OCTOBER 6, 2003 VOLUME 11, NUMBER 14 [NOTE: After this article was published and circulated, the Arizona legislature delayed the effective date of the Uniform Trust Code in Arizona for two years and then repealed the UTC altogether, and then re-adopted it in a significantly modified form. Readers need to check the current status of…
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SEPTEMBER 29, 2003 VOLUME 11, NUMBER 13 The guardian of an incapacitated adult is often said to have all the powers that a parent would have over an unemancipated minor child. That legalism, however, fails to give much guidance about any limitations on the guardian’s power. For example: can a guardian pursue a divorce proceeding…
SEPTEMBER 22, 2003 VOLUME 11, NUMBER 12 When Nathan Sanders died in 1955, his will created a “perpetual” trust for the benefit of three hospitals in Dayton, Ohio. The trust was to be managed by a bank (ultimately Bank One Trust Co.), and the income paid out annually. Forty percent of the income was to…
SEPTEMBER 15, 2003 VOLUME 11, NUMBER 11 Betty Budd spent the last years of her life at Presbyterian Medical Center, a nursing home in Oakmont, Pennsylvania. When she died she owed $96,000 to the facility, and only had $28,000 left in her estate. After collecting that amount, the nursing home filed suit against Ms. Budd’s…
SEPTEMBER 8, 2003 VOLUME 11, NUMBER 10 When individuals look for ways to simplify the handling of their estates, they frequently decide to simply put their heirs’ names on assets. Parents, for example, often make their children joint owners on bank accounts—reasoning that the money will then be easier to get to if needed, and…
SEPTEMBER 1, 2003 VOLUME 11, NUMBER 9 Changes in federal Medicaid rules adopted in 1996 made most immigrants—including even legal permanent residents—ineligible for health care benefits. For immigrants in the country legitimately eligibility for Medicaid services is not available until they have been legal permanent residents for five years. Undocumented aliens, on the other hand,…
AUGUST 25, 2003 VOLUME 11, NUMBER 8 Any competent adult can sign a will disposing of his or her property—unless he or she has agreed not to do so. Though they may seldom be used, the law of most states permits individuals to enter into a contract not to change their wills (or, for that…
AUGUST 18, 2003 VOLUME 11, NUMBER 7 A decision by the Michigan Supreme Court is the most recent to address the issue of grandparents’ rights to visit their grandchildren. In the Michigan case, the state law giving grandparents rights was found to be unconstitutional. Not all states have reached the same result—Arizona courts, for example,…
AUGUST 11, 2003 VOLUME 11, NUMBER 6 The issue facing Florida guardian Barbara Keithly was simple: should she have her bank return the original canceled checks on the guardianship account, or would it acceptable to receive only copies with her monthly statement? Although the question seems simple enough, it provides an opportunity to consider the…
AUGUST 4, 2003 VOLUME 11, NUMBER 5 After incurring the emotional and financial cost of securing a guardianship and conservatorship, family members usually believe that they have been given authority to make all personal and financial decisions for their incapacitated loved one. Though nearly true, that is not quite the case—as Randy Bardwell found out,…