US News & World Report:  “Combine the worst downturn since the Great Depression, mix in a steep drop in stock prices, and garnish with the disappearance of trillions of dollars in home values.  Voilà!  You have just stirred up the recipe for a surge in estate litigation and intrafamily feuding.  ‘I think we have definitely seen an increase in family squabbles and a lot more people wanting to contest wills,' says Adam Gaslowitz, an estate attorney in Atlanta . The recession also has led to reduced asset values for stocks and real estate, making it harder to split the pie and reach amicable settlements.  ‘I also think that the recession may be used, perhaps unconsciously, by some children to wrestle control of assets away from aging parents,”‘Gaslowitz says.  Some children may feel that it's better for them to manage their parents' assets in such troubled times.  If there's any silver lining to the downturn, he observes, it's that ‘financial difficulties may make it harder for people to afford such a legal fight'.”