Elder Law Issues

It can be challenging to figure out how to title assets after you have created a revocable living trust. We’re calling this initial review Trust Funding 101. We discuss some of the common titling issues.

In a later episode (Trust Funding 201) we will cover some of the more complicated trust funding issues. That’s when we’ll review retirement account beneficiary designations, for instance. Meanwhile, join us for this review of the basics. That includes real estate, bank and brokerage accounts, life insurance, vehicles and some of the other basic trust funding issues that we see among most of our clients.

We don’t offer college credit for Trust Funding 101. But we’re happy to sign a Certificate of Completion if you want to prepare your own. Either way, you’ll be better educated.

The “community property” rules sometimes confuse or alarm lawyers from states that apply the “common-law” property rules. Arizona community property is not really that complicated, but it can be foreign to estate planning practitioners from other states.

In this podcast episode, we try to simplify some of the Arizona community property rules. They seem second nature to us — and we think they reflect how most non-lawyer married couples treat their property rights anyway. But we discuss some of the wrinkles and common misunderstandings.

We often consult with blended families about their estate planning. Those families — sometimes with “yours, mine and our” kids, or disparate young-adult backgrounds — can pose special concerns for us to work through.

How common are concerns? The U.S. Census Bureau reports that 1,300 new step-families are formed every day. More than half of families have at least one divorce in their personal story. And as we have explained before, Arizona’s default rules for married couples with children not common to both of them are almost never what couples want.

This podcast episode gives us a chance to talk about estate planning for blended families. Please join us for the discussion.

There is a lot of social and familial pressure for most people to leave the bulk of their estate to their children. Sometimes, though, we deal with planning with childless clients. How are they different?

In this podcast episode we talk about estate planning with our childless clients. Their planning might pose different concerns, like:

Who will act as their trustee, personal representative, and financial and health care agent? Many clients rely on their children for those roles, and the childless client does not have that option.

Will more of their estate go to charity? And if so, which assets are best to leave to charity?

Do they intend to leave some or most of their estate to nieces, nephews and other relatives? How are their expectations for those more distant relatives differ from what they might have expected from children, if at all?

Join us for this discussion about the childless client and how their estate planning might differ.

Last week we discussed record keeping for conservatorship matters. The rules are similar, but somewhat different, for trust and probate record keeping.

Generally, accounting requirements for trusts and probate proceedings are somewhat easier to handle (at least in Arizona). But simpler accounting does not necessarily mean that record keeping is simpler. A trustee or a personal representative should assume they will have to file or distribute a detailed accounting, just like the ones ordinarily required for conservatorships.

One important rule is the same for both conservatorship and trust and probate records: maintain detailed and careful logs of the time spent working on the estate. Even if you ultimately decide not to charge a fee, you need to have kept excellent time records.

Join us for a discussion of the trust and probate record keeping requirements under Arizona law.

Conservatorship record keeping must be precise and detailed. Conservators are responsible to the court that appointed them. Courts — at least in Arizona — pay close attention to conservators’ accounts.

We have discussed the court involvement in conservatorships before. And it’s important to note that even the term “conservator” can have different meanings in other states (in California, for instance, a “conservator” encompasses both what we call a conservator and a guardian).

Arizona has recently become one of America’s hotspots for COVID-19. We are all worried about what will happen next. At Fleming & Curti, PLC, we don’t have any crystal ball. But in this coronavirus update, we tell you what we’re experiencing in our office, what steps we have taken to protect you (and us), and what effect the pandemic has had on our practice.

We’re using masks, gloves, disinfectants and social distancing — even at work. We urge you to do the same. Our response is evolving, but our goal remains the same: to provide safe (and excellent) legal services to our community. As we explain in this coronavirus update, we’re keeping an eye on changing circumstances and client needs.

Many of our clients are worried about their estate plans, their ability to respond to the current demands on their attention, and their future needs. Let us know how we can help. In the meantime, we’ll be evolving with our client’s needs.

To our delight, a national expert visited us in Tucson recently. Our New York friend Lawrence Davidow explains the SECURE Act in a an Elder Law Issues podcast discussion.

We have talked about the SECURE Act before (back in February, before the whole world changed). But we weren’t going to pass up a chance to hear from someone as nationally-known and well-respected as New York Elder Law attorney Lawrence Davidow.

[Note: shortly after we recorded this discussion, the IRS effectively extended the 60-day period Lawrence refers to until August 31, 2020, for everyone. In other words, you can now return previously-withdrawn minimum distributions until that date — even if your withdrawal was much earlier]

New York Medicaid rules don’t ordinarily concern us at Fleming & Curti, PLC. After all, we are a Tucson elder law attorney firm. We don’t practice in New York at all.

But when we have an opportunity to discuss state-to-state differences with one of the leading elder law practitioners in the nation, we take it. This week we talk with good friend and extraordinary elder law attorney Lawrence Davidow. He has been a leader in the field for over thirty years. In fact, Lawrence is a former President (and a Fellow) of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. He was a founding member of the Special Needs Alliance. We are active in both of those organizations, and have always admired his dedication, hard work and approachability.

Lawrence’s practice (Davidow, Davidow, Siegel & Stern, LLP) is on Long Island, New York. His description of New York Medicaid planning helps point out some of the state differences in the elder law practice.

Could an Arizona resident take advantage of most of the Medicaid planning techniques Lawrence describes? Yes, but they are not as commonly used. Why not? Listen to our discussion with Lawrence Davidow to gain some insight into the different practices between Arizona and New York Medicaid planning.

Leading New York elder law attorney Lawrence Davidow was recently in Tucson visiting a friend. We talked him into joining us for a discussion about elder law. Our question: how does the practice of elder law in his home state differ from our Arizona experience?

Lawrence left New York just as their coronavirus cases began to come under control. After he arrived in Tucson our state’s experience began to deteriorate significantly. As you might imagine, we talked about what he had seen among his older clients in New York and how that differed from what he was seeing in Arizona.

Shortly after we talked with Lawrence he returned to his New York elder law practice. Of course, in the meantime New York officials imposed a two-week self-quarantine requirement for travelers from Arizona (among other states). We wish him — and his practice — all the best in this difficult time.