Pets in Estate Plans

We are pet lovers here at Fleming & Curti, PLC. Many of us have dogs, cats and even snakes. With that in mind, we believe it is very important to create a plan for your animals in the event you are unable to or pass away. In this podcast, we touch on powers of attorney, bequests in a will and pet trusts. We go over our experiences and recommendations for each of these from an Arizona attorney perspective. We also might share a few anecdotes about our own pets as well as examples of various wishes we have seen in the past.

Qualified Disability Trusts have been a concept for around 25 years. While the term may be a bit more obscure these days, you may be familiar with one type, the special needs trust.

Many people establishing these types of trusts for their beneficiaries have a lot of tax related questions and concerns. In today’s podcast we go over some of these, such as capital gains and the tax brackets of the beneficiary vs. the trust.

Aging and technology can be a scary concept for those of us in an older cohort. Fortunately, many pieces of technology can actually make aging a bit easier. In this podcast we give our thoughts and some examples of these. We discuss calendars, payment applications and multifactor authentication.

We also discuss when and where implementing pieces of technology might be most useful in your life, if you are not already tech savvy. Additionally, we speak on when you may want to skip out on certain items like authenticators and password managers.

Assessing Testamentary Capacity.

Making sure a client has capacity before signing any documents is an important aspect of being an attorney. Doctor’s notes and family testimony can only paint some of the picture. Additionally, capacity is not either “you have it or you don’t”. Capacity can change with age, experiences and even just time of day.

In this podcast, we discuss how we look at capacity in our practice. We hope this gives a clear picture of why we do not include family in meetings with our clients, as well as what we are looking for in these meetings. Assessing testamentary capacity can be challenging without meeting with a client alone.

What if I Don’t Have POAs?

POA, in this case, stands for power of attorney. These documents determine who will be making financial or health care decisions for you when you are unable. If you choose not to create these documents, it can cause confusion and possible court proceedings. In Arizona, a guardian may need to be appointed by the court to handle medical and care decisions for you, and a conservator may be needed to manage your finances. Both put decision making into the court’s hands instead of your own. Fortunately, both can be avoided by properly executed powers of attorney.

We further discuss the question of, “what if I don’t have POAs?” in this podcast.

College bound estate planning is not something many people consider as their child goes off to university. Once someone turns eighteen, most parents will no longer be their legal guardian. This may lead to a loss of access to information about their child. Hospitals, universities, banks and other institutions will likely not divulge any information about the adult child that is protected.

In this podcast we discuss options that parents have for staying in the loop on their children’s health and finances. Whether it is using forms provided by various institutions or taking your child to see an attorney before they go off to school; it is best to do some college bound estate planning before they leave.

Naming a Fiduciary Who Will Just Hire the Firm.

Many clients want to name their children, friends or other family members in fiduciary roles in their estate planning documents. Some may also have the expectation that these individuals will simply request the law firm that drafted their documents to assist them. In this podcast, we discuss why this is not always the case. Sometimes the firm that drafted your documents will not be able to represent your family member, and even if they do… this does not take away all of that family member’s duties and responsibilities. Which is why you should take some time to think before naming a fiduciary who will just hire the firm.

Clients often become wary of updating their estate plans after they receive a dementia diagnosis. Fortunately, a diagnosis is not necessarily the cut off for capacity. In this podcast we discuss the level of capacity required to complete estate planning documents. We also discuss some of our experiences with clients who have cognitive impairment diagnoses of various persuasions. Many of them were still able to articulate their wishes and update their documents.

A dementia diagnosis does not have to put a stop to your estate plans. In fact, it may be a good indicator to speak with an attorney before it becomes too late.

Why Won’t My Family Share Trust Information?

This may be one of the most common questions we receive as an elder law firm. It may be that you are not entitled to the information… or that the trustee is deliberately hiding information you are entitled to receive. Without a copy of the trust, it is impossible to say. Unfortunately, there is no repository of trusts created for law firms such as ours to draw from. Even if you do have a copy, there is not even a guarantee it is the most recent version of the trust. In this podcast we discuss what your options are and when to seek legal advice.

Hopefully you’ll think of this podcast if you ever wonder, “Why Won’t My Family Share Trust Information?”

AI in The Practice of Law

AI is becoming a greater part of everyday life and that includes the legal profession. In this podcast we discuss the applications and pitfalls of AI in the legal space. We touch on hallucinations, confidentiality concerns and human review. Time savings, research and analysis benefits are also points of discussion we will mention.

Our experience includes the use of the Clio case management software and its AI systems (especially Vincent), as well as other larger language models.

Hopefully this discussion will provide you with a better understanding of AI in the practice of law.