It’s not uncommon for divorcing couples to negotiate for one spouse to receive a distribution on the death of the other spouse. That arrangement might be by maintaining a life insurance policy, or just an agreement that the spouse’s estate pay a fixed sum on death. Sometimes, though, the planned payment doesn’t work out. Let’s…
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It can be hard for the trustee of a special needs trust to figure out what expenditures are permitted. The trust document might give some direction. Medicaid and Social Security eligibility workers will review the actual expenditures. And often, a court is looking over the trustee, as well. The court is the only one, though,…
 Imagine that the adult care home where your uncle Bill resides has told you that you need to get a guardianship. What does that mean, and what do you have to do? Are there alternatives to guardianship? Guardianship means court involvement When you visit a lawyer to “get” guardianship, you should know that it…
Some hard-and-fast conflict of interest rules govern lawyers. Put simply, a lawyer may not represent anyone in an action against a current client. The lawyer is also disqualified from acting against a former client’s interests. That latter rule applies, however, only to matters related to the actual representation of the former client. Competent clients can…
Circumstances change. Trusts often are not adaptable to those changes. Sometimes trusts run for many years, or even decades. Increasingly, lawyers and trustees turn to trust decanting as a means of updating older trust language. What is trust decanting? Decanting is a relatively recent idea in trust administration. In some circumstances, a trustee may be…
When an individual receiving Medicaid benefits receives a significant personal injury award, federal law permits creation of a “special needs” trust to hold the proceeds. That way, the individual can continue to receive Medicaid and other government benefits. Although every state’s Medicaid program allows such trusts, state court judges often balk at the concept. A…
The law permitting a digital or electronic will is rapidly developing. We have written about the idea of an electronic will before, advising readers not to rely on this developing law. A recent appellate court decision approved what appears to be the first purely electronic will in American legal history. Even as electronic will laws…
If you already have a trust but want to make changes, do you need a trust amendment, or a new will? Can a will even make changes to your trust? Do you need to change both? These confusing questions often mislead people. Even experienced lawyers sometimes make mistakes. Lloyd and Mabel Meeks’ trust Washington state…
The whole point of a spendthrift trust is to protect the trust’s assets from the beneficiary’s creditors. The name hints at the purpose: the point is to protect someone who can’t control spending. Even if the necessary protection is from himself or herself. Generally, a spendthrift trust can work very well for its intended purpose.…
Have you completed a personal property list to go with your will (and trust)? It’s an important part of your estate plan.