property. Disputes over rightful ownership to real property often arise in the context of interfamilial transfers or transfers that…
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Trustworthy Pets
Are you a cat person or a dog person? The truth is many of us love animals. In fact, approximately 68 percent of American households own at least one pet. In some of those households, care for a pet is part of the estate plan. Consider, for example, millionaire head of Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld, who is believed to have left a significant portion of his $195 million fortune to his cat, Choupette. Talk about the cat’s meow! Trust for the Care of an Animal North Carolina recognizes trusts created to care for an animal. Conversely, because North Carolina considers pets property, a pet cannot directly inherit money left to it…
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BREAKING THE (NEWS ABOUT) MOLD
Mold is a very serious issue. It can cause significant health effects or damage to personal property. As part of the obligation to provide and maintain habitable premises, North Carolina requires landlords to respond to complaints of mold in a reasonable period of time depending on the severity of the condition. However, North Carolina takes a markedly different approach to the disclosure of the presence of mold by the landlord to the tenant. No Affirmative Disclosure Obligation Although a landlord may face potential liability, including rent abatement, for failing to respond in a reasonable period of time to complaints of mold, neither federal nor North Carolina statutes create an affirmative…
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Aunt Bee Trust Fund
Many remember the fictional town of Mayberry, the setting for The Andy Griffith Show. Less commonly known, however, is that Mayberry is modeled after Mt. Airy, a small North Carolina town near the Virginia boarder. Frances Bavier, the actress who portrayed Aunt Bee Taylor in the hit television show, recently passed away, and spent the last years of her life in Siler City, another small North Carolina town. Perhaps owing to a soft spot she felt for police officers due to her time on The Andy Griffith Show, Ms. Bavier established a trust with $100,000 in principal to ensure that every member of the Siler City police would enjoy a…
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Testamentary Capacity and Undue Influence
In 2015 and 2016, media magnate Sumner Redstone amended his trust, which was challenged by former companion Manuela Herzer. A California court recently ruled that Mr. Redstone possessed the required mental capacity to amend his estate plan. In North Carolina, whether an individual is a billionaire business mogul or anyone else, the requirements for testamentary capacity, or the required mental capacity to create a will or a trust, is the same. Testamentary Capacity To have testamentary capacity a person must be “of sound mind, and 18 years of age or over[.]” In practice, this means that the person creating the will, otherwise known as the testator, must be able to…
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Congratulations to Trey Lindley and Satie Munn
Lindley Law is pleased to announce Trey Lindley was selected as a 2019 Super Lawyer in Estate and Trust Litigation by Super Lawyers Magazine, making this his eighth consecutive honor from the publication. Lindley Law is also pleased to announce Satie Munn was selected as a 2019 Rising Star in Business Litigation by Super Lawyers Magazine, her first such honor from the publication. Super Lawyers Magazine recognizes outstanding attorneys using a multi-step process that involves soliciting nominations from attorneys across North Carolina (lawyers are not allowed to vote for themselves), a third-party evaluation across 12 key categories, and a peer evaluation by a highly credentialed panel of attorneys. Finalists have attained a high…
