Harris K. Solomon of Brinkley Morgan in Fort Lauderdale. Courtesy Photo.

Harris Solomon of Brinkley Morgan in Fort Lauderdale teamed with solo practitioner Elliot Borkson to negotiate a $3 million settlement for three Broward charities hit with a lawsuit over the will of John O. Ulbrich, founder of Alpine Jaguar in Fort Lauderdale, who died by suicide.

Solomon and Borkson represented Kids in Distress, SOS Children's Villages and Covenant House Florida Inc., which sought to collect donations promised in Ulbrich's will, challenged by family members who disputed the wording and claimed he hadn't been in his right mind.

Ulbrich was 80 when he jumped off a building in May 2018, leaving a $51.3 million estate. His death sparked five lawsuits, two of which came from Ulbrich's grandson Ryan, set to inherit $2 million when he was 35 and $3 million when he was 65.

Ulbrich's will named the Florida charities beneficiaries of his residuary trust estate—meaning what's leftover after specific gifts are distributed. He also named The Salvation Army, Operation Smile, Smile Train Inc. and Doctors Without Borders USA Inc.

Ryan Ulbrich disputed his share, claiming he could collect it now. He sought 50% interest in Ulbrich's personal property under both the will and his trust. He also alleged that both contained ambiguous statements when they were read together.

One line in the will, for example, said Ulbrich gave "all my remaining tangible personal property," while his trust added, "to include intangible personal property not given by other provisions of the document or by separate writing." Ryan Ulbrich alleged he was therefore entitled to the leftover money the charities expected.

But Solomon argued that because that language wasn't included in Ulbrich's will, that wasn't his intent. He argued that the entire paragraph read together showed Ulbrich's personal property only included tangible items like furniture, cars, clothes and jewelry.

Meanwhile, Ulbrich's daughter-in-law Kimberly and granddaughter Ashley also filed suit, alleging Ulbrich was mistaken in making the charities beneficiaries. They argued that an original 2014 version of the trust had said residuary assets would go to them. They also alleged Ulbrich wasn't competent when he updated his trust in 2017.

If the suits had prevailed, Solomon's clients would have been left with nothing, while Ryan, Kimberly and Ashley Ulbrich would have split the residuary estate.

Such challenges are common with wealthy decedents, according to Solomon, as their wills are complex.

"There's always something that somebody can point to that is questionable," Solomon said. "The drafters of these things have to keep in mind: What is some person who's not an expert going to think this means one day? But you don't want to write it so simply that it doesn't do what everybody knows it has to do."

Ashley and Kimberly Ulbrich's attorney Christopher Taylor in Delray Beach said the case was "very sad," but provided the answers his clients sought.

"My clients were a little taken aback when they found out that before his death he had given the majority of his estate to charity, whereas his family had been the primary beneficiaries for years. Obviously, he was depressed, and we had concerns that maybe he was being taken advantage of late in life when the changes were made," Taylor said. "When somebody kills themselves like that, everybody is trying to look for answers, and I think that's what was happening. We were looking for answers, and we got a lot of them."

Ryan Ulbrich's attorney Laura Bourne Burkhalter in Fort Lauderdale declined to comment.

A handwritten note

Ulbrich was living in a beachfront condominium with new girlfriend Sheila Valenti when he died, which sparked another lawsuit over whether she could continue living there.

Complicating matters was a mysterious handwritten note that Ulbrich allegedly wrote on May 13, 2017, eight days before his death. Valenti claimed that letter gave the condo to her, and  Ryan Ulbrich claimed it legally transferred Valenti's stake to him when she died.

But Solomon argued Ulbrich no longer owned the condo, as he'd placed it in his trust before he died. Solomon asserted the handwritten note lacked all necessary formalities, as deeds can only be transferred with a witness and notary present.

"The reason for that is just something like this," Solomon said. "You've got a piece of paper and nobody knows when it was written, nobody knows the circumstances. Did he intend to deliver it? It was found after he died."

The defense fought the incompetence claims with doctors' notes, accounting records and testimony from anyone who had interacted with Ulbrich in the run-up to his death. Luckily for them, that included plenty of professionals, all of whom agreed Ulbrich was competent.

Among them: attorney and friend Jack Loving, who helped Ulbrich draft the will and served as co-personal representative, and co-trustee Andrew Storch, general manager of the Alpine Jaguar dealership.

The day before Ulbrich signed his trust in 2017, they'd helped him negotiated the $40 million sale of his dealership to AutoNation.

"Most people couldn't do that on their best day," Solomon said. "He's doing it the day after he's signed that trust."

Those records and depositions proved convincing.

Ryan, Ashley and Kimberly Ulbrich agreed to drop their claims just before Christmas. It was just in time, according to Solomon, who had felt confident about the case, but had worried it could have stretched on for years.

"It was a perfect end-of-the-year present for those charities," he said. "One of the charities said, 'I'm so glad I got my money now, because I don't know where we were going to be in six months to a year.' "

It was a case close to Solomon's heart, as his wife runs a charity, while one of his partners sits on the board of Covenant House, and another has served as president of SOS Children's Village. He agreed to bill by the hour without a contingency, not collecting anything until his clients did.

" One problem charities have in a case like this is that charities are always using whatever money they have," Solomon said. "There's no money laying around for lawyers to help them fight lawsuits."

The five national charities recovered $12 million under the settlement agreement. Stephen Heuston and Jillian Rice of Heuston Legal in Melbourne represented them.

Solomon said he recommends that anyone who plans to treat similarly situated family members differently in a will should have a conversation with them ahead of time, to avoid loved ones turning on each other later.

"People equate money with love. So if you've got two people who are in the same category, they're both cousins, they're both the children, and they don't get treated equally, people generally think the person who got the most did something wrong," Solomon said. "They ignore the fact that the other person fed their father every day for the last two years or took their mother to her doctor appointments for the last several years."

Two cases are still pending against Ulbrich's estate, brought by Ulbrich's girlfriend Valenti and friend Carmen Guedes.

Case: Ryan Ulbrich v. Jack Loving et al and Ashley and Kimberly Ulbrich v. Jack Loving et al

Case no.: 18-027054 and 18-028748

Description: Trusts and estates

Judges: Broward Circuit Judges Jeffrey R. Levenson and Mily Rodriguez-Powell

Plaintiffs attorneys: Laura Bourne Burkhalter, Laura Bourne Burkhalter P.A., Fort Lauderdale; Christopher Taylor, The Law Offices of Christopher P. Taylor, Delray Beach

Defense attorneys: Harris Solomon, Brinkley Morgan, Fort Lauderdale; Elliot Borkson, The Law Office of Elliot Borkson, Fort Lauderdale

Settlement amount: $3 million

 

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