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…
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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…
NOVEMBER 18, 2013 VOLUME 20 NUMBER 44 So you have a will, and you want to make some changes. Can you just write in the new provisions? How about if you sign somewhere on the document?Can it be a copy of your will, or does it have to be on the original to be effective?…
NOVEMBER 11, 2013 VOLUME 20 NUMBER 43 November is National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month. At Fleming & Curti, PLC, we got a little bit of a jump on the month by describing (in our October 28, 2013, weekly newsletter) the incidence of dementia and some of the experience we have in dealing with clients with…
NOVEMBER 4, 2013 VOLUME 20 NUMBER 42 Most of us are fascinated by the lives and deaths of famous people. Their legal and financial affairs tend to be complicated, and they are sometimes messy. They may also provide some constructive information, useful to illustrate broader points applicable to many of us. One such illustration: the…