It’s the last Sunday of March. This month Wendy Williams’s guardianship, Alzheimer’s disease treatments and estate planning for snowbirds were all in the news.
Guardianships and Conservatorships
Talk show and radio host Wendy Williams was diagnosed with frontal temporal dementia and appointed a financial guardian in 2022. Following the release of a documentary TV series exploring the guardianship called “Where is Wendy Williams?” Ms. Williams has been publicly making statements that she does not need a guardian and that she is not incapacitated. She has also said that she is prioritizing exiting her financial guardianship, leaving many wondering, how does one exit a guardianship or conservatorship?
In Arizona, in order to be appointed a guardian or conservator, you must first be determined to be incapacitated. It is possible to regain capacity and no longer need a guardian or conservator. If that is the case, the guardianship or conservatorship can be terminated. To terminate a guardianship or conservatorship, a petition will need to be filed with the court seeking termination, notice will need to be given to interested parties and the court will want to know why a guardian or conservator is no longer needed. In other words, the court will want to know what changed since the court found the ward to be incapacitated? For example, Ms. Williams has alleged that her alcohol consumption may have played a role in her inability to care for herself. Now, she is alcohol free.
Alzheimer’s and Dementia News
There has been some good news and bad news in research around Alzheimer’s and dementia this month. The bad news- Eli Lilly’s new drug (that they were hoping would be the EU’s first approved Alzheimer’s treatment) has been rejected by the EU medicine’s regulator. The drug was rejected because the drug’s risk of serious brain swelling outweighed the treatment’s ability to slow cognitive decline.
The good news- new studies from Brazil show that the probiotic kefir may help fight Alzheimer’s disease. Other studies found a correlation between microglia in the brain and people with Alzheimer’s, which could lead to a new target for treatments. And AI is making sifting through data in Alzheimer’s drug testing easier for scientists. Finally, an experimental treatment appears to delay Alzheimer’s disease symptoms in those who are genetically destined to get the disease.
In other news- an NPR podcast discussed the dignity that comes with having a job following a Alzheimer’s diagnosis.
Estate Planning
As we approach the summer months, Tucson will start to clear out as the snow-birds retreat to cooler weather. This article explains where snowbirds should do their estate planning. Long story short- it pretty much comes down to where you are domiciled. To find out where you are domiciled, it’s not a bad idea to chat with an estate planning attorney.
The New York State Bar Association put out a great article about estate planning considerations for artists.
