Freeland Martz PLLC

Freeland Martz PLLC Over three decades of service to clients with business, elder law, and probate and estate planning. We challenge what we should and resolve what we can.

Help for your friendsOur firm probably has more work than any other in this region related to elder adults who are taken...
03/15/2022

Help for your friends
Our firm probably has more work than any other in this region related to elder adults who are taken advantage of. Certainly it’s upsetting to discover such abuse. In every case, what mattered
and made the difference is the person who cared, who was willing to stand up to the bully – the exploiter – and come to our office to help their friends or family member.
Note that 45% of exploitation comes from family and acquaintances. It is important to figure out what the circumstances are, what the health issues are, whether there are medical and financial resources to care for and maintain the best situation for the elderly, and to listen and carry out the elderly person’s wishes to the extent they can express those wishes and figure out what is in their best interest. This means not jumping to conclusions but carefully figuring out what is going on, getting family members involved who can help, while understanding the family history and
dynamics. If you are concerned, you might want to review the U.S. Department of Justice website (https://www.justice.gov/elderjustice/red-flags-elder-abuse) for some of the red flags of elder abuse, including physical abuse, emotional/psychological abuse, financial exploitation, neglect and abandonment, and sexual abuse. Taking proper action is about caring enough to respond to those who are controlling a vulnerable person for their own purposes.

You may be giving up more than you know when you sign a power of attorneyA durable power of attorney gives the “attorney...
03/07/2022

You may be giving up more than you know when you sign a power of attorney

A durable power of attorney gives the “attorney in fact,” the person you are appointing, power over your finances and assets. A healthcare power of attorney gives the person you are appointing power over your healthcare decisions, including where you can live in order to receive the care you need. Powers of attorney are handy if the person you appoint listens to you, is concerned about you, and will act in your best interests to protect your assets, help you pay your bills, and use those assets for your benefit. Problems arise if they consider those assets their own or are concerned about having those assets disbursed to pay for your needs, lowering the eventual value of your estate. Problems also arise when you lose capacity to make decisions yourself and rather than considering what your plans and wishes have been, the attorney in fact is more concerned over their control and their own interests. Problems arise when family members distrust one another and take for themselves. When those problems arise, courts get involved to try to figure out what is best for you and who will act in your best interest and who is acting for themselves. It is important to plan, set out your goals and only give authority to those that YOU KNOW love you and have your best interests in mind. If you don’t, you may be broke, isolated, and institutionalized – essentially imprisoned – somewhere you don’t want to be, unable to understand what happened. Then you can only hope a friend or family member will come to your aid. Thankfully, those are usually the folks who come to us for help.

Firm resolves a family estate litigation to continue duck hunting business Years ago a pair of close-knit brothers start...
02/23/2022

Firm resolves a family estate litigation to continue duck hunting business

Years ago a pair of close-knit brothers started a recreational duck hunting business on inherited Delta land now valued worth millions of dollars. Over the years the business and the land it utilized expanded, and hunters came from all over the United States to hunt in the legendary Mississippi Delta flyway.

When one of the partners contracted cancer and died, the surviving brother continued to manage the business. His brother’s family had not been involved in the business, however, and challenged the surviving brother through protracted litigation. Several years in, the surviving brother hired Freeland Martz, PLLC, after the litigation remained unresolved. After an accounting of the business was performed to the satisfaction of the family, an expert agricultural appraiser analyzed the business, divided the property between the two families, and the families came to an agreement to keep the business together, utilizing all the property the brothers had owned together. The agreement was approved by the Court without the added expense of a hearing.

The family business continues, working together now with a better mutual understanding of their shared goals and distinct responsibilities.

Estate provides significant gift to Mississippi State University Foundation for pet care Malcolm H. Mabry, Jr., loved do...
02/01/2022

Estate provides significant gift to Mississippi State University Foundation for pet care Malcolm H. Mabry, Jr., loved dogs and cared for many stray dogs at his home near Clarksdale,
Mississippi. During his lifetime Malcolm donated part of a $1.5 million-dollar state-of-the-art oncology unit at the Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine.
https://www.msstate.edu/newsroom/article/2020/06/mabry-remembered-servant-leader-lover- animals-friend-Mississippi-state
When Mabry became ill, his friends cared for his many strays and continued to do so after his death. In his will, he provided for a large bequest for the MSU College of Veterinary Medicine to
assist pet owners who could not afford to pay for treatment for their animals at the Vet school.
The Freeland Martz firm worked with the executor of Malcolm Mabry’s estate to facilitate the
care of beloved pets through Mabry’s generous gift.

Not every client hugs me, thankfully.When a 86 year old widow lost her husband of sixty-six years who she loved dearly, ...
01/27/2022

Not every client hugs me, thankfully.

When a 86 year old widow lost her husband of sixty-six years who she loved dearly, it means something. It is with clients like that that give our practice meaning when the clients are comfortable enough to share their emotions and loss, and for us to help them through the transaction. Today my client left giving me sage advice, to always hug my spouse (as she did over the years to the spouse she misses and gave her joy)

"I'M IN CHARGE" LEADS TO FAMILY COSTLY FEUDOften folks thing being a power of attorney or an executor, means they are no...
01/24/2022

"I'M IN CHARGE" LEADS TO FAMILY COSTLY FEUD
Often folks thing being a power of attorney or an executor, means they are no in charge and have complete authority and discretion over the person and estate they were appointed to serve. Nothing is further from the truth according to the law in pretty much all state. Being appointed means your first duty is to look after their interest before your own self-interest, the nature of being a fiduciary. It means accounting for transactions with their assets, following the laws requiring fiduciaries to act unselfishly and the dictates of the will, trust or power of attorney. It does not mean you are in charge. Because the two sisters appointed as executors of their Mother's estate ended in jail for contempt and judgements for wasting estate asserts which will result in both loosing their home. https://nypost.com/2022/01/22/battle-over-estate-landed-two-sisters-on-rikers-island/ This happens here too. We have had cases in which it costs the executor his interest in a multi-million dollar estate, let alone their family relationship. Lesson, appoint someone understands following the rules, your stated intentions, and unselfishly putting family relationships fist over personal gain; a trustworthy person. Avoid ASKS to be in charge.

12/14/2021

How meditation, prayer avoid heartache and legal fees
Sure, there are greedy people. Often, they are in family form - the child, now adult, who has been considered the “favorite” or the child who considers himself the favored and entitled child.
It’s human nature to want to get your share. Sometime resentment builds when we misunderstand or mistake what has happened, and it’s human nature not to address feelings. Sometimes those feelings of resentment are built on preemptions of how family members felt. Recently I had a client/executor concerned about other family members not doing anything to get the estate work done, what he had done, and what the other family members wanted from the estate. He was concerned that they wanted more than their share as indicated in the will – and even more than the estate was worth. I suggested we have a meeting, in which I explained that we are governed not by what anyone now wanted, but what the will said, what the law required, and so long as the heir agreed with those things, we would not have to go to court so much and everyone would receive more from the estate as their deceased loved one intended.
There was still mourning and loss, which made all of these issues more difficult. My client, the executor, dreaded the meeting, so he prayed and prayed. At the meeting, after a few tense comments from folks that revealed there were misperceptions based upon misunderstanding of how statements had been taken, the family became relieved to realize that they all wanted the same things, with family relationships being of primary importance. This did not mean anyone had to “give in” to less than what they might be entitled to. Why? Because each realized that the decedent’s legacies were gracious gifts, not entitlements, and the best gift is how the decedent cared for and raised each of them and was the glue that had held them all together – the source of their shared grief. In finding common ground they not only honored their loved one’s wishes but received a greater legacy than if they had continued to disagree.
So regardless of one’s belief, a pause, a prayer, some meditation, and a little graciousness bring peace.

11/29/2021

Recently I published an article about being called a “toothless lion” for shying away from litigation. Want more evidence why I try to discourage litigation? Read the case of G.T. ISSA CONSTRUCTION, LLC v. BONNIE BLALOCK linked below. After nearly five years of litigation, Plaintiff recovered $6,800 for a brick veneer on a retaining wall. Plaintiff also was awarded $201,255.50 in attorneys’ fees and expenses PLUS appellate fees and expenses in an amount to be determined. We can assume the total litigation cost was nearly double as the court opinion says “the fees on both sides were substantial and the rates comparable.”

So, does 5 years, well over $200,000 out of pocket expense, a trial, and a appeal sound all that good now?

Plan for the Inevitable – or Leave a MessOften clients come in and start talking about what their deceased relative want...
10/19/2021

Plan for the Inevitable – or Leave a Mess

Often clients come in and start talking about what their deceased relative wanted to do with their estate while noting that the loved one left no written will. We have known instances when the wrong person is appointed to manage an estate or where he/she wanted his/her assets to go in a will. We recently met with someone whose uncle died intestate (without a will). He said he wanted to leave everything to the decedent’s niece who met with us, not to his son, whom he barely knew. Evidently this was known to most everyone in the family and not disputed. Unfortunately, we had to tell her the estranged son being the only heir at law, the son would inherit. In my own family, my father kept mentioning something about his estate. As his potential heirs we could not do that for him. Yet he failed to complete a document consistent with what he told us he wanted. If you don’t plan, the law of the State you live in will determine who gets your estate. I have never met anyone who wanted to let the State decide how to treat the people and things you cared for after death. Death is inevitable. Waning health is inevitable. Care about those you care about – and plan accordingly

I was recently accused of being a “toothless lion” for discouraging litigation. I don't shy away from my “three guarante...
09/28/2021

I was recently accused of being a “toothless lion” for discouraging litigation. I don't shy away from my “three guarantees” of litigation. In fact, I give that speech several times a week. Abraham Lincoln recommended in 1850:

“Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can. Point out to them how the nominal winner is often a real loser -- in fees, expenses, and waste of time. As a peacemaker the lawyer has a superior opportunity of being a good man. There will still be business enough. Never stir up litigation.”

Nothing has changed in 170 years. Litigation is still a blunt instrument that often leaves both sides of the case frustrated. That's not to say that litigation never works. If that were the case we wouldn't be in the business of filing lawsuits, which we do with regularity.

But, If you think a lawsuit is going to magically solve all your problems, you are going to be disappointed. I've lived it personally and professionally and stand behind these comments.

Freeland saves client from a $486,576.82 questionable contractor’s lienA contractor proposed to renovate a historic offi...
09/28/2021

Freeland saves client from a $486,576.82 questionable contractor’s lien
A contractor proposed to renovate a historic office. When the project was not completed in time, the contractor had been paid much more than had been planned or projected and the contractor presented a bill for hundreds of thousands of additional costs, the owner asked for some explanation. In response the contractor abandoned the job site and slapped on a $486,576.82 lien. Even then the Builders’ numbers for the payments requested did not match The Contractor filed suit, and in response the corporation that owned the building filed bankruptcy. Freeland Martz filed an adversary suit in the bankruptcy court, challenging the contractors $486,576.82 claim and lien. We subpoenaed all the suppliers and subcontractors that the contractors had listed on the invoices. After reviewing one of the many invoices the contractor sent, Freeland Martz determined that many of the bills for what the contractor claimed it paid for materials and subcontractors did not match the suppliers’ and subcontractors’ bills for the renovation project. What was revealed by analyzing the documents was that the contractor had a false set of books and the contractor thought he could get paid whatever was presented. After that determination, the case settled and the contractor gave up its claim and lien.

Before you point the finger, have more than your suspicionMake sure there is something there before you accuse someone o...
08/30/2021

Before you point the finger,
have more than your suspicion
Make sure there is something there before you accuse someone of wrongdoing. If you don’t know about the circumstance or transactions and are concerned, say you don't understand, want to know what is going on. If, for example, you are the beneficiary of a trust or an estate, the trustee or executor should be open and willing to account for the assets and transactions for which they have been responsible. Making baseless allegations can cost you. In a recent case that went on for three years in another state, a person accused a trustee of fraud, settling, and neglect immediately after his father died, without having any proof. He tried to break the trust and removed the trusts, by hiring two law firms in two states with five lawyers working on the case, which went from a trial court to the state Court of Appeal. The parties agreed to audit the trustee’s accounts, and the audit found the trustee had done nothing improper. Litigation over the unsubstantiated allegations cost the beneficiaries over half a million dollars in fees and expenses of money they would have received from their father’s trust. Even after the independent accounting firm audit came back clean, the beneficiary tried to find something. As the saying goes, “There was no ‘there,’ there.” Making allegations you can’t back up provides more insight about the accuser than about what he is alleging. It can cost you dearly in money and relationships.

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302 Enterprise Drive, Ste A
Oxford, MS
38655

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Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

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Freeland Martz Finds solutions the issues you face

Over three decades of service to clients with business, agriculture, elder law, trusts, probate and estate planning. We challenge what we should and resolve what we can. We are intentionally, a small firm which helps us focus on our clients rather than our firm organization. In doing so, we identify with our clients and help give them the best choices under the circumstances they face.