SEPTEMBER 3, 2001 VOLUME 9, NUMBER 10 Sometimes when the legislature adopts a new statute, no one notices that it conflicts with an existing law. While those conflicts usually get discovered and resolved, they can sometimes create real confusion in real cases. Consider the tragic case of the Craig family. William and Diane Craig and…
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AUGUST 27, 2001 VOLUME 9, NUMBER 9 Like many seniors, Robert Anderson signed a financial power of attorney, giving his daughter and son-in-law power to manage his financial affairs. He may have understood that the power of attorney would avoid the necessity of court proceedings to appoint a conservator if he became incapacitated. Having a…
AUGUST 20, 2001 VOLUME 9, NUMBER 8 Wilbur Kloepping wanted to stay in his home even though he knew he was dying. The 80-year-old man was confined to a wheelchair most of the time, but his wife Marguerite helped take care of him. Sometimes Mr. Kloepping would fall out of his wheelchair, however, and Mrs.…
AUGUST 13, 2001 VOLUME 9, NUMBER 7 Twice before we have told the unfolding and tragic story of Robert Wendland. Fate and the California Supreme Court have now written the final two chapters in the saga. You may recall that Robert Wendland was injured when his truck rolled over in 1993. Mr. Wendland had been…
AUGUST 6, 2001 VOLUME 9, NUMBER 6 Medicare is a federal program providing medical care to millions of seniors and disabled individuals. Although beneficiaries may pay some portion of their own care costs those contributions are in most cases modest. By any reckoning, however, there are two important medical needs not covered by the Medicare…
JULY 30, 2001 VOLUME 9, NUMBER 5 When the United States Supreme Court decided its landmark case regarding grandparents’ visitation rights in June of 2000, the Justices might have thought they were laying many of the legal issues to rest. Troxel v. Granville decided that the law in Washington State giving grandparents the right to…
JULY 23, 2001 VOLUME 9, NUMBER 4 Fae Powell had given her nephew Jackie Powell a power of attorney so that he could handle her financial affairs. Mr. Powell used that power of attorney to change over $600,000 worth of bank CDs into “payable on death” status, naming himself and other nephews and nieces as…
JULY 16, 2001 VOLUME 9, NUMBER 3 George and Barbara McCall, California residents, sued their HMO and their primary care physician. They claimed that the HMO (PacifiCare of California) refused to refer Mr. McCall to a specialist when he needed a lung transplant, and that he was ultimately forced to disenroll from PacifiCare and seek…
JULY 9, 2001 VOLUME 9, NUMBER 2 Lawyers who represent mentally impaired clients often wonder: is the lawyer’s duty to advocate the client’s wishes, no matter how peculiar, or to act in the client’s best interests? That was the dilemma facing New Hampshire attorney Tony Soltani after his client was committed to a mental hospital.…
JULY 2, 2001 VOLUME 9, NUMBER 1 Income tax protestors may really believe that they can choose to opt out of the federal government’s income tax system. Some objectors may think they are making an important political point. They keep losing, however, and paying extra taxes and court costs for making arguments that are simply…