JANUARY 2, 2012 VOLUME 19 NUMBER 1 Two weeks ago we detailed some of the statutory changes facing guardians, conservators and other fiduciaries in Arizona beginning with the new year. At the same time the legislature was working on those changes, the Arizona Supreme Court was considering changes to the rules and procedures governing probate…
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DECEMBER 27, 2011 VOLUME 18 NUMBER 44 Carl Smith is a developmentally disabled young man living in Ohio. When he reached age 18, his mother Peggy Smith applied to the local probate court for appointment as his guardian. She was appointed, and Carl continued to live with her for the next several years. In 2005…
DECEMBER 19, 2011 VOLUME 18 NUMBER 43 It is not exactly a secret that the Arizona probate court system has been widely criticized over the past two years or so. The Phoenix-area newspapers have been filled with stories about alleged abuses of the probate process. Many of those stories have focused on practices in the…
DECEMBER 12, 2011 VOLUME 18 NUMBER 42 Last month we saw an interesting variation on fee requests for guardianship and conservatorship proceedings. A Washington State Supreme Court case dealt with the payment from wards’ estates to a professional fiduciary organization in unusual circumstances. James R. Hardman and his mother Alice Hardman are certified professional guardians…
DECEMBER 5, 2011 VOLUME 18 NUMBER 41 Most of the guardianship issues we deal with at Fleming & Curti, PLC, involve adults who have limited capacity or special needs. Sometimes, though, the subjects of a guardianship proceeding are minors; that can bring unique issues to the process. There are a few legal principles that govern…
NOVEMBER 21, 2011 VOLUME 18 NUMBER 40 Paternity testing has come a long way in the last few decades. You might reasonably think that it is now so easy to establish parentage that probate court disputes about the subject would be largely a thing of the past. If you thought that, you’d be wrong. Just…
NOVEMBER 14, 2011 VOLUME 18 NUMBER 39 Let’s talk about guardianship and conservatorship proceedings. Before we do, though, let’s remember a couple of important principles: We only know about Arizona guardianship or conservatorship. Well, OK — we might know a thing or two about other states’ rules and procedures — but we only practice in…
NOVEMBER 7, 2011 VOLUME 18 NUMBER 38 A woman has been diagnosed as suffering from dementia of the Alzheimer’s type, and she resides in an assisted living facility. She has short-term memory loss, is frequently forgetful and has difficulty with tasks like playing cards and operating her television set. Can she sign a new will?…
OCTOBER 31, 2011 VOLUME 18 NUMBER 37 Floyd Spence, a Republican Congressman from South Carolina, was a long-time survivor of a heart-lung transplant and a (separate) kidney transplant when he died in 2001, at the age of 73. He was survived by his second wife, Deborah Spence, and four adult sons from his first marriage…
OCTOBER 17, 2011 VOLUME 18 NUMBER 36 Lawyers are ethically prohibited from charging excessive fees. Period. It doesn’t matter if the lawyer has a fee agreement calling for an excessive fee. It doesn’t matter if the negotiated fee seemed reasonable at the time, but turned out to be excessive as things developed. It doesn’t matter…