JULY 9, 2012 VOLUME 19 NUMBER 26 Surveys indicate that recipients of Medicare benefits are consistently pleased with the care they receive. Hospice patients (and their families) often express even higher levels of satisfaction — even though the patient so often dies. But not all hospice patients are pleased with the care they receive, and…
ELDER LAW ISSUES
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JULY 2, 2012 VOLUME 19 NUMBER 25 It’s a slow week (with the Fourth of July holiday breaking it up on a Wednesday) and it’s too hot to think about actual controversies this week. So let’s take a minute to clear out some longstanding items we’ve been meaning to get around to. One thing we’ve…
JUNE 25, 2012 VOLUME 19 NUMBER 24 A recent Arkansas Court of Appeals case reminds us (yet again) how important it can be to plan for the possibility of a future disability in your family. Here’s the background (with names changed to help protect internet privacy): Ruth Olsen, like thousands of other seniors, created a…
JUNE 11, 2012 VOLUME 19 NUMBER 23 The Uniform Transfers to Minors Act is almost universally known by its initials: UTMA. A version of the Act has been adopted in nearly every US state, and the few which have not adopted it have its similar predecessor, the Uniform Gifts to Minors Act (known, unsurprisingly, as…
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,…
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…