Elder Law Issues

Assessing Testamentary Capacity. Making sure a client has capacity before signing any documents is an important aspect of being an attorney. Doctor’s notes and family testimony can only paint some of the picture. Additionally, capacity is not either “you have it or you don’t”. Capacity can change with age, experiences and even just time of day. In this podcast, we discuss how we look at capacity in our practice. We hope this gives a clear picture of why we do not include family in meetings wit

What if I Don’t Have POAs? POA, in this case, stands for power of attorney. These documents determine who will be making financial or health care decisions for you when you are unable. If you choose not to create these documents, it can cause confusion and possible court proceedings. In Arizona, a guardian may need to be appointed by the court to handle medical and care decisions for you, and a conservator may be needed to manage your finances. Both put decision making into the court’s hands ins

College bound estate planning is not something many people consider as their child goes off to university. Once someone turns eighteen, most parents will no longer be their legal guardian. This may lead to a loss of access to information about their child. Hospitals, universities, banks and other institutions will likely not divulge any information about the adult child that is protected. In this podcast we discuss options that parents have for staying in the loop on their children’s health and

Naming a Fiduciary Who Will Just Hire the Firm. Many clients want to name their children, friends or other family members in fiduciary roles in their estate planning documents. Some may also have the expectation that these individuals will simply request the law firm that drafted their documents to assist them. In this podcast, we discuss why this is not always the case. Sometimes the firm that drafted your documents will not be able to represent your family member, and even if they do… this do

Clients often become wary of updating their estate plans after they receive a dementia diagnosis. Fortunately, a diagnosis is not necessarily the cut off for capacity. In this podcast we discuss the level of capacity required to complete estate planning documents. We also discuss some of our experiences with clients who have cognitive impairment diagnoses of various persuasions. Many of them were still able to articulate their wishes and update their documents. A dementia diagnosis does not hav

Why Won’t My Family Share Trust Information? This may be one of the most common questions we receive as an elder law firm. It may be that you are not entitled to the information… or that the trustee is deliberately hiding information you are entitled to receive. Without a copy of the trust, it is impossible to say. Unfortunately, there is no repository of trusts created for law firms such as ours to draw from. Even if you do have a copy, there is not even a guarantee it is the most recent versi