Elder Law Issues

Fleming & Curti PLC

Each week we discuss various elder-law, and elder-law adjacent, issues. In plain language, we review estate planning, guardianship, special needs and other legal and practical developments. read less

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New SSI Rules Will Improve Benefits

New SSI Rules Will Improve Benefits

Supplemental Security Income -- SSI, to everyone who receives the benefit -- has horribly complicated rules. But recent announcements from the Social Security Administration promise to liberalize those rules dramatically. The new SSI rules should make it easier to qualify for benefits. More importantly, they should make it easier to manage and report relevant financial items that affect the benefits. The key changes in the new SSI rules will take place at the end of September. They mostly revolve around the concept of "in-kind support and maintenance" (ISM). That concept reduces the SSI benefit under some circumstances where another person (a parent, for example, or a special needs trust) provides food and/or shelter to an SSI recipient. In this podcast episode, we discuss the new SSI rules, and how they should benefit many recipients. We look forward to seeing how those benefits actually play out in individual cases.

Episodes

New SSI Rules Will Improve Benefits

New SSI Rules Will Improve Benefits

Supplemental Security Income -- SSI, to everyone who receives the benefit -- has horribly complicated rules. But recent announcements from the Social Security Administration promise to liberalize those rules dramatically. The new SSI rules should make it easier to qualify for benefits. More importantly, they should make it easier to manage and report relevant financial items that affect the benefits. The key changes in the new SSI rules will take place at the end of September. They mostly revolve around the concept of "in-kind support and maintenance" (ISM). That concept reduces the SSI benefit under some circumstances where another person (a parent, for example, or a special needs trust) provides food and/or shelter to an SSI recipient. In this podcast episode, we discuss the new SSI rules, and how they should benefit many recipients. We look forward to seeing how those benefits actually play out in individual cases.

Incentive Trusts

Incentive Trusts

"Incentive trusts." It's a term we hear from time to time in planning estates. What clients and advisors usually mean to describe is a trust that gives the beneficiary some incentives to behave, well, better. Like getting married or having children. Or giving up bad habits. Or finishing an education. Are incentive trusts a good idea? And do they work? Our lived experience suggests that the usefulness of the incentive trust is ... mixed. Sometimes they provide an incentive. Often they make the trustee's job difficult. How should the trustee judge the beneficiary's compliance? Will the trust alienate the beneficiary? Is the incentive good enough to urge behavior changes? Did the settlor really intend to punish non-compliance? In this podcast episode we discuss incentive trusts and our experience with them. Join us.

What to Expect in Your Estate Planning Signing Appointment

What to Expect in Your Estate Planning Signing Appointment

You've scheduled a signing appointment for your estate planning documents. What should you expect that appointment to look like? And how long will it take? In this week's podcast episode, we discuss the signing appointment. We also review the quaint practices lawyers still utilize -- involving wet ink and actual paper! And we explain why you still have to come to the office (in nearly every case) rather than just taking your printed-out documents to your bank to sign and notarize. But the good news: we're a lot of fun, and we'll make the signing appointment quick, easy and productive.

The IRS and Your Power of Attorney

The IRS and Your Power of Attorney

You signed your financial power of attorney! Great! Now your agent can sign anything you could sign, right? Well, hold on. The IRS has special rules for using your power of attorney. They can be confusing and persnickety. If we knew exactly when you will become incapable of signing your own tax forms AND which tax forms to sign, we'd be set. But we mostly have to give your agent the best tools we can, and have them figure out how to use those tools if and when the time comes. Let us explain.

“Conservatorship” in News Stories Might Not Mean What You Think

“Conservatorship” in News Stories Might Not Mean What You Think

You may have read news stories about conservatorship proceedings. A lot of reports address the problems faced by famous people subject to conservatorships. Maybe you've seen stories about Britney Spears, Amanda Bynes, Michael Oher, and/or Wendy Williams. But did you understand that the very word "conservatorship" means different things in different states? We talk about the variable uses of the term. We also help you distinguish between guardianship and conservatorship in news stories -- and clear up the common misconception that they are the same thing. They are not the same, and the terms are not even the same from state to state. We try to demystify the variable use of the term.

Giving Someone the Power to Tell You When to Stop Driving

Giving Someone the Power to Tell You When to Stop Driving

Here at Fleming & Curti, PLC, we're very big on having you give someone the power to tell you when to stop driving. We usually include that in our health care power of attorney form. A recent article in the Washington Post addressed the issue. It suggested that everyone over age 65 should consider signing an advance directive for driving authority. Our response: poppycock! Everyone, of every age, should make a decision now about who they trust to tell them that when to stop driving. We have. Will you?

Time to Review Your Estate Plan

Time to Review Your Estate Plan

How often should you review your estate plan? Well, we generally suggest that you might want to look at things every five years or so. But there's no good reason not to get started on a review now.

Family Burial Plots Are a Growing Problem Among Our Clients

Family Burial Plots Are a Growing Problem Among Our Clients

Not so long ago, family burial plots were commonplace. Cremation rates have increased dramatically. Over half of all funeral arrangements nationwide include cremation. In Arizona that frequency is over two-thirds. Meanwhile, we're all more mobile. Families commonly live far from their grandparents' and great-grandparents' burial plots. But family burial plots still linger. Who will use those last two plots in the family section in Ohio? Will you be buried with your first spouse, with whom you had two children? Or with your second spouse, who helped raise the children and with whom you had another child? Today we discuss the misunderstandings we often hear about family burial plots and how to deal with them.

Meet Law Clerk Jordan Young

Meet Law Clerk Jordan Young

Meet Law Clerk Jordan Young. Jordan is a 3L at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law and will join Fleming & Curti, PLC, as an attorney after she passes the bar this summer. She's already making a positive difference for clients and our office. Even early in her law school career, she was a standout -- and her experience in the Trusts and Estates Law class was life changing for her and for us.

Safe Deposit Boxes: Helpful or Headaches?

Safe Deposit Boxes: Helpful or Headaches?

A safe deposit box can offer security for valuables, but they can be a real headache for whoever is administering your estate. Safe deposit boxes can be difficult for a personal representatives or trustees to get into and the naming on the account could confuse how you meant to convey the property. Robert Fleming and Elizabeth Rollings Friman discuss the common complications that arise out of safe deposit boxes.

Why should you create a trust?

Why should you create a trust?

Are you considering creating a trust? A trust may be a good fit for you if you are trying to avoid probate or minimize taxes. It may also be a good fit if you would like to protect against your own incapacity or restrict a beneficiary's access to funds. On this week's episode of the elder law podcast attorneys Robert Fleming and Matthew Mansour discuss why clients create trusts.

Alternative Dispute Resolution in Estate Planning

Alternative Dispute Resolution in Estate Planning

Can you include an arbitration provision in your will or trust? Yes, you can -- at least in Arizona. Alternative dispute resolution arrangements might help keep your heirs and beneficiaries from enriching lawyers with their disputes. It's worth considering and discussing with us when we help you plan your estate.

Meet Matt Mansour, Associate Attorney

Meet Matt Mansour, Associate Attorney

Meet Matt Mansour, our "new" associate attorney. Well, not all that new. He's been working here for an eventful eight months as an attorney, and several months before that as a law clerk. Here's a chance to learn a little bit more about him, and what kinds of work he's doing at Fleming & Curti, PLC.

Operating Outside the Terms of the Will or Trust

Operating Outside the Terms of the Will or Trust

The terms of a will or trust are absolute, right? No one can modify them. Right? Well, no. At least if all the heirs or beneficiaries agree, the terms of a will or trust can be varied. It's a complicated set of considerations, but people should realize that there are possibilities for altering the terms. Or at least some of the time there are. Caution: we're talking about Arizona law (as we always do). We don't know what possibilities exist in other states, so the answer might be very different in even slightly different circumstances. But still, there are possibilities to consider.

Everyone Knows What Dad Wanted

Everyone Knows What Dad Wanted

We often hear from heirs and beneficiaries a version of "everyone knows what dad wanted." Yeah, maybe everyone knows. But he didn't write it down. You may not be able to get things done the way you're sure he wanted.

Swedish Death Cleaning – Is It a Thing?

Swedish Death Cleaning – Is It a Thing?

You may have heard about "Swedish Death Cleaning." It sounds morbid, but we think the odd name embraces a generally good idea. Help your heirs by giving away (or selling, or donating) your "things." No kidding -- it could help your family later.

The Importance of the Financial Power of Attorney

The Importance of the Financial Power of Attorney

It's not the first time we've talked about it, but today we want to be more direct. For most of our clients, we think their financial power of attorney is the most important estate planning document we prepare. Let us explain why. And why we think you need to have a durable financial power of attorney for yourself. What a great New Years Resolution!

Making Gifts at the End (or Beginning) of the Year

Making Gifts at the End (or Beginning) of the Year

At the end of each year, many of our clients consider making gifts -- whether to charitable entities or family members. They experience a lot of confusion over what gifts are permitted, what is advisable, and what the tax consequences might be. We're here to help demystify.

Making Specific Gifts — and Beneficiary Designations

Making Specific Gifts — and Beneficiary Designations

Planning on making specific gifts in your will? Using beneficiary designations to avoid probate? Hmmmm. We might have a problem.

Unitrust — an interesting alternative for some trusts

Unitrust — an interesting alternative for some trusts

So what is a "unitrust"? It's simple, really: in a unitrust arrangement, the trustee distributes a percentage of the value of the trust each year, rather than all of the actual income. This can free the trustee to make better investment decisions. It also improves the remainder beneficiaries' position. And, finally, it helps the income beneficiary predict (and rely on) their actual distributions -- and, often, increase those distributions over time.