We regularly talk with grandparents who are distressed about how their grandchildren are being raised. Wouldn’t it be better, they ask, if the child could live in a stable, loving home? Particularly in those cases where they have been raising their grandchildren for years already? Parents’ rights Our usual answer: not unless both parents agree,…
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It might not seem like much of an elder law question at first glance. But among the legal issues posed by advances in technology are those related to heirship, parentage — and ownership of in vitro fertilization (IVF) products. The law has been slow to catch up. Mr. and Mrs. Rich get divorced Melissa and…
You’ve probably seen the terms before. “Right of representation” and “per stirpes” appear frequently in wills and trusts. You probably even have a rough notion of what the terms mean. Perhaps, though, you don’t know that they have an interesting history. You might also be surprised by what the terms actually mean — at least…
Three years ago, when your daughter turned 18, you consulted us about getting appointed as her guardian. The guardianship has been in place since then, and everything is fine. But now you’re moving to Illinois, and taking her with you. Will you need to do anything about the guardianship? We didn’t really mean Illinois Actually,…
After two of the beneficiaries of Ralph Credille’s trust challenged the actions of their brother, the trustee, he argued that they had violated the trust’s no-contest provision. Then he moved to modify the trust. Oops. That made him the no-contest violator.
A recent Alabama court case addressed trust modification after a beneficiary’s serious injury. The lesson learned: a trustee must act quickly.
Significant changes in eligibility for Veterans Aid & Attendance benefits become effective on October 18, 2018. What are the changes, and how are you affected?
Our good friend and colleague Tim Takacs, a Tennessee attorney, wrote about what to do with your estate planning documents. We suggest some things not to do.
Do you have a family member in an American nursing home? Or, perhaps, are you looking at the prospect of moving someone to a facility soon? You might reasonably worry about the quality of nursing home care in the U.S. There’s good news (and ambiguous news) about the quality of nursing home care this week.…
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…