Laws vary on whether a houseboat is a home, if it is protected from creditors or if there can even be any tax benefits. Medicaid, bankruptcy and the Internal Revenue Code all address treatment of houseboats. MEDICAID TREATMENT OF HOUSEBOATS AS HOME: Under long-term care Medicaid...
Oscar winning movie star, Gene Hackman, died on February 18, 2025, about a week after his wife, Betsy Arakawa. The couple lived in New Mexico, a community property state. They wed in 1991. Hackman had a large estate estimated to be around eighty million dollar...
For the past several years, we have reported on many ongoing court cases concerning celebrities of their estate planning or court cases contesting their planning. The following are a few of the updates since our previous articles: RUPERT MURDOCH -Murdoch failed in his attempt to...
Estate Planning Decision Tree Chart for Will vs. Revocable Living Trust – 20 Issues One of the most common dilemmas in estate planning is whether it is better to have a Will or a Revocable Living Trust (RLT). There are numerous types of trusts, but this...
Anna, the niece and the surviving “spouse” of her uncle, attempted to probate his will in which she was the primary beneficiary. Julie, one of the 3 children of the deceased, contests the will since Texas law prohibits marriage to a niece (or to a...
Although there are dozens of new laws in Texas, the following (in no particular order) are just some that affect estate planning, probate, guardianship and the elderly. Homesteads Held in Revocable Trusts Need Specific Language to Have Homestead Property Tax Exemption and Homestead Exemption for Creditor...
Where there is a will there is a way (and even if there is no will, there is a way – it’s just more costly). The probate process is designed so that an executor or administrator can pay the debts of the deceased and distribute the...
Aretha Franklin died in 2018 leaving 2 handwritten wills resulting in an expensive legal battle between her children over which will would prevail. In July 2023, a Michigan jury decided her most recent handwritten will (written by her in 2014) found in a spiral notebook...
Although Aretha Franklin’s last will and testament (found under the cushions of her couch) was recently determined to be valid, this is obviously not the best place to keep your last will since many things could have gone wrong for failing to keep it in...
Although it is normally not recommended that a 96-year-old buy any type of annuity, the facts below illustrate how a 96-year-old was willing to bet his money on a plan that included the purchase of a Medicaid-compliant annuity that saved him $6000 a month for...
