VOLUME 24 NUMBER 20 Let’s say you have a disagreement with your sister, who is trustee of a trust your parents created. Your sister lives in Montana, though she has a winter home in Arizona. Your parents lived in Arizona when they died. They signed their wills and trust in Arizona, and their lawyer was…
VOLUME 24 NUMBER 11 At Fleming & Curti, PLC, we practice elder law. But what does that term mean? Our practice is focused on typical legal problems faced by older individuals. We also regularly work in the field of special needs planning for individuals with disabilities. Because the people coming to see us are often…
JANUARY 30, 2017 VOLUME 24 NUMBER 5 We knew it would happen, and now it has. A surviving spouse has sued to force the administrator of the deceased spouse’s estate to file a federal estate tax return to perfect the “portability” election. Before we can tell you how it turned out, we’ll need to explain…
JANUARY 23, 2017 VOLUME 24 NUMBER 4 There really is no question that it is important for almost every adult to have a will, and to consider signing both financial and health care powers of attorney. That is what we mean by “estate planning,” and it is important to go through the process of preparing…
JANUARY 16, 2017 VOLUME 24 NUMBER 3 Things change. This is our twenty-fourth year of publishing Elder Law Issues, and one thing we frankly didn’t think much about a quarter-century ago was privacy. Today it’s a big concern, and central to a lot of our thinking. When Fleming & Curti, PLC, first formed in 1994,…
JANUARY 9, 2017 VOLUME 24 NUMBER 2 At Fleming & Curti, PLC, we represent seniors, people with disabilities and the family members who work with and support them. We also frequently act as trustee, agent, conservator or guardian for that population. It’s hard to capsulize exactly what we do, but if you ask any of…
JANUARY 2, 2017 VOLUME 24 NUMBER 1 You probably know that it’s possible — though state laws vary quite a bit — to adopt an adult. But have you given any thought to what effect the adoption might have on inheritance rights? That’s the sort of problem that gets lawyers (and judges) excited. Two recent…
DECEMBER 19, 2016 VOLUME 23 NUMBER 47 Here’s a question we hear frequently: how long does a couple have to live together in order to be considered married? The answer in Arizona: until the wedding ceremony. In other words, Arizona does not recognize “common-law” marriages. That strong, direct statement, however, masks a more complicated answer.…
DECEMBER 12, 2016 VOLUME 23 NUMBER 46 Congress may be in a historic post-election lull, but the end of the year can sometimes see surprising, bipartisan progress. With passage by the U.S. Senate of the Special Needs Trust Fairness Act (a very small part of the 21st Century Cures Act) a significant change has been…
DECEMBER 5, 2016 VOLUME 23 NUMBER 45 You might have wondered about this from time to time — we have, too. If a patient really shouldn’t be driving, is his or her doctor really able to write to the Motor Vehicle Division to report the patient’s condition? Wouldn’t that be a violation of the patient’s…