MARCH 26, 2001 VOLUME 8, NUMBER 39 Assume that Mr. and Mrs. Smith, happily married, sign wills leaving all their assets to one another. Some years later their marriage fails, and the Smiths divorce. Will their old wills still be valid? Arizona, like many other states, has a provision that effectively revokes Mr. and Mrs.…
MARCH 19, 2001 VOLUME 8, NUMBER 38 Discussions about repeal of the federal estate tax often focus on the notion that farms and businesses are threatened by taxing assets at the death of the family patriarch or matriarch. Opponents of repeal, on the other hand, argue that it is family and business dynamics that usually…
MARCH 12, 2001 VOLUME 8, NUMBER 37 In 1966 Norman Dacy published his now-famous book “How to Avoid Probate.” Dacy’s book made several claims that have since become practically articles of faith: probate is always too expensive, takes too long and requires disclosure of too much information. The cost of probate has been reduced in…
MARCH 5, 2001 VOLUME 8, NUMBER 36 Maria Isabel Duran was a devout Jehovah’s Witness. The 34-year-old New York woman believed, along with most members of her faith, that the Bible prohibits transfusions of blood or blood products, even when life is threatened. Ms. Duran also needed a liver transplant operation. Her faith does not…
FEBRUARY 26, 2001 VOLUME 8, NUMBER 35 Craig Fitzgerald was a successful accountant living in New Jersey; when he died he left three children and a wife. In the immediate aftermath of the unanticipated loss of her husband, Joan Fitzgerald did not realize that she had estate planning problems of her own to deal with.…
FEBRUARY 19, 2001 VOLUME 8, NUMBER 34 Sometimes lawyers remind their colleagues and clients that legal problems would arise less frequently if individuals would simply lead more orderly lives. Clarence Schoenfeld and family helped prove that basic legal maxim. Clarence “Clay” Schoenfeld was 50 and a professor at the University of Wisconsin when he married…
FEBRUARY 12, 2001 VOLUME 8, NUMBER 33 Leland and Christine Belcher were married for forty years, but never had any children. After Leland died, Christine Belcher met and married David Yates. Under the law of Alabama (where the Yates’ lived), David Yates would inherit all of Christine Belcher Yates’ estate if she died before him—unless…
FEBRUARY 5, 2001 VOLUME 8, NUMBER 32 Emanuel Lutz was 60 when he met and began dating Lavilla Oswald, a 53-year-old divorcee. The North Dakota couple moved in together in 1986 and shortly began discussing getting married. Mr. Lutz had two children from his first marriage, and he wanted to make sure his estate would…
JANUARY 29, 2001 VOLUME 8, NUMBER 31 Under English practice before the sixteenth century there were no standardized requirements for making a valid will. Disposition of a decedent’s property was determined by each court under local rules and customs, and the actual division was therefore unpredictable. Henry VIII approved Parliament’s “Statute of Wills” in 1540,…
JANUARY 22, 2001 VOLUME 8, NUMBER 30 Virginia Detlefs, 81, was living in her own home in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, when she first met Mark Olsen. In September, 1996, Mr. Olsen contacted Ms. Detlefs and offered to evaluate her home to see if it needed any repairs. With the help of his live-in girlfriend Jennifer…
