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A well-known quote says that “nothing is certain except for death and taxes.” A Will – the document often used to address both issues – should also be certain, and when probated, the results should be final.

It’s common today for a contract to include a “liquidated damages” provision, which specifies a sum of money one party will receive if the other party breaches the agreement.

After a stormy breakup, your ex-boyfriend posts on his Facebook page that you had an abortion during the relationship – and then repeats this in a radio interview. That’s a pretty clear violation of your privacy, isn’t it?

Sergio Garcia began playing golf in Spain at the age of three, turned professional in 1999, and won his first PGA Tour event in 2001, at age 21. Garcia has amassed career earnings exceeding $43 million, and had won numerous tournaments. But until this year, Garcia had never won one of golf’s “Major” championships (the Masters Tournament, the U.S. Open, the British Open and the PGA Championship).

 It’s bad to experience a large loss on a business deal gone sour. But it’s even worse when you can’t use the loss to reduce your income taxes.

Investors in a Texas self-storage facility believed they had suffered about $10 million in damages because of the behavior of the guy who put the deal together, and were understandably upset.   But that didn’t give them the right to recover more than $30 million by slipping in a claim for punitive damages just 24 hours before the case went to arbitration, an appellate ruling has held.