JANUARY 21, 2002 VOLUME 9, NUMBER 30 Despite the popular notion that it is easy to attack a decedent’s estate plan, successful challenges are actually quite rare. It is seldom possible to mount a challenge just because the decedent’s plan seems unfair, or because the decedent “always wanted” some other distribution. In fact those who…
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JANUARY 14, 2002 VOLUME 9, NUMBER 29 According to the federal government, as much as 10% of the funding for the joint federal/state Medicaid program is lost to fraud, mostly on the part of medical providers. The Medicare program is also deeply concerned about the possibility of fraudulent costs. Although both the Medicaid and Medicare…
JANUARY 7, 2002 VOLUME 9, NUMBER 28 If a husband and wife “bank” sperm so that the wife may conceive artificially, and the wife conceives through insemination of this sperm after the husband dies, will children resulting from such a pregnancy enjoy the inheritance rights of “natural” children in Massachusetts? Last week the Massachusetts Supreme…
DECEMBER 31, 2001 VOLUME 9, NUMBER 27 For seniors who need a supportive residential environment but not nursing home placement, assisted living facilities can be a wonderful option. They can combine all the advantages of a controlled placement, but need not interfere with their residents’ personal freedom. Sometimes, however, assisted living facilities can be caught…
DECEMBER 24, 2001 VOLUME 9, NUMBER 26 In 1997 Congress created a new range of managed care choices for Medicare beneficiaries. The new options, dubbed “Medicare+Choice,” were intended to give seniors (and the disabled) a range of options for delivery of health care services. The success of the program has been limited, and the availability…
DECEMBER 17, 2001 VOLUME 9, NUMBER 25 When Mark Hall decided to take financial advantage of Helen Fuite he began, as so many exploiters of the elderly do, by having her sign a financial power of attorney. He took her to his own attorney, Richard C. Holst of Wyoming, Michigan, to have the document prepared;…
DECEMBER 10, 2001 VOLUME 9, NUMBER 24 In April of 1998 Edward M. Covert shot and killed his wife Kathleen, and then killed himself. Out of that family tragedy arose an interesting legal problem: who would inherit Kathleen Covert’s estate? Mr. and Mrs. Covert lived and died in New York, but the legal problem was…
DECEMBER 3, 2001 VOLUME 9, NUMBER 23 A recent California appellate case, as Judge Morrison of California’s third Appellate District writes at the start, “illustrates the danger of using preprinted wills. This danger, ill-described in the text of the opinion, may be better stated as “Be careful of what you fail to wish for.” Decedent…
NOVEMBER 26, 2001 VOLUME 9, NUMBER 22 Alaskan Lillie M. Rahm was in her early nineties when she first met handyman Robert Riddell, then in his mid-sixties. Their friendship grew quickly, and Mr. Riddell moved in with Ms. Rahm within a few months. Two years later friends and relatives instituted legal proceedings that lasted well…
NOVEMBER 19, 2001 VOLUME 9, NUMBER 21 The law can be inflexible and unforgiving of mistakes. This is particularly true with respect to real estate transfers, where nearly four centuries of legal precedent require strict compliance with the formalities of deeds and conveyances. Sometimes, however, the legal system recognizes that mistakes happen, as was the…