Mistakes made during the signing of a Will are frequently the cause of litigation. Some of the common mistakes are as follows: Attorney should handle the Will signing ceremony. Although it is not required by law that an attorney handle the ceremony, the probability of error is...
A recent ruling by the IRS demonstrates the importance of naming a spouse as the beneficiary of an IRA in which the surviving spouse has a community property interest. In this case, the husband (who died) named his child as the sole beneficiary of his...
Under federal long-term care Medicaid laws, there is a presumption of “guilt” if there is an uncompensated transfer within five (5) years of an application for long-term Medicaid (which helps pay for institutional care, drugs, etc.) since long-term care is “means-tested” In other words, the...
An Illinois court has ruled that a caregiver, who was charged with felony criminal neglect of an elderly person, felony aggravated domestic battery and felony assault with battery of a senior, was entitled to pursue a claim to be paid (even without a contract) for...
Although beneficiary designations (such as the beneficiary of a life insurance policy or retirement account) supersede a Will or intestate succession due to the Contracts Clause of the U.S. Constitution, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that if the state has a law that results...
Sometimes clients ask questions where the answer differs as to legality versus morality. As a result, the attorney should be prepared to be both counselor at law and not just an attorney at law. A couple examples of actual cases (all dealing with an inheritance) illustrate...
Although the Inspector General of the Social Security Administration has monitored social media such as Twitter and Facebook since 2014 to determine if there is fraud by those who receive public disability benefits such as Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI),...
The Will of a quadriplegic man (the “Testator”), who was unable to speak and who communicated with his attorney through a blinking system, was recently upheld by a Fort Worth appellate court. The attorney asked “yes” or “no” questions to the Testator who responded by blinking....
Client, a 78 year old widow in the early stages of experiencing dementia, creates an irrevocable trust which gives her the right to occupy her homestead which was deeded into the trust. Her goal was to save her homestead (or the proceeds therefrom if sold...
As a result of less employer-sponsored pension plans and the desire of Congress to encourage savings for retirement, it is anticipated that Congress will pass the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act later this year as it has bipartisan support. It will...
