Estate Planning

05 Aug ADDITIONAL SUCCESS STORY OF THE MONTH – THE USE OF UTMAs IN MEDICAID PLANNING

Posted at 09:00h in 529 plan, Estate Planning, Long Term Care, Medicaid Application, Medicaid Planning, Success Story of the Month, utma

Long-term care Medicaid helps pay for long-term care costs if certain eligibility requirements such as medical necessity, Medicaid bed availability, “countable” resources being below a $2,000 limit, restrictions on most uncompensated transfers if made within five years of application, etc., are met. In this case the...

04 Aug ANDERSON COOPER INHERITS $1.5 MILLION FROM HIS MOTHER, GLORIA VANDERBILT

Posted at 09:00h in Business, Charitable Giving, Divorce, End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Inheritance, Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer, Trusts, Wills

Gloria Vanderbilt’s Will provided that her son, CNN news reporter Anderson Cooper (“Anderson Cooper 360”), will receive the residue of her estate other than her Manhattan co-op and contents therein which were bequested to another son, Charles Stokowski. Since Wills and inventory are a matter...

03 Aug ITALIAN PRINCESS LIKELY TO WIN $500 MILLION ART COLLECTION FROM NYU BY PROVING HER MOTHER WAS BORN OUT OF WEDLOCK

Posted at 09:00h in Beneficiary, Estate Planning, Inheritance, Lawsuits, Trusts

An Italian court has ruled that the late Liana Beacci was the illegitimate daughter of the late British art collector Sir Arthur Acton and his late mistress Ersilla Beacci as a result of a DNA test. This could result in Ersilla’s granddaughter, Italian princess Dialta...

02 Aug SUCCESS STORY OF THE MONTH – HOW TO PROTECT CHILDREN FROM THEMSELVES YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE WEALTHY TO USE TRUSTS

Posted at 09:00h in Asset Protection, Beneficiary, End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Lady Bird Deed, Long Term Care, Medicaid Planning, Probate Administration, Retirement, Short Term Care, Special Needs, Special Needs Trust, Success Story of the Month, Trusts, Wills

Many have the misconception that only the wealthy need or can use trusts for estate planning. In this case, an elderly couple has two children – one of the children has a drug problem and the other is a spendthrift and has creditor issues. The...

01 Aug BINGO! ELIZABETH HURLEY’S SON DINGS GRANDFATHER BING FOR MILLIONS DESPITE BEING BORN OUT OF WEDLOCK

Posted at 13:57h in Beneficiary, Business, Divorce, End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Probate Administration

A California court has ruled that Elizabeth Hurley’s son, Damian, remain a beneficiary of the trust of his grandfather, Dr. Peter Bing, notwithstanding Dr. Bing’s attempt to change the terms of the trust that he established. Another grandchild, Kira Kerkorian, also benefits from this ruling. Dr....

10 Jul HORMONE-BLOCKING PROSTATE CANCER COULD LEAD TO ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE

Posted at 15:30h in Alzheimer’s, Dementia, End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Quality of Life

An analysis from University of Pennsylvania researches of data from a study of 154,000 older patients over an eight year period indicates that patients who are given hormone-blocking prostate cancer treatment have an increased risk of Alzheimer’s Disease. Although the results are not proof, the...

10 Jul U.S. SUPREME COURT RULES STATE NOT PERMITTED TO TAX UNDISTRIBUTED INCOME FROM NON-RESIDENT TRUST

Posted at 15:07h in Estate Planning, Power of Attorney

The U.S. Supreme Court recently rules that “the presence of in-state beneficiaries alone does not empower a state to tax trust income that has not been distributed to the beneficiaries where the beneficiaries have no right to demand that income and are uncertain to ever...

10 Jul COURT: LAWYER INCOMPETENT FOR ADVISING CLIENT TO ACT BEYOND AUTHORITY UNDER POWER OF ATTORNEY

Posted at 14:54h in Estate Planning, Financial Powers of Attorney, Long Term Care, Medicaid Planning, Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer, Power of Attorney, Trusts

A court has ruled an attorney was incompetent for advising his client, who was acting as agent for his brother pursuant to a power of attorney, to transfer assets to himself notwithstanding a lack of authority. Most people think (apparently, including some attorneys) that a...

10 Jul DOG OWNER’S WILL REQUIRES EXECUTOR TO BE EXECUTIONER OF HEALTHY DOG

Posted at 14:37h in Estate Planning

Pursuant to the terms of the Last Will and Testament of a Virginia dog owner, the named executor was required to have the owner’s healthy pet dog (which is personal property in Virginia as it is in Texas) euthanized so that the dog could be...

10 Jul SUCCESS STORY OF THE MONTH – LADYBIRD DEED INTO PET TRUST IS CATS’ MEOW

Posted at 13:55h in Beneficiary, End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Lady Bird Deed, Medicaid Planning, Success Story of the Month, Transfer of Death

The goal of a self-proclaimed “cat lady”, who is on Medicaid, is to make sure her 14 cats are adequately cared for after her death. However, her only assets are her home, car and a small bank account. Her home and car are “non-countable” resources...