MAY 20, 2002 VOLUME 9, NUMBER 47 The probate process is often viewed as unnecessarily time-consuming and expensive. Most states (Arizona included) have vastly simplified probate proceedings, but they can still seem unduly burdensome. Of course, the whole point of having a court-run probate process is to ensure that all parties’ rights and interests are…
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MAY 13, 2002 VOLUME 9, NUMBER 46 Ralph Blakely, Jr., signed himself in to a mental health treatment facility for the first time in 1972. Despite treatment he received from time to time over the next quarter century, he continued to suffer from delusions, hallucinations and impaired memory. Mr. Blakely married in 1973. He and…
MAY 6, 2002 VOLUME 9, NUMBER 45 Jonathan Adams was born out of wedlock in 1980. His paternity was established by a court order in 1995 in Florida after his parents, Mildred Adams and Cecil Hylton, Jr. engaged in highly charged litigation over Jonathan’s paternity. This litigation took place several years after the 1989 death…
APRIL 29, 2002 VOLUME 9, NUMBER 44 Sam Vires and Shirley Schulze were romantically involved for three decades and even lived together for most of the last fifteen years of their relationship. When Mr. Vires died in 1997, however, his will left nothing to Ms. Schulze. Mr. Vires’ will was written in 1984, eight years…
APRIL 22, 2002 VOLUME 9, NUMBER 43 Most Americans understand that there will be no federal estate tax (and, in most cases, no state estate tax) due on their deaths so long as they own less than a threshold amount—$1,000,000 in 2002. Many married couples realize that they can take fairly simple steps to ensure…
APRIL 15, 2002 VOLUME 9, NUMBER 42 Paternity may be established a number of ways — through marriage, genetic testing, adoption. Paternity issues may color a will’s administration decades after a probate is filed. Georgian Waldo DeLoache died in 1959. According to his will, the residue of Waldo DeLaoche’s estate was left in trust for…
APRIL 8, 2002 VOLUME 9, NUMBER 41 Commentaries on the dramatic increase in sales of living trust instruments have appeared half a dozen times over the last decade in Elder Law Issues. As we have previously observed, the living trust is one among several fine estate planning tools (see, for example, the generally positive reviews accorded…
APRIL 1, 2002 VOLUME 9, NUMBER 40 When Charles Richardson applied for work at Parke County Nursing Home in Rockville, Indiana, he gave the facility permission to contact his former employers for references. Mr. Richardson was working at the time for Lee Alan Bryan Health Care Facilities, and that facility’s administrator filled out the reference…
MARCH 25, 2002 VOLUME 9, NUMBER 39 On January 12, 2002, Elder Law Issues reported on the Medicaid fraud conviction of Massachusetts doctor Lorin Mimless (“States Vigorously Prosecute Medicaid and Medicare Fraud”). After his conviction Dr. Mimless filed an unsuccessful appeal with the Massachusetts Court of Appeals. Dr. Mimless read our report, and wrote to…
MARCH 18, 2002 VOLUME 9, NUMBER 38 When Marshall Gardiner died in Kansas in 1999, he was survived by his wife of less than a year and his grown son. Mr. Gardiner left no will, but he did leave a legal controversy—whether his wife could inherit from his estate, since she had been born as…