Arkansas Court Refuses to Allow Trust Modification
JUNE 25, 2012 VOLUME 19 NUMBER 24 A recent Arkansas Court of Appeals case reminds us (yet again) how important it can be to plan for the possibility of a future disability in your family. Here’s the background (with names changed to help protect internet privacy): Ruth Olsen, like thousands of other seniors, created a […]
UTMA Account Is Treated Like a Trust Account
JUNE 11, 2012 VOLUME 19 NUMBER 23 The Uniform Transfers to Minors Act is almost universally known by its initials: UTMA. A version of the Act has been adopted in nearly every US state, and the few which have not adopted it have its similar predecessor, the Uniform Gifts to Minors Act (known, unsurprisingly, as […]
Finders Keepers? Losers Weepers?
JUNE 4, 2012 VOLUME 19 NUMBER 22 Richard Scott (not his real name) had a propensity to hide things away. His children knew that, and they knew that when he died they would have to go on a treasure hunt — literally for treasure. Mr. Scott lived in the same house in Paradise Valley, Arizona, […]
Posthumously Conceived Twins Denied Survivors Benefits
MAY 28, 2012 VOLUME 19 NUMBER 21 The United States Supreme Court doesn’t very often weigh in on Social Security rules, so when it does those of us in the elder and disability law community pay attention. Last week’s decision by the Court, interpreting Social Security regulations as applied to posthumously conceived children, addressed interesting […]
Retirement Account Is Community Property But Need Not Be Split Equally
MAY 21, 2012 VOLUME 19 NUMBER 20 Arizona is one of the nine U.S. states which recognize “community property” (a tenth, Alaska, allows couples to voluntarily create community property interests). The other eight community property states: California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin. Mention community property to a lawyer who has never […]
Missing Will Presumed Revoked, But Codicil Partially Reinstates It
MAY 14, 2012 VOLUME 19 NUMBER 19 In Arizona (as in most other states) there is an important rule about wills: if the original document was in the possession of it’s signer, and it can not be found after the signer’s death, then there is a presumption that it was destroyed. Not only that, but […]
Lifetime Asset Transfers Voided Based on Agreement to Make Will
MAY 7, 2012 VOLUME 19 NUMBER 18 We have written about contracts to make (or not to revoke) a will before. The question comes up infrequently, and usually only in a handful of ways: can you and your spouse make an enforceable agreement that you will leave your respective estates to, say, your children no […]
Is a Veterans Administration Benefit Right for You?
APRIL 30, 2012 VOLUME 19 NUMBER 17 We were reminded recently of the existence of a resource for elderly veterans and their surviving spouses — one that is too often overlooked, as it happens. We had yet another client who was unaware that she might qualify to receive a Veterans Administration pension benefit. We have written […]
How To Avoid Probate — And What Doesn’t
APRIL 23, 2012 VOLUME 19 NUMBER 16 Let us try to demystify probate avoidance for a moment. Note that for the purposes of this description, we are not going to argue with you about whether avoidance of probate is good, bad, desirable or a foolish goal — we start here with the assumption that probate […]
EINs for Trusts: The Questions Just Keep Pouring In
APRIL 16, 2012 VOLUME 19 NUMBER 15 Tax ID numbers for trusts. When we first wrote about this topic, we did not appreciate how interested our readers would be. We thought that the issue was sort of dry, actually, and that most people would have asked their lawyer or their accountant for direction. It has […]
