DECEMBER 14/21, 1998 VOLUME 6, NUMBER 24/25 At the end of each calendar year, as most people realize, Social Security and other government benefits are adjusted based on increases in the cost of living. This year, Social Security’s automatic cost of living adjustment amounts to 1.3%. Interestingly, that figure is tied with the 1986 increase…

DECEMBER 7, 1998 VOLUME 6, NUMBER 23 Lois Rieger worked in the same office building as Don Jacque. Rieger was a real estate agent, and Jacque sold insurance; Rieger helped Jacque in several real estate transactions over the period of their acquaintance. Jacque expressed his concern that Rieger had not adequately prepared her own estate…

NOVEMBER 30, 1998 VOLUME 6, NUMBER 22 Two weeks ago, Elder Law Issues reported on the case of Jessie Lee Anderson and Orange Pierson, a married couple who had separated forty years ago and both remarried (see Volume 6, Issue 20). Upon Ms. Anderson’s death, Mr. Pierson attempted to claim his rights as surviving spouse, but…

NOVEMBER 23, 1998 VOLUME 6, NUMBER 21 “Reverse mortgages” can be a wonderful tool for keeping a frail elder at home, or for making a home stay more comfortable. Like so many good things, they can also be abused. Typically, a reverse mortgage is a mechanism to permit a cash-short senior to liquidate a portion…

NOVEMBER 16, 1998 VOLUME 6, NUMBER 20 Jessie Lee Anderson died in California in 1996. Ms. Anderson had not prepared a will, and so her estate would pass to her heirs at law. Under California law as it applied to her circumstances, that would normally mean that half her estate would go to her family,…

NOVEMBER 9, 1998 VOLUME 6, NUMBER 19 Louella Starkweather, a California resident, died in 1994. She was apparently not receiving care from the state’s Medicaid program (called “Medi-Cal” in California) at the time of her death, but had received Medi-Cal assistance for almost 18 years ending two years before her death. The total amount of…

NOVEMBER 2, 1998 VOLUME 6, NUMBER 18 In 1974, Arizona’s legislature took the unusually progressive step of creating a public agency to act as guardian and conservator for disabled residents who have no family or friends to take over their personal and financial decision-making. In the nearly quarter-century since, Arizona’s Public Fiduciary offices have developed…

OCTOBER 19/26, 1998 VOLUME 6, NUMBER 16/17 Terminally ill patients often experience considerable, intractable pain from their illness. Adequate management of that pain, usually by painkilling medications, is a continuing concern of individual physicians and the entire medical community. In sufficiently large doses, painkilling medication often suppresses the respiratory system and may actually accelerate the…

OCTOBER 12, 1998 VOLUME 6, NUMBER 15 James Graham and Louise Loehr made an unusual deal in 1987. The two Missouri residents agreed that Graham would move in with Loehr, be introduced as her “man” or “man friend,” and act as both her real estate agent and personal companion. In return, Loehr would agree to…

OCTOBER 5, 1998 VOLUME 6, NUMBER 14 It is possible in many states (including Arizona) for one adult to adopt another adult. In the most common instances, a stepparent will adopt his or her spouse’s adult child, often after having raised the child from an early age. Occasionally, however, adult adoption is used for other…