Elder Law Issues Podcast

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Case management and care planning are central to our elder law practice. We have to actively monitor the care arrangements for the beneficiaries of our trusts. We also act as guardian (of the person) or conservator (of the estate). Both require us to manage care for vulnerable individuals. In this…

The last two years have certainly been disruptive. One thing you might not have expected to change, though, was your retirement plan. Turns out that a retirement account update for 2022 is very much in order. You probably realize that the SECURE Act of 2019 changed many retirement rules. The best-…

Here we are, going into 2022. We’re also creeping up on the second full year of pandemic restrictions. What’s in our future? Who knows? But we have some observations to share about the new year, and the next chapter. Not, of course, about the course of the pandemic itself. We’re…

Beneficiary deeds are very popular in Arizona. A property owner who signs such a deed can avoid probate and simplify administration of their estate. It’s pretty easy to create and sign a beneficiary deed — many people do it without involving a lawyer. We want to shed a little light on h…

We have some ideas for last-minute Christmas gifts for seniors. Here’s the thing: we think your mother/father/grandparent would mostly like to hear from you. A regular message is better than candy — even better than flowers. We’ve made recommendations for gifts in the past. Some …

Many of our clients feel strongly about burial and cremation. Over two-thirds of Arizonans, in fact, prefer cremation over burial. In this podcast episode we discuss some steps you should take to help assure your wishes are carried out. We often include burial and cremation directions in our estat…

One common concern for fiduciaries who oversee home care: how should they handle household payroll? Are in-home caregivers independent contractors? Or must the fiduciary withhold Social Security and taxes from their paychecks? As we explain in this week’s podcast, in-home caregivers are almo…

The end of the year is upon us. So is the holiday season. You might be considering making gifts to your grandkids. Or perhaps to other people who are minors (or just young). First a bit of good news. For the past four years, the federal gift tax exclusion amount has been $15,000. That has meant th…

We see this practice when we represent trustees, conservators and other fiduciaries, and we always counsel against it. A trustee, for instance, might pay trust bills from their own funds and then make a reimbursement to themselves as fiduciary. It can seem simple and unobjectionable. The person ha…