Choosing a Lawyer — a Cautionary Tale
How would you go about choosing a lawyer? The traditional advice is to ask friends, ask lawyers you know and trust for referrals, and check the publicly available ratings systems. Usually — almost always — those approaches work. Sometimes, though, choosing a lawyer can be more difficult. Lawyers know more about their experience, capabilities and […]
Failure of the Imagination in Seven-Decade-Old Trust
SEPTEMBER 6, 2016 VOLUME 23 NUMBER 33 Why involve an attorney in your estate planning? Partly because they know the rules — and not just the rules about how to prepare a valid and comprehensive document, but also the rules about taxes, trust limitations, and all of the related concerns you might not focus on […]
Arizona Legislature Changes Format For Beneficiary Deed
APRIL 3, 2006 VOLUME 13, NUMBER 40 Five years ago the Arizona Legislature adopted an interesting new law. Modeled on a similar law in Missouri, the “beneficiary deed” statute permitted property owners to designate who would receive their property on death—much like a “payable on death” bank account. Now the state legislature has revisited beneficiary […]
New Uniform Trust Code Does Not Permit Termination of Trust
MAY 24, 2004 VOLUME 11, NUMBER 47 Revocable living trusts have become immensely popular for estate planning in the past few decades. Once used primarily for commercial endeavors (like railroads, steel manufacturing and the like) and management of the assets of only the wealthiest families, trusts have in recent years become commonplace. As a result, […]
State High Court Counts Husband’s Trust As Available Resource
APRIL 14, 2003 VOLUME 10, NUMBER 41 Almost every state is facing a serious budget crisis in the current economy, and Kansas is no exception. Kansas’ governor projects a $750 million shortfall in the coming year. Last month the Kansas Supreme Court did what it could to help by deciding that Mary Miller would not […]
