Aging and Dementia in the News Lately
Is it just us, or is the news filled with stories about aging and dementia in the past couple months? We’ve been reading stories and listening to podcasts about: Different ways to deal with dementia We heard a heart-warming podcast about aging and dementia last month. As part of the “First Person” podcast series, Lulu […]
What I Learned This Summer
I don’t know about you, but I spent my summer in one continuing legal education program after another. Here’s some of what I learned this summer. What I learned in Alaska OK — I really went to Alaska to see the bears. And they were incredible, and worth the trip. But while I was there, […]
Forgetfulness, Dementia and National Awareness Month
NOVEMBER 11, 2013 VOLUME 20 NUMBER 43 November is National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month. At Fleming & Curti, PLC, we got a little bit of a jump on the month by describing (in our October 28, 2013, weekly newsletter) the incidence of dementia and some of the experience we have in dealing with clients with […]
Dementia: Facts, Figures and Legal Effects
OCTOBER 28, 2013 VOLUME 20 NUMBER 41 At a seminar for lawyers and accountants last week, our ears pricked up when we heard a speaker say: “remember, something like 60% of your clients over 75 suffer from Alzheimer’s Disease.” (OK — that might not be an exact quotation, but that was the sense of the […]
Patient With Dementia May Have Authored Valid Will
NOVEMBER 7, 2011 VOLUME 18 NUMBER 38 A woman has been diagnosed as suffering from dementia of the Alzheimer’s type, and she resides in an assisted living facility. She has short-term memory loss, is frequently forgetful and has difficulty with tasks like playing cards and operating her television set. Can she sign a new will? […]
Does a Guardian Have the Power to File a Divorce Petition? In Some States, Yes
FEBRUARY 28, 2011 VOLUME 18 NUMBER 7 The issue arises with some regularity. A married couple, perhaps in their second marriage. Adult children. One spouse becomes ill — often, but not always, demented. The other spouse, unable to cope, turns the care of the ill spouse over to one of the children. That child figures […]
Suit Against Bank for Allowing Trust Amendments Dismissed
APRIL 17, 2006 VOLUME 13, NUMBER 42 June Miller once told the trust officer at her bank that she loved her son Warren Miller but that she didn’t like him very much. That might have been her motivation for making a number of changes to her estate plan in the last few years of her […]
Massachusetts High Court Limits Wards’ Right to Counsel
JULY 28, 2003 VOLUME 11, NUMBER 4 Is one who has been determined legally incapacitated and in need of a guardian able to revisit the court’s determination or challenge her guardian’s actions? Yes, wards may request the restoration of capacity and/or challenge the fitness of the guardian. In at least one state, however, wards are […]
Beneficiary Change Requires Higher Mental Capacity Level
MAY 26, 2003 VOLUME 10, NUMBER 47 An individual must be mentally competent before making a valid will, signing a contract or executing almost any legal document. Confusion often arises because the level of competence required may vary depending on what sort of document is being signed. Take the case of Agnes Marquis of Bangor, […]
$1.3 Million Award Upheld Against Nursing Home Doctor
AUGUST 12, 2002 VOLUME 10, NUMBER 6 After Paul Carter died at the Imperial of Hazel Crest Nursing Home in Illinois, his widow sued both the facility and the doctor in charge of his care. She claimed that after her husband was discharged from a hospital stay back to the nursing home, his physician failed […]
Payments In Annulment Case End With Death of Ex-Husband
JULY 22, 2002 VOLUME 10, NUMBER 3 Late-life marriages, of course, are usually unions of love—even when entered into by widows and widowers with families from earlier marriages. The strains on family relationships can be severe, but love can conquer all. Sometimes, though, late marriages can be the product of manipulation and overreaching by one […]
Despite Dementia Diagnosis, Wyoming Man’s Will Is Valid
FEBRUARY 7, 2000 VOLUME 7, NUMBER 32 Two years before Erwin W. Schlueter died in 1997 at age 85, he had completed his estate planning. He had signed a will, a durable power of attorney for financial matters and a durable power of attorney for health care. When his relatives contested the validity of the […]
