A recent New Mexico court case reminds us what can happen when families file for probate years after a death. The story takes several twists and turns, but it’s worth laying out the details. Marie in life Herbert and Marie Welch lived in Carlsbad, New Mexico. They had no children, either together or from other…
ELDER LAW ISSUES
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The lives of the rich and famous often provide estate planning lessons for the rest of us. Few provide as many lessons as the short, unhappy life of Steve Bing. Bing, a Hollywood financier, philanthropist, and party boy, died last June at age 55, after jumping from a Los Angeles high-rise apartment. The aftermath may…
Perhaps you have needed an excuse not to get your estate planning completed. “I’ll wait,” you might have said to yourself, “until I can sign a will digitally.” Well, we have good news: the nation’s broadest electronic will law was just adopted — in Utah. We live in a time of anxiety about human contact.…
At the end of each month, we take a moment to survey interesting developments in elder law. Here’s a September round up of randomness: Estate Planning Tidbits There are apparently eight important components to a thorough estate plan. Funeral insurance isn’t one of them, but maybe it should be. If you get married a second…
It’s not uncommon for family members to make a gift to a married couple. Usually, when a generous family member contemplates the couple, they assume that the marriage will continue. It also allows for a doubling of the annual gift tax exclusion amount (the well-known $15,000 figure). But sometimes the gift was really intended to…
Covid-19 brought “remote” to lots of our lives — work, school, doctor visits, happy hour. One activity that remains in-person only: witnessing Wills. At least in most of the United States. Across the pond, though, remote witnessing may be catching on. At the end of September, England and Wales will allow Wills to be witnessed…
It is often difficult to figure out how to complete your retirement account beneficiary designation. Do you have a living trust? Should you name your trust as beneficiary? Are you married? Do you intend to leave money to charities — and should that money come from your retirement account(s)? All of these questions make it…
At the end of every month, we like to share interesting developments in elder law. For the August round up, links consider the future of the estate tax, nursing homes, and Britney Spears. The August Round Up of Tax Speculation Now that we have our official presidential candidates, there’s no shortage of discussion about the…
It doesn’t take much to create a trust. Most people go to a lawyer, and after a couple of meetings and a signing ceremony, they take home a big binder full of paper. While much of that effort is advisable, it’s not legally required. You don’t even need paper. That’s right, in Arizona, an oral…
Suppose a married couple signs wills leaving everything to one another, and naming each other as personal representative of their estate. What happens when they later divorce? In Arizona, our broad “revocation on divorce” law kicks in. The concept is straightforward. After a divorce you probably want to change your estate planning documents. Maybe you…