JUNE 15, 1998 VOLUME 5, NUMBER 50 Thirty-eight million individuals now receive their medical care through the federal Medicare program. The Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), which manages the Medicare program, is busily preparing a new, $40 million version of its annual handbook for Medicare recipients, which will shortly be available to participants, providers and…
JUNE 8, 1998 VOLUME 5, NUMBER 49 Martha Travers and her husband Richard Travers decided to get divorced after twenty years of marriage. The Phoenix couple was relatively well-off, and (through their lawyers) they agreed that Martha Travers should receive a monthly income designed to represent her interest in the common property plus any right…
JUNE 1, 1998 VOLUME 5, NUMBER 48 Financial exploitation of the elderly has been a growing problem across the country in the past several decades. In many cases, the only way to protect vulnerable adults from continuing thefts and abuses has been to seek court intervention, usually in the form of conservatorship (or, as it…
MAY 25, 1998 VOLUME 5, NUMBER 47 Living Trusts are a popular estate planning device. Frequently seniors choose to transfer assets to living trusts to avoid probate court and the problems associated with the probate process, including public disclosure of assets, expenses of administration and the possibility of outside control of personal matters. In addition,…
MAY 18, 1998 VOLUME 5, NUMBER 46 With improvements in medical care, nutrition and sanitation, we have steadily lengthened life for most seniors. It has been less clear, however, whether the quality of life has been improved at the same time. In this youth-oriented culture, the image of aging is frequently tied to chronic illness…
MAY 11, 1998 VOLUME 5, NUMBER 45 Lawyer Frederick Apt had a long-standing relationship with Robert and Hazel Irwin. He first prepared wills for the couple in 1981. In 1993, he updated their wills, and did so again later that same year. It was not surprising, then, that the family returned for his advice when…
MAY 4, 1998 VOLUME 5, NUMBER 44 Arizonans Frank Dobert and Jacqueline Dobert-Koerner were married when Mr. Dobert took out a $250,000 life insurance policy and named Ms. Koerner as his beneficiary. Three years later, the couple divorced. In the divorce decree, Mr. Dobert was awarded the life insurance policy, and he was free to…
APRIL 27, 1998 VOLUME 5, NUMBER 43 Guardianship and conservatorship can be an expensive and wrenching process for the ward and family. No one understands that better than Letty Milstein and her children. Ms. Milstein lives in Denver. In early 1996, her daughter decided that Ms. Milstein was no longer able to manage her own…
APRIL 20, 1998 VOLUME 5, NUMBER 42 Although most people believe that it is important to sign a will to provide for the distribution of their estates upon death, most never get around to doing so. Even among those who do prepare wills, often the original document is missing. In most states a missing will…
APRIL 13, 1998 VOLUME 5, NUMBER 41 Last summer, in a cynical move to fix blame for the burgeoning cost of long term nursing care on someone, Congress adopted a punitive new measure widely referred to as the “Granny’s Lawyer Goes To Jail” law. In essence, the new law decreed that anyone who charged a…