If You Don’t Plan for Contingencies, the State Plans for You
If we all had crystal balls that could predict the future, estate planning would be a whole lot easier. We don’t, it’s not — and we’re here to tell you that you need to plan for contingencies. One difficult aspect of planning is considering the various ways the future can unfold. Perhaps the hardest part: […]
“Right of Representation” and “Per Stirpes” in Arizona
You’ve probably seen the terms before. “Right of representation” and “per stirpes” appear frequently in wills and trusts. You probably even have a rough notion of what the terms mean. Perhaps, though, you don’t know that they have an interesting history. You might also be surprised by what the terms actually mean — at least […]
What Happens When Someone Dies Intestate?
VOLUME 24 NUMBER 17 Even with regular prompting, about half of people never get around to completing even basic estate planning. If they never do get a will signed, we lawyers say that they have died “intestate”. But what does that really mean for their loved ones? Note that the information we provide here is […]
Intestate Succession Rules Can Be Tricky to Apply
APRIL 4, 2016 VOLUME 23 NUMBER 13 March was “Write-a-Will” month (sometimes referred to as “Why a Will” month). Though we’ve never understood the difference, August will be “Make a Will” month again this and every year. In the United Kingdom, every March and October are “Free Wills” months. Or is it April?Or is that […]
Do-It-Yourself Will May Not Save Costs After All
APRIL 7, 2014 VOLUME 21 NUMBER 13 From time to time we devote our weekly newsletter to a story about estate planning gone wrong — often (but not always) because of an individual’s decision to forego the help of a lawyer in drafting a will or trust. Lawyers also make mistakes, of course, but they […]
Definitions For Common Estate Planning Terms
FEBRUARY 3, 2014 VOLUME 21 NUMBER 5 Judging from the questions we field online and from clients, there is a lot of confusion about some of the basic terms commonly used in estate planning. We thought maybe we could do a service (and make our own explanations a little easier) by collecting some of the […]
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 […]
Only Preponderance Of Evidence Required To Disinherit Killer
SEPTEMBER 25, 2000 VOLUME 8, NUMBER 13 David Pickett died in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in February, 1993. The cause of his death, as the New Hampshire Supreme Court later described it, was “the infliction of an incision wound to his neck by one or more unknown persons.” No one has been prosecuted for his murder, […]
