Alphabet Soup: SSI, SSD, SSDI, DAC, SGA and More
Do you have a child with a disability? You may have tangled with the alphabet soup of public benefits programs. We’d like to introduce you to some of the acronymic programs and help you distinguish among them. Supplemental Security Income — SSI One of the key elements of the alphabet soup of benefits is SSI. […]
Civil Commitment, Guardianship and Vulnerable Adults
Clients (and family members) are often confused by the difference between civil commitment, guardianship and other similar-but-different legal proceedings. A recent Arizona appellate decision made us think about those differences. Let’s see if we can clarify. First, the case Actually, the case that made us think about this isn’t about guardianship or vulenrable adults at […]
When Our Clients Become Incapacitated
What happens when our clients become incapacitated? We worry a lot about the right message for family members — and our clients themselves. We’ve adopted some basic rules and approaches. What’s the problem? When we prepare estate planning documents for a client, they will typically have named agents in their powers of attorney. They may […]
A Secret Trust, the Uniform Trust Code and Arizona Law
Can an Arizona trust be a secret trust? Is that something you should want? And what does it even mean? (And, we might add, what is an “Arizona trust,” anyway?) First: some notes on Arizona law Three weeks ago we wrote about a trustee’s duty to provide some kinds of information to trust beneficiaries. As […]
Voting Rights and Guardianship in Arizona
Voting rights are in the forefront of minds and media attention in this election year. But not much is written or discussed about the ability of someone under guardianship to exercise their right to vote. This week an Arizona appellate decision created a slight opening to discuss the topic further. Angie Weber’s story Angie Weber […]
General Powers of Appointment and Your Planning
Two weeks ago we wrote about powers of appointment, introducing the concept. The basic idea: you can give someone else the power to designate the ultimate recipient of a gift or bequest. We didn’t distinguish between (or describe) general powers of appointment and limited powers of appointment. We saved those concepts for another day. Today. […]
Human Composting Will Soon Be Legal in Arizona
We wrote about the possibility just a month ago, but did not think it was coming to Arizona quite so quickly. But it has. Human composting will now be legal in Arizona. (Want to read the text of the new law, in context with existing law? It’s here.) The Arizona legislature sent a new law […]
Oklahoma Living Will Case Shows Difficulty in Implementation
Imagine that you have been diagnosed with a serious and debilitating disease. Your prognosis is not good, and the likelihood that you will become incapacitated is high. One thing you should consider is execution of a living will and other advance directives. Of course, everyone should consider signing a living will and a health care […]
Keeping your home in the family — forever
Clients often tell us they want to keep their home in the family. Often they tell us that they want to make sure that their offspring will always have a place to live. Sometimes they worry about one child’s ability to afford a home, but want to be “fair” to other children. Or they expand […]
Public Fiduciary Must Serve When Appointed
Every Arizona county has one. The public fiduciary in each county acts as guardian, conservator and personal representative. But they only serve when no one else is available. Or, perhaps, the available alternatives have demonstrated that they are unqualified. Other states have similar offices, but calling them “public fiduciary” is unique to Arizona. In other […]
