APRIL 30, 2001 VOLUME 8, NUMBER 44 Most lawyers agree that the probate process is neither as expensive nor as burdensome as most non-lawyers believe. Still, avoidance of probate is an important and legitimate goal in estate planning for most clients. The Arizona Legislature just made it easier to avoid probate for most Arizonans—or at…
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APRIL 23, 2001 VOLUME 8, NUMBER43 Theresa Marie Schiavo was only 27 in 1990 when a potassium imbalance led to her cardiac arrest. Although her husband, Michael Schiavo, called 911 and Ms. Schiavo was rushed to the hospital, she has never regained consciousness. Ms. Schiavo remains in a persistent vegetative state. Although she goes through…
APRIL 16, 2001 VOLUME 8, NUMBER 42 Most professional observers agree that income tax avoidance schemes are on the rise. This may be because of a reduction in Internal Revenue Service personnel, or increasing public familiarity with trusts and other entities, or a fundamental shift in the levels of greed and gullibility on the part…
APRIL 9, 2001 VOLUME 8, NUMBER 41 Victoria Ann Elder’s last years were tragic. The victim of an automobile accident, Ms. Elder was a quadriplegic and confined to her bed at the Stone County Skilled Nursing Facility in Mountain View, Arkansas. One Saturday evening the helpless woman was sexually assaulted by an aide at the…
APRIL 2, 2001 VOLUME 8, NUMBER 40 Aleen Russell died in Kentucky in 1996. She never got around to writing a will, but Kentucky’s law of “intestate succession” provided a simple plan for distribution of her estate. The $160,000 she left would be divided equally among her surviving children. If any child of hers had…
MARCH 26, 2001 VOLUME 8, NUMBER 39 Assume that Mr. and Mrs. Smith, happily married, sign wills leaving all their assets to one another. Some years later their marriage fails, and the Smiths divorce. Will their old wills still be valid? Arizona, like many other states, has a provision that effectively revokes Mr. and Mrs.…
MARCH 19, 2001 VOLUME 8, NUMBER 38 Discussions about repeal of the federal estate tax often focus on the notion that farms and businesses are threatened by taxing assets at the death of the family patriarch or matriarch. Opponents of repeal, on the other hand, argue that it is family and business dynamics that usually…
MARCH 12, 2001 VOLUME 8, NUMBER 37 In 1966 Norman Dacy published his now-famous book “How to Avoid Probate.” Dacy’s book made several claims that have since become practically articles of faith: probate is always too expensive, takes too long and requires disclosure of too much information. The cost of probate has been reduced in…
MARCH 5, 2001 VOLUME 8, NUMBER 36 Maria Isabel Duran was a devout Jehovah’s Witness. The 34-year-old New York woman believed, along with most members of her faith, that the Bible prohibits transfusions of blood or blood products, even when life is threatened. Ms. Duran also needed a liver transplant operation. Her faith does not…
FEBRUARY 26, 2001 VOLUME 8, NUMBER 35 Craig Fitzgerald was a successful accountant living in New Jersey; when he died he left three children and a wife. In the immediate aftermath of the unanticipated loss of her husband, Joan Fitzgerald did not realize that she had estate planning problems of her own to deal with.…