Tucson Elder Law Attorney

We are committed to helping seniors, individuals with disabilities, and their families and supporters make informed choices guiding them through some of life’s most important decisions. That may mean estate planning, special needs planning, guardianship, conservatorship, long-term care planning or probate. As Tucson Elder Law Attorney (s). That’s what we know.

Practice Areas

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Guardianship & Conservatorship

We represent guardians, conservators, and the subjects of proceedings when court involvement is required. We also act as guardian and conservator in appropriate cases.

Estate Planning

We counsel individuals about planning for tax, benefits eligibility and preparation for aging and disability. We understand that one important consideration for clients is the cost of effective planning. One common area we work in: special planning for family members with special needs.

Wills, Trusts & Powers of Attorney

We prepare documents to complete your estate plan. Most importantly, we help you determine whether you need a trust, and we counsel you on selection of agents, trustees and personal representatives.

Trust & Estate Administration

Once estate planning documents are in place, we help with administration of the trust or estate. We represent trustees, agents and personal representatives. We prepare accounts and taxes, or we oversee those administrative matters. We are particularly interested in helping with special needs trusts.

Long-Term Care (Medicaid) Planning

We are familiar with long-term care costs and eligibility for public benefits, and how to maximize benefits for a person dependent on the public system. We can prepare applications or process renewals for eligibility.

Private Fiduciary Services

In select cases (and usually when there is no other good alternative) we act as trustee, personal representative or agent. We handle financial and life decisions, prepare tax returns and keep interested parties in the loop.

Our Attorneys

Robert B. Fleming
Thomas A. Curti
Amy Farrell Matheson
Elizabeth Rollings Friman
Jacquelyne J. Mingle

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Curti regularly conducts useful CLE programs for lawyers in area related to trust administration and estate planning and is highly regarded.

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Fleming is an outstanding lawyer in the fields of trusts and estates, estate planning and elder law, and most lawyers in this community refer matters to him or call upon his expertise on a regular basis.

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Wonderful people who helped us through a very trying time.

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Tucson Elder Law Attorney Newsletter

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Estate plan irrevocable

Can You Make Your Estate Plan Irrevocable?

Clients often ask how to make their estate plan irrevocable. In most (but not all) cases, the question comes from a married couple — often in a second or later marriage, and with children from earlier marriages. The actual question one spouse asks: how can I be sure that my spouse can’t change our estate…

Will deletion

Will Deletion Attempt Was Ineffective

We see it all the time. We ask our clients not to write on their wills or trusts. This weekly newsletter regularly reports stories about how it does not work. Nonetheless, people keep trying to make a will deletion or modification by scribbling on the will itself. Please remember, folks: when the issue becomes important,…

UTMA Account

UTMA Account Belongs to Adult Beneficiary

The Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA) is a popular choice for making gifts to minor children. A UTMA account is easy to set up, essentially free to administer, and does not involve lawyers, courts or even (usually) accountants. But UTMA accounts continue to be the source of confusion. Who actually owns a UTMA account?…

Long-term care insurance

Long-Term Care Insurance Trends in 2019

Three weeks ago, the leading American company selling long-term care insurance suspended sales of its lead product. Last week, the company restarted sales — but only by direct online contact. In other words, brokers and insurance salespeople are now cut out of the loop for the largest seller. What does that mean for the marketplace,…

judicial immunity

Judicial Immunity Does Not Protect GAL or Attorney

Judicial immunity protects judges and court personnel from being sued by unhappy litigants. Does that protection extend to people appointed by the judge under court rules? Sometimes, but not in every instance. Steve Gibson’s murder In 2013,Steve Gibson was brutally murdered in his Peoria, Arizona, home. Police soon determined that Gibson’s wife, son, and daughter…

advance directives

What Luke Perry Taught Us About Advance Directives

Although death sometimes arrives with plenty of warning, often there is none. Estate planning, of course, tries to provide a roadmap for both scenarios. The truth is, having an estate plan doesn’t always mean things go smoothly, and when things go smoothly, it’s not always because there was an estate plan. Take Luke Perry. After…

IRA beneficiary designation

IRA Beneficiary Designation Controls Distribution at Death

We’ve written about this issue before. Generally, your IRA beneficiary designation will control who receives your account. Your will (or trust) provisions will not override the beneficiary designation. Arizona’s community property rules won’t have much effect — in fact, they will normally have no effect. It’s all about your IRA beneficiary designation. Of course, people…