Elder Law Issues

We’ve talked (and written) before about personal property lists, will provisions and how to handle the property you take charge of as trustee or personal representative of your parent’s estate. But we also have some advice for clients before they die. Maybe you want to consider making gifts of tangible personal property well before your death. Maybe today.

Yes, we do want you to complete a personal property list. No, you don’t need to list (or even itemize) every item of tangible personal property you might own. No, you don’t need to have items appraised — unless, of course, you want to schedule them on your homeowner’s insurance.

Join us for a discussion about managing your personal property to make it easier for your heirs.

We’ve written and spoken about the need to complete funding of your trust. It’s not enough to just sign a revocable living trust document — no matter how beautiful and effective it might be. Your work is not done until (in most cases) nearly all of your assets are retitled into the trust’s name.

Funding your trust takes time, patience and diligence. We can help with, but not complete, most of it. You need to visit your banker, your stockbroker or investment advisor, and your retirement plan administrator. Normally that means an actual, physical visit.

Why? Because the key to avoiding probate (and that’s probably why you signed your revocable living trust in the first place) is to complete the funding of your trust. If you don’t complete this step your estate will probably have to be probated at your death. And that was what you were trying to avoid.

“Deed fraud” IS a thing. It is not widespread, but incidences appear to be growing. But what is it, and what can you do to protect yourself?

Recent reports focus on fraudulent documents filed with County Recorders (or similar offices in other states and jurisdictions). Thieves then resell the property, or borrow money against it — and vanish. Homeowners are surprised to learn that their property has been “sold.”

Of course, those transactions are fraudulent, and can usually be set aside. But if the property has been resold several times, it may be much more difficult to recover your home or other property.

Can you buy insurance to protect against this possibility? Not really — though some “title insurance” sellers profess to protect against deed fraud. What they really do is check your property records for you on a regular basis, and let you know if transactions are recorded. Quick action might help prevent greater losses from this particular kind of fraud.

This past month, Fleming & Curti, PLC, partner Robert turned 70. Elizabeth has some questions for him.

Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) rules for retirement accounts often confuse our clients. No surprise — they are surprisingly complex.

In this episode, we try to explain some of the complicated rules. Pretty much everyone understands the basic rules: mandatory distributions staring at age 72, inheritors generally have ten years to empty the account they inherited, etc. But here we focus on some of the less-known and more-complicated rules.

After you decide to hire Fleming & Curti, PLC, for your legal needs, the first thing you receive from us is an “engagement agreement.” It helps set the scope of our work, the things that are not covered — and, yes, the fees we will charge. That might mean a description of how our fees will be calculated, or the actual (flat) fee itself. But that document is essential to starting our relationship.

Are you acting as a fiduciary, managing someone else’s affairs? Get help. Not from online do-it-yourself tools, but from actual professionals who can analyze your needs and those of the person for whom you are acting. It’s better for you — and better for them.

When we have an initial client consultation, we are very particular about who attends, what information we collect and how the first meeting should proceed. Sometimes our rules confuse or even irritate our clients — but they make sense. Let us explain.

What did those of us who practice elder law learn from Britney Spears? That we need to start with a definition of terms.

Ms. Spears was under a conservatorship in California. But that term means something different in Arizona. Not only are the procedures different — the very terms differ.

At Fleming & Curti, PLC, we routinely counsel family members to avoid the guardianship process if there are suitable alternatives. Why? Because of the cost, time and loss of personal autonomy involved in Arizona guardianship proceedings. Though sometimes there’s just no available alternative, we try to explore all the options before incurring significant legal fees for our clients. We think it’s the right thing to do.