Florida Business Litigation Law Blog

A recent decision by an appellate court in Florida further clarified the status of revocable trusts in Florida when the beneficiary of the trust dies before the grantor. The case itself follows the horrific 2004 murder of James and Martha Hughes by Mrs. Hughes's adopted son from a prior marriage.

In this particularly complex Florida trust litigation, the appellate court sided with arguments proffered by attorneys Keith Grumer and Maidely Macaluso of Fort Lauderdale based Grumer & Macaluso, P.A.

Florida Revocable Trust

The emphasis of this particular case involved issues of probate and not the criminal liability surrounding their tragic deaths - specifically the case revolved around a revocable trust created by James Hughes years earlier.

In 1999, Mr. and Mrs. Hughes were married and Mr. Hughes subsequently executed a revocable trust. The trust provided that "Martha would receive the family home in Florida, the country home in North Carolina, a sum of one million dollars, the contents of the residences, and various other items of personal property," according to the court opinion.

Following their passing, the probate court deemed their deaths to be simultaneous - per Florida statute - since the coroner could not determine which spouse died first. Accordingly, Mr. Hughes' estate was to be disposed of as if he survived Mrs. Hughes - unfortunately for the heirs of Mrs. Hughes, it was unclear if she was required to survive her husband in order to receive the benefits of the trust, and thus be able to pass these benefits on to her heirs.

There are few things that permeate into our lives as much as the internet. Everyday millions of people not only use email and Facebook, but also utilize search engines. Unfortunately though, search engines and other forms of internet media have created new intellectual property legal issues - especially issues involving trademarks, which can often lead to lawsuits.

Purchasing Keywords

After an internet user types in a search request, search engines generally display results in order of relevance using complicated algorithms. However, often times search results are not only based on relevance - for example, many search engines will also allow other websites to bid on particular keywords. Thus when a specific keyword is purchased and entered into the search engine, the website of that keyword purchaser will be listed as a sponsored link. Unfortunately, when a website owner purchases a competitor's trademark as a keyword, disputes inevitably arise regarding trademark infringement.

Likelihood of Confusion

In order to prevail in a trademark infringement suit, the plaintiff must not only show that they own the mark, but also that the defendant's use of the mark in commerce creates a likelihood of confusion among consumers.