Who Gets Special Needs Trust Balance on Death of the Beneficiary?
A special needs trust, of course, is for the primary benefit of the individual with a disability. But what happens on the death of the beneficiary? The trust might spell out its “remainder” beneficiaries — the ones who receive the balance on the death of the disabled beneficiary. But sometimes the trust just says that […]
Additional Information for Beneficiaries of a Special Needs Trust
Two weeks ago we offered some suggestions to help beneficiaries of special needs trusts better understand how their trust might work. At the end of that article we solicited questions we still needed to address. Based on that feedback, we have some additional information for beneficiaries of special needs trusts. If I don’t receive SSI, […]
On Being the Beneficiary of a Special Needs Trust
There’s a fair amount of information available to guide the trustee of a special needs trust. That includes the popular Trustee Handbook from the Special Needs Alliance. There’s far less help for being the beneficiary of a special needs trust. Beneficiaries might legitimately have a lot of questions. Let’s see if we can help with […]
Grandparent Visitation and Custody Disputes
We occasionally hear from grandparents who have visitation and custody disputes with their children. More commonly, they have disputes with their children’s spouses, partners or exes. The stories are often heartbreaking, and we want to help. Too often, our best advice is “you’ll have to learn to deal with it.” Court cases outlining grandparents’ rights […]
ABLE and SECURE Act Sequels
It was right there in the year’s name: 2022. Lots of sequels. See all those 2s in the year? We had some of the same experience in legal circles — particularly in the ABLE And SECURE Acts In the hours before Christmas, Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023. President Biden quickly signed it […]
Legally Required Notice in Probate Court
Legally-required notice rules in probate proceedings are straightforward. They mandate mail notice or personal service on interested parties. The person filing a probate proceeding usually must publish notice in the newspaper, as well. But what if they don’t know how to reach other family members?
Famous People’s Wills Are Not Always Like Yours
We often write about famous people’s wills — usually when they have died recently. So, for instance, we recently wrote about Anne Heche’s will. More accurately, we wrote about what might be her will. Sometimes we discuss the absence of a will, or other poor planning choices. Consider the continuing mess generated by Prince’s failure to plan his estate.
The Problem of the Pretermitted Spouse
One of the common and vexing problems in administering a decedent’s estate is how to deal with a pretermitted spouse. To most non-lawyers, that sounds vaguely disturbing. What is a “pretermitted spouse,” and why do we care about their problems? What – or who – is a “pretermitted spouse”? “Pretermitted” is just a near-archaic term […]
Do Not Resuscitate / Do Not Hospitalize / Do Not Intubate (DNR/DNH/DNI)
A client asked last week whether he had properly signed his own DNR and DNI orders. We asked if he meant a “do not resuscitate” and “do not intubate” order. He confirmed that was what he thought he had signed. It made us think we need to look at the advance directive issue and update […]
Trust Amendment by Email Might Be Valid
Last week we wrote about the late Anne Heche‘s emailed “will” that might be judged valid under California law. Our own article reminded us of a similar, but different, story we recently read about a less-famous electronic estate plan. The key difference: it involved an attempt at a trust amendment by email, rather than an […]
