Last month the United States Supreme Court ruled (unanimously) that North Carolina’s approach to taxation of trusts was impermissible. If it was a 9-0 decision, though, the obvious questions are: Whoever thought North Carolina’s approach to taxation of trusts would be acceptable in the first place? and What difference will this decision actually make for…
Perhaps you have created a revocable living trust. Likely, you have named yourself as trustee, with a carefully-selected successor trustee. But should you consider having your living trust include co-trustees? Maybe you already have co-trustees — you and your spouse, perhaps. Then the question is slightly different: should you “promote” your successor trustee to serve…
You’re already thinking about your estate planning. Perhaps it’s time to update your five-year-old will and/or trust. Maybe you’ve never gotten around to taking care of this grown-up task. But in any case: have you dealt with your pets in your estate planning? Many of our clients have strong attachments to their pets. Many assume…
We’ve hinted about it and announced it. We’ve celebrated his career and accomplishments. This week, though, it became final: Tom Curti retires. Tom Curti, Wisconsin transplant In 1973, Tom moved from his native Wisconsin to Tucson in order to attend the University of Arizona College of Law. He had grown up in a small town…
Third-party SNTs (special needs trusts) are complicated to understand. Part of the confusion arises from the similarity of names. Self-settled (or first-party) special needs trusts are very different animals, but the similarity of names adds to the problem. In this podcast episode, we try to demystify some of the issues around third-party SNTs. Join us…
There’s one persistent problem with will contests. Academics often refer to the “worst evidence” rule. The person who signed the will can not testify about what they wanted. Wouldn’t it be great if you could take care of a will contest, before death of the signer removes the best evidence? First, though, let us make…
How frequent do you think will contests are? If you’re like most people, you almost certainly overestimate the frequency of probate, and only a small portion of those cases involve contested proceedings. It’s difficult to succeed with a will contest. We talk about some of the issues. There are reasons will contests are so rare…
A close family member has died, and you are in charge of administering personal property of the estate. How do you handle the challenge? If your family member left a will, it might give you some direction. Many wills (in Arizona, at least) take advantage of the ability to make a list of personal items…
Arizona is one of the nine U.S. states operating under the principles of “community property.” The basic premise of community property: assets acquired during the period of the marriage are presumed to belong to the marital community (and thus to the spouses equally). There are lots of qualifications and exceptions, but one issue crops up…
Your personal property is just, well, property. That means that if your will says (paraphrasing) “I leave all my stuff to my mother” that will include those personal effects. But consider what will actually happen to your furniture, your Moon Audio setup, even your car. And what about family antiques and your personal collectibles? Technically,…