Powers of Attorney: Draft With Care and Use as Instructed
APRIL 7, 2003 VOLUME 10, NUMBER 40 Recently two different state courts addressed the exercise of authority made pursuant to a durable financial power of attorney. These cases illustrate why care should be taken both in drafting a power of attorney and in choosing an agent. In Florida, after David R. James II died, four […]
Contingency Fee Agreement Permitted Only If Fee Is Reasonable
MARCH 31, 2003 VOLUME 10, NUMBER 39 Contingency fee agreements are common in personal injury cases and many other types of litigation. In some kinds of lawsuits (for example, divorce or criminal cases) contingency fee arrangements are banned as being against public policy. Are contingency fees permissible in probate cases, and particularly will contests? According […]
Dealing With the Older Driver: Driving Skills Assessments
MARCH 24, 2003 VOLUME 10, NUMBER 38 Elder Law Issues has devoted several recent weeks’ articles to some of the problems involving aging drivers. If you are concerned about your own driving skills or those of an older family member, you may wish to obtain a formal skills assessment. The Association of Driver Rehabilitation Specialists […]
Older Drivers and State Laws: A Few Things to Consider
MARCH 17, 2003 VOLUME 10, NUMBER 37 Twice in October 2002, Elder-Law Issues highlighted concerns of and about older drivers. (See What Can Be Done About Driving Skills As We Age? and Dealing With Impaired Driving Skills In Aging Family Members) This week and next we continue our examination of driving and aging. If you […]
Medicaid Eligibility Choices May Require Expert Advice
MARCH 10, 2003 VOLUME 10, NUMBER 36 Last week Elder Law Issues described Florida resident Josephine Green’s efforts to qualify her sister Stella Thompson for Medicaid assistance with nursing home costs. Having Ms. Thompson buy an interest in Ms. Green’s condominium was not a successful strategy. Ms. Thompson, you might recall, had about $20,000 too […]
Purchase of Life Estate Does Not Gain Medicaid Eligibility
MARCH 3, 2003 VOLUME 10, NUMBER 35 Stella Thompson was living alone in Virginia when she developed a serious leg infection requiring that she be admitted to a nursing home. Her sister Josephine Greene moved her to Florida, into a nursing home near Ms. Greene’s home, and applied for Medicaid assistance with the cost of […]
“Common-Law” Marriage Is Recognized In Some States
FEBRUARY 24, 2003 VOLUME 10, NUMBER 34 John Ober and Selma Klein lived together in rural northern Montana for a number of years, though they were never formally married. When Mr. Ober died in 2001, he had not made a will. The legal question became: who was entitled to Mr. Ober’s estate? Montana (unlike Arizona) […]
Son Disinherited Because of Felony Despite Expungement
FEBRUARY 17, 2003 VOLUME 10, NUMBER 33 When William Garland, Jr., wrote his will, he was concerned about his son Richard Garland. Because he thought Richard had engaged in some irresponsible behavior in his teens, Mr. Garland directed that Richard’s share of his estate would be held in trust. The terms of the trust directed […]
Administrator’s Sentence For Medicare Fraud Not Reduced
FEBRUARY 10, 2003 VOLUME 10, NUMBER 32 Medicare, the federal health care program for seniors and the disabled, has very clear rules prohibiting providers from paying referral fees. The rules are in place to help prevent fraud and abuse of the giant Medicare program and its funding. Over the four decades the program has existed, […]
Attorney Managing Estate Sued For Malicious Prosecution
FEBRUARY 3, 2003 VOLUME 10, NUMBER 31 Non-lawyers often think of legal proceedings as a sort of chess game played with legal theories. Lawyers, unfortunately, sometimes fall into the same pattern of thinking. Pleadings can be filed and arguments made not on the basis of the evidence, but in pursuit of tactical advantage or improved […]
