JUNE 4, 2012 VOLUME 19 NUMBER 22 Richard Scott (not his real name) had a propensity to hide things away. His children knew that, and they knew that when he died they would have to go on a treasure hunt — literally for treasure. Mr. Scott lived in the same house in Paradise Valley, Arizona,…
ELDER LAW ISSUES
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MAY 28, 2012 VOLUME 19 NUMBER 21 The United States Supreme Court doesn’t very often weigh in on Social Security rules, so when it does those of us in the elder and disability law community pay attention. Last week’s decision by the Court, interpreting Social Security regulations as applied to posthumously conceived children, addressed interesting…
MAY 21, 2012 VOLUME 19 NUMBER 20 Arizona is one of the nine U.S. states which recognize “community property” (a tenth, Alaska, allows couples to voluntarily create community property interests). The other eight community property states: California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin. Mention community property to a lawyer who has never…
MAY 14, 2012 VOLUME 19 NUMBER 19 In Arizona (as in most other states) there is an important rule about wills: if the original document was in the possession of it’s signer, and it can not be found after the signer’s death, then there is a presumption that it was destroyed. Not only that, but…
MAY 7, 2012 VOLUME 19 NUMBER 18 We have written about contracts to make (or not to revoke) a will before. The question comes up infrequently, and usually only in a handful of ways: can you and your spouse make an enforceable agreement that you will leave your respective estates to, say, your children no…
APRIL 30, 2012 VOLUME 19 NUMBER 17 We were reminded recently of the existence of a resource for elderly veterans and their surviving spouses — one that is too often overlooked, as it happens. We had yet another client who was unaware that she might qualify to receive a Veterans Administration pension benefit. We have written…
APRIL 23, 2012 VOLUME 19 NUMBER 16 Let us try to demystify probate avoidance for a moment. Note that for the purposes of this description, we are not going to argue with you about whether avoidance of probate is good, bad, desirable or a foolish goal — we start here with the assumption that probate…
APRIL 16, 2012 VOLUME 19 NUMBER 15 Tax ID numbers for trusts. When we first wrote about this topic, we did not appreciate how interested our readers would be. We thought that the issue was sort of dry, actually, and that most people would have asked their lawyer or their accountant for direction. It has…
APRIL 9, 2012 VOLUME 19 NUMBER 14 Federal and Arizona state income tax returns are due next week. It’s a good time to review tax deductions for one of the common situations we deal with: in-home (or, for that matter, institutional) caregiving for an infirm family member. We wrote about an individual case involving long-term…
APRIL 2, 2012 VOLUME 19 NUMBER 13 We have been hearing lately about a scam that targets seniors. You get a telephone call from a number you don’t recognize. When you answer, the person on the other line says: “Grandma, it’s me, and I need your help.” You learn that your grandchild has been detained…