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July Roundup: Hospice, Alzheimer’s and More

July roundup

At Fleming & Curti, PLC, we are keenly interested in more than the legal aspects of estate planning and also care about broader developments surrounding people who are aging and/or coping with disability. Maybe that’s because we’re naturally curious. But more likely it’s because the firm and most of the attorneys are licensed fiduciaries, and […]

Joint Tenancy Bank Accounts

Joint tenancy bank account

Do you have a bank account with another person listed as a joint owner? You probably have a joint tenancy bank account. Does that mean that the other owner could empty the account? For that matter, could you? What is a joint tenancy bank account? How do you know if you hold your bank account […]

If You Have Only One Document, Make it Financial Power of Attorney

Financial Power of Attorney

When most people think about making an “estate plan,” they jump straight to deciding who gets what when they die. But there’s a lot about an estate plan that comes into play when you are alive. The most important: your financial power of attorney. Why the Financial Power of Attorney? Every adult should have a […]

Supreme Court Overrules Taxation of Trust

Taxation of trusts

Last month the United States Supreme Court ruled (unanimously) that North Carolina’s approach to taxation of trusts was impermissible. If it was a 9-0 decision, though, the obvious questions are: Whoever thought North Carolina’s approach to taxation of trusts would be acceptable in the first place? and What difference will this decision actually make for […]

Wins for Assisted Suicide and at Least One Taxpayer

Assisted suicide

Here’s our round up of the past month’s developments in estate planning and elder law. We touch on elder law issues from assisted suicide to income taxation of trusts and beyond. See an item that might be of interest? Let us know what you think. Another State OKs Assisted Suicide Maine became the latest state […]

Partner Tom Curti Retires

Tom Curti retires

We’ve hinted about it and announced it. We’ve celebrated his career and accomplishments. This week, though, it became final: Tom Curti retires. Tom Curti, Wisconsin transplant In 1973, Tom moved from his native Wisconsin to Tucson in order to attend the University of Arizona College of Law. He had grown up in a small town […]

Filing a Will Contest Before Death of the Signer

Will contest before death

There’s one persistent problem with will contests. Academics often refer to the “worst evidence” rule. The person who signed the will can not testify about what they wanted. Wouldn’t it be great if you could take care of a will contest, before death of the signer removes the best evidence? First, though, let us make […]

Planning Is Essential for Second Marriages

Second marriages

Is your current Mr. or Mrs. Right not your first spouse?  And do you have kids from another relationship?  Second marriages can be wonderfully fulfilling, but step families come with built-in tensions. If this is you, it’s essential to consider an estate plan.  Otherwise, the state of Arizona has a plan, and its rules almost […]

Retirement Benefits and Community Property

Retirement benefits and community property

Arizona is one of the nine U.S. states operating under the principles of “community property.” The basic premise of community property: assets acquired during the period of the marriage are presumed to belong to the marital community (and thus to the spouses equally). There are lots of qualifications and exceptions, but one issue crops up […]

Aretha Franklin’s Wills, Petty Discord & Emma the Dog

Aretha Franklin

Sometimes, you can develop a fondness for tasks that used to seem like a chore.  That’s me and the brief.  Having spent more than a decade in newspaper journalism, I compiled plenty of news briefs, collections of news of the day each item boiled down to a paragraph or two.  These days, news bits are […]

Robert B. Fleming

Attorney

Robert Fleming is a Fellow of both the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. He has been certified as a Specialist in Estate and Trust Law by the State Bar of Arizona‘s Board of Legal Specialization, and he is also a Certified Elder Law Attorney by the National Elder Law Foundation. Robert has a long history of involvement in local, state and national organizations. He is most proud of his instrumental involvement in the Special Needs Alliance, the premier national organization for lawyers dealing with special needs trusts and planning.

Robert has two adult children, two young grandchildren and a wife of over fifty years. He is devoted to all of them. He is also very fond of Rosalind Franklin (his office companion corgi), and his homebound cat Muninn. He just likes people, their pets and their stories.

Elizabeth N.R. Friman

Attorney

Elizabeth Noble Rollings Friman is a principal and licensed fiduciary at Fleming & Curti, PLC. Elizabeth enjoys estate planning and helping families navigate trust and probate administrations. She is passionate about the fiduciary work that she performs as a trustee, personal representative, guardian, and conservator. Elizabeth works with CPAs, financial professionals, case managers, and medical providers to tailor solutions to complex family challenges. Elizabeth is often called upon to serve as a neutral party so that families can avoid protracted legal conflict. Elizabeth relies on the expertise of her team at Fleming & Curti, and as the Firm approaches its third decade, she is proud of the culture of care and consideration that the Firm embodies. Finding workable solutions to sensitive and complex family challenges is something that Elizabeth and the Fleming & Curti team do well.

Amy F. Matheson

Attorney

Amy Farrell Matheson has worked as an attorney at Fleming & Curti since 2006. A member of the Southern Arizona Estate Planning Council, she is primarily responsible for estate planning and probate matters.

Amy graduated from Wellesley College with a double major in political science and English. She is an honors graduate of Suffolk University Law School and has been admitted to practice in Arizona, Massachusetts, New York, and the District of Columbia.

Prior to joining Fleming & Curti, Amy worked for American Public Television in Boston, and with the international trade group at White & Case, LLP, in Washington, D.C.

Amy’s husband, Tom, is an astronomer at NOIRLab and the Head of Time Domain Services, whose main project is ANTARES. Sadly, this does not involve actual time travel. Amy’s twin daughters are high school students; Finn, her Irish Red and White Setter, remains a puppy at heart.

Famous people's wills

Matthew M. Mansour

Attorney

Matthew is a law clerk who recently earned his law degree from the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law. His undergraduate degree is in psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Matthew has had a passion for advocacy in the Tucson community since his time as a law student representative in the Workers’ Rights Clinic. He also has worked in both the Pima County Attorney’s Office and the Pima County Public Defender’s Office. He enjoys playing basketball, caring for his cat, and listening to audiobooks narrated by the authors.