MARCH 9, 1998 VOLUME 5, NUMBER 36 John Haynsworth was a Florida multimillionaire. He had made his fortune in Miami Beach real estate investments. He had no children, so after his wife died in 1988, his closest family were nieces and nephews. Mr. Haynsworth did have a long-time relationship with his attorney, Ted Blum. After…

MARCH 2, 1998 VOLUME 5, NUMBER 35 Jess and Sharon Groesbeck were married in 1959, and raised five children in Utah. Like many couples who have been persuaded of the value of living trusts in the past few decades, they chose to use the popular estate planning device to avoid probate and simplify their estate…

FEBRUARY 23, 1998 VOLUME 5, NUMBER 34 A Las Vegas, Nevada, adult care home operator was arrested last week on elder abuse charges. Christopher Michael Childers was charged with elder abuse, elder neglect and criminal neglect of a patient with substantial bodily harm. The arrest was made by officers attached to the Las Vegas Police…

FEBRUARY 16, 1998 VOLUME 5, NUMBER 33 Three decades ago, all powers of attorney automatically expired when the principal became incompetent. Since the creation of “durable” powers of attorney, they have become ubiquitous. Before the advent of durable powers of attorney, the only way to gain control of the affairs of an incompetent person was…

FEBRARY 9, 1998 VOLUME 5, NUMBER 32 Durable powers of attorney are a relatively new idea in the law. Until 1974 (in Arizona), all powers of attorney automatically terminated when the person signing the power of attorney became incompetent. Two decades later, every U.S. state and territory has authorized powers of attorney which survive incompetence,…

FEBRUARY 2, 1998 VOLUME 5, NUMBER 31 Herschel West and his wife Hazel lived in Provo, Utah. Their estate plan was straightforward–they established a living trust and transferred their home into the trust’s name. The trust provided that Mr. and Mrs. West could live in and use the home as long as either of them…

JANUARY 26, 1998 VOLUME 5, NUMBER 30 The Arizona legislature has just begun its 1998 session, and will be considering a number of measures of interest to seniors and their advisors and advocates. Not all the bills will be adopted, and some may be changed beyond recognition. The proposals still reflect the thinking and direction…

JANUARY 19, 1998 VOLUME 5, NUMBER 29 George Pittman was a North Carolina resident. He and his wife, Rose Lupton Pittman, lived together on property he had inherited from his family. Mr. and Mrs. Pittman each had a daughter from prior marriages. In 1988, Mr. Pittman consulted his attorney about what might happen to his…

JANUARY 12, 1998 VOLUME 5, NUMBER 28 In the past decade advance directives have become widespread and, at the same time, widely accepted. In fact, almost every state has adopted legislation specifically recognizing both medical powers of attorney and “living wills.” In 1992, the Arizona legislature adopted a progressive, far-reaching law on the subject. As…

JANUARY 5, 1998 VOLUME 5, NUMBER 27 What constitutes “undue influence” such that a will is invalid? While disinherited family members may feel that their deceased relative was subjected to undue influence, the level of influence required is very high, as a review of the leading Arizona cases will show. Gus Fotopulos was a “rollicking,…