JANUARY 5, 1998 VOLUME 5, NUMBER 27 What constitutes “undue influence” such that a will is invalid? While disinherited family members may feel that their deceased relative was subjected to undue influence, the level of influence required is very high, as a review of the leading Arizona cases will show. Gus Fotopulos was a “rollicking,…
DECEMBER 29, 1997 VOLUME 5, NUMBER 26 Misconceptions about wills are very common among the general population, and particularly among seniors. There is a widespread notion that one must be very careful about what is included in a will, since it is likely to be contested and the rules are very difficult to follow. The…
DECEMBER 22, 1997 VOLUME 5, NUMBER 25 Massachusetts resident James A. Smith completed his estate plan in 1989. Among the documents he signed was a durable power of attorney naming two business associates, David J. Adams and Alfred H. Carl, as his agents. The power of attorney also included a provision that, in the event…
DECEMBER 15, 1997 VOLUME 5, NUMBER 24 Texan Ruth Waites was 84 when she died in 1994. She had spent most of the last year of her life in the Borger Health Care Center in the small town of Borger, about fifty miles from Amarillo, Texas. At the time, the Borger Health Care Center was…
DECEMBER 8, 1997 VOLUME 5, NUMBER 23 Last year the U.S. Congress, concerned over the rising cost of long-term health care, adopted legislation intended to restrict the availability of information about Medicaid coverage for such care. The new enactment, frequently referred to as the “Granny’s Lawyer Goes to Jail” law, declared that any person who…
DECEMBER 1, 1997 VOLUME 5, NUMBER 22 Christine and George Tipp lived in Missoula, Montana. They had seven children, including daughters Sylvia and Dorothy. George Tipp became ill in the mid-80s, and was briefly placed in a nursing home. When the entire family became dissatisfied with his care, they arranged to bring him home to…
NOVEMBER 24, 1997 VOLUME 5, NUMBER 21 Two recent cases, from the courts of Wisconsin and Tennessee, set aside transfers of property made by seniors prior to their deaths. While the circumstances are different, the two cases illustrate some of the typical motivations for gifts to children, as well as the possible effects of such…
