FEBRUARY 3, 2014 VOLUME 21 NUMBER 5 Judging from the questions we field online and from clients, there is a lot of confusion about some of the basic terms commonly used in estate planning. We thought maybe we could do a service (and make our own explanations a little easier) by collecting some of the…
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JANUARY 27, 2014 VOLUME 21 NUMBER 4 Arizona has a relatively strong statute dealing with exploitation of vulnerable adults. An exploiter can be charged criminally, and might receive a longer sentence or larger fine because of the victim’s vulnerability. But the strongest part of the Arizona law is probably the provision that lets the victim…
JANUARY 20, 2014 VOLUME 21 NUMBER 3 Cynthia Madsen (not her real name) was, according to her doctor, already showing signs of dementia in 2007. In fact, her doctor wrote that she was not able to manage her own financial affairs. By mid-2009, her condition had worsened; her doctor wrote that she could not make…
JANUARY 13, 2014 VOLUME 21 NUMBER 2 In the past four or five decades there has been a tremendous growth in the use of trusts (usually, but not always, revocable living trusts) for estate planning purposes. Once very rare, they are now very popular. Perhaps as many as half of our estate planning clients choose…
JANUARY 6, 2014 VOLUME 21 NUMBER 1 Here’s an estate planning question we get asked a lot: if you have created a revocable living trust and transferred essentially all of your assets to the trust’s name, should you also make the trust beneficiary of your IRA, 401(k) and other retirement accounts? It’s a great question,…
DECEMBER 30, 2013 VOLUME 20 NUMBER 49 Helene Jackson (not her real name) was a minor when she underwent heart surgery, and the outcome was not positive. She was seriously injured, and her parents Stephen and Jacqueline (also not their real names) ended up suing the doctors and the manufacturers of medical devices used in…
DECEMBER 23, 2013 VOLUME 20 NUMBER 48 As people live longer and the elderly population increases, so does the likelihood of abuse, neglect and exploitation of vulnerable adults. Lawyers, accountants, doctors, nurses, caretakers, bankers — indeed, any professional — faces a growing probability that at some point they will be confronted with the issue of…
DECEMBER 16, 2013 VOLUME 20 NUMBER 47 For decades accountants, financial planners, lawyers and government workers have talked about Social Security and the “three-legged stool.” The metaphor had a simple attraction, especially when Social Security was a young program. The three legs? Social Security, private retirement programs and personal investments. You should have some of…
DECEMBER 9, 2013 VOLUME 20 NUMBER 46 We have written before about transferring a guardianship or conservatorship to Arizona, or out of Arizona, when the subject of the proceeding moves to another state. In fact, Arizona has joined a number of other states (that number, incidentally, currently stands at 37 states, plus the District of…
NOVEMBER 25, 2013 VOLUME 20 NUMBER 45 This conversation comes up a lot with our estate planning clients. “So, you’re leaving your entire estate equally to your three kids,” we say to our client. “Do you want to leave it outright or would you consider putting it in a trust for them?” The two most…