Stark & Stark Shareholder Steven L. Friedman, Shareholder and Chair of the Trusts & Estates Group, was featured in the article “Before closing up shop, Lautenberg campaign committee has a debt to pay,” published by the Sunlight Foundation on June 6, 2013.
The article discusses the recent passing of New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg, who died Monday, June 3, 2013 at age 89, and left behind a campaign committee with nearly $1.1 million in debt. The Lautenberg for Senate committee’s debts must be settled before the committee closes, and because the debt was caused by loans made by Lautenberg himself, the right to collect the campaign debt would now fall to his estate.
Mr. Friedman, who was interviewed for the article, stated that Mr. Lautenberg’s beneficiaries have the right to decide whether to forgive the debt if the senator did not specify in his will whether the loans should be turned into contributions, which Mr. Friedman believes is likely the case.
