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Open Estate Planning a Good Thing? Maybe Not
2008-03-28 12:00:00 I mentioned in a previous column that open estate planning might be used as a tool to prevent elder abuse. I received a letter from an attorney who didn?t agree. In fact, he believes that open estate planning may cause elder abuse.He routinely advises clients not to read their Last Will and Testament to their children or give them copies of it, or tell them what is in it. He feels that almost invariably, when they have gone against his suggestions, there is an uproar in the family and it causes a split in the family relationships. He cites some examples, without using names, where open estate planning has led to abuse.Having your children find out ?your? wishes after ?your? death by reading ?your? Last Will and Testament may not prevent any family feuds. What it does prevent is family feuds in your presence the last 10 or 15 years of your life after you have read your Last Will and Testament before them or told them what?s in it.Caregiving brother. A woman who had no children had be...
By: Elder Abuse
To Be Forewarned is to be Forearmed!
2008-02-27 13:45:00 By Lou AnnAn industry exists in which lawyers, accountants and other unethical participants, sometimes with complicity from probate courts, can separate any of us from our property when certain (not that unusual) circumstances occur. These circumstances can be orchestrated and lead to an Involuntary Redistribution of Assets (IRA). This often occurs with wills, trusts, guardianships or other probate-related situations.To think that property and assets are your own and that you have control over their ultimate distribution is a mistake. Situations such as are described at www.estateofdenial.com occur more often than most people would ever believe. A close study of this issue leads one to recognize that going to court is not a path that necessarily provides reasonable resolution. This course too easily leads to lawyers or administrators becoming the functional beneficiaries while the intended beneficiaries are left with reduced or no assets as well as potentially significant legal expe...
By: Elder Abuse
How To Avoid A Forced Guardianship
2008-02-27 13:00:00 By Barry Yeoman, AARP MagazineNobody wants to end up in a guardianship, and the best way to prevent it from happening is to prepare ahead. Here are the two most important things you can do now to avoid having your life and finances put in the hands of strangers:1. Select someone you trust to make health care decisions for you if you couldn't?a family member, friend, or legal representative. Then outline your wishes in a legal document called a Health Care Durable Power of Attorney or health care proxy. That person will make sure your wishes are followed.2. Designate someone to manage your finances if you're not able with a financial Durable Power of Attorney, a specific document prepared by a lawyer, outlining what you want that person to do for you and when.---------------------------------------------In an ideal world Mr. Barry Yeoman is correct and these prior directives should avoid a guardianship and a lot of people out there think they are protected by having a Trust, Will an...
By: Elder Abuse
When Prior Planning Directives Become Moot Points
2008-02-27 12:55:00 When did this Become Acceptable Behavior in the United States of America?By Albert HenrySome time back my Mother took ill and, living alone as she does, found herself in what is not an entirely unique position. The effects of cataracts and severe hearing loss were compounded by whatever bug she'd caught and she went to bed to recuperate. Meals became an inconvenience and dehydration aggravated the situationFamily members dutifully converged on the sick bed. It was decided that a caregiver would stay on for a month to take care of the immediate situation while longer range plans could be put in place. It is important to note that my Mother had previously prepared for just such an eventuality by executing her living will and assigning a medical power of attorney, with instructions for specific circumstances, to my sister..... she was taken to a medical student who declared her to be suffering from age related dementia and her banking privileges were suspended effective immediately. H...
By: Elder Abuse
Florida Intestate Succession Fla Statutes 732.103
2008-02-08 13:05:00 by Attorney David Goldman of the Florida Estate Planning Blog When someone dies without a Florida Will Their property is distributed under the Florida Statutes. Chapter 732 define the order of succession to a decedent's property.732.103 Share of other heirs.--The part of the intestate estate not passing to the surviving spouse under s. 732.102, or the entire intestate estate if there is no surviving spouse, descends as follows:(1) To the descendants of the decedent.(2) If there is no descendant, to the decedent's father and mother equally, or to the survivor of them.(3) If there is none of the foregoing, to the decedent's brothers and sisters and the descendants of deceased brothers and sisters.(4) If there is none of the foregoing, the estate shall be divided, one-half of which shall go to the decedent's paternal, and the other half to the decedent's maternal, kindred in the following order:(a) To the grandfather and grandmother equally, or to the survivor of them.(b) If ther...
By: Elder Abuse
Dr. Robert Sarhan Pleas For Justice
2008-01-19 17:40:00 The Petitioner ,Yvonne Sarhan, never wanted nor requested a Guardian,this was forced upon her will......2. Yvonne Sarhan requested orally and in writing to Judge Bruce Levy."that if she had to have a guardian she wanted her son Robert,M.D."4. Yvonne Sarhan was commpent at the time of her being adjudicated incapacitated on August 5, 2003, she was ruled competent by the Court appointed Psychiatrist,Dr.Mario Sanchez on March 10,2004. Dr.David Racher also a board certified Neurologist at Baptist Hospital,also evaluated Yvonne Sarhan and both agreed that she was competent and had good judgment and Insight about her financial and personal life...... means these judges in the Probate are ruling the elderly people in South Florida incapacitated ,when they are fully compentent to make decision for themselves. ........Read about the Murky, Tipsy Turvy convoluted world of elder law, where nothing seems like it is...Please support Dr. Robert Sarhan who is due in court to have his case heard in ...
By: Elder Abuse
Relationship POA's to Other Instruments-Florida Estate Planning Lawyer Blog
2008-01-10 16:05:00 RELATIONSHIP OF POWER OF ATTORNEY TO OTHER LEGAL INSTRUMENTSby David M. Goldman, Esquire What is the difference between an attorney-in-fact and an executor or personal representative? An executor, termed a "personal representative" in Florida, is the person who takes care of another's estate after that person dies. An attorney-in-fact may only take care of the principal's affairs while the principal is alive. A personal representative may be named in a person's Will and is appointed by the court to administer the estate.What is the difference between a "trustee" and an "attorney-in- fact?" Like a power of attorney, a trust may authorize an individual to act for the maker of the trust during the maker's lifetime. Like an attorney-in-fact, the trustee may manage the financial affairs of the maker of the trust. A trustee only has power over an asset that is owned by the trust. In contrast, an attorney-in-fact may have authority over all of the principal's assets (except trust asse...
By: Elder Abuse
Power Of Attorneys Increasingly Used to Wipe Out Elder's Finances
2008-01-10 16:00:00 TREASURE VALLEY-Idaho-USA Mike Butts mbutts@idahopress.comAbusing power of attorney agreements has become a more serious problem in the Treasure Valley and across the United States. And a bill a professional group will present to the Idaho Legislature this year could work to change that.The power of attorney, which gives someone else the ability to legally take over another person?s financial affairs, is often used by older people no longer mentally or physically able to handle their own finances. They often sign the power over to their adult children.The power of attorney, which gives someone else the ability to legally take over another person?s financial affairs, is often used by older people no longer mentally or physically able to handle their own finances. They often sign the power over to their adult children.But family members or others have been increasingly taking advantage of powers of attorney and stealing money and assets from the elderly, sometimes completely wiping ou...
By: Elder Abuse
POA'S "You Don't Ask" and " I Won't Tell"
2008-01-03 19:00:00 Statues and Laws govern how a POA is to be used, specifically the laws states that a POA has to be constructively served.In principle this is a good law to protect our elders.By constructively serving a new POA the elder person serves to notify the world that he/she has changed agents if this is indeed his/her intentions.However in practice whenever Elder Financial abuse is performed, which is very often, according to statistics , this is often done in secret, usually a Power of Attorney form can be picked up at a stationary store, and excecuted in secret with or without the elder's consent who might be suffering from dementia or subject to manipulation and or undue influence and often times not remember even signing it..To constructively serve a Power of Attorney would defeat the purpose that it is being used for by swindlers , and would tip off the victim's family/attorneys of what you intend to do,usually liquidate and convert the elder's assets.So that the original agent of a...
By: Elder Abuse
How Could This Abuse Happen To My Mom? In Florida!
2007-12-19 05:00:00 By Candy Schulman, Chicago Tribune USA December 18,2007I received the phone call that every child of an elderly parent dreads. The management office in my mother's condo left this message: "We had a report that the aide who picks up your mother is verbally abusing your mother. We're quite concerned, and we'd like you to get in touch with us."My 94-year-old mother lived in Florida, 1,500 miles away. Like a detective I made a half-dozen calls until finally speaking to the woman who'd filed the report. "It was a blue Echo," she said, and I froze, knowing my mom's aide Josie (not her real name) drove that car. "The aide had her foot out the driver's door, so I could hear her yelling. She kept saying, 'Are you crazy? Are you crazy?' Then she slammed the car door and gunned the motor, took off real fast, stopping with a screech a few yards later. She started yelling at your mother again. I was so disturbed. I felt if this old woman had family, they ought to know. But even if she d...
By: Elder Abuse
Psychiatric Advance Directives: Controversies, Benefits
1970-01-01 00:59:00 In theory, psychiatric advance directives provide a way to improve medical decision making during a mental health crisis. Directives indicate, in advance, what treatments a patient prefers or who should make decisions if he or she becomes incapacitated. However, two key controversies surround these directives, reports the December 2007 issue of the Harvard Mental Health Letter. Psychiatric advance directives differ from general advance care directives in two ways. First, general directives dictate decisions about end-of-life treatments that the patient has never actually experienced. In contrast, psychiatric patients are generally dealing with chronic illnesses and have experience with the treatments. Second, the goal of a general advance care directive is to help life end in comfort; the goal of a psychiatric advance directive is to maximize the chances of recovery, while minimizing unwanted interventions. |
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