When you establish a special needs trust pay particular attention to the most important part: choosing a trustee. The choice of trustee really determines how well the trust will work.There are several different types of special needs trust. Some are est

At Fleming & Curti, PLC, we often act as fiduciary. We might be a trustee, or a guardian or conservator, or an agent. In all of those roles, we try to make regular home visits.Why do we feel strongly about home visits? Because that's the best way to get

Clients often come to us because they believe they need a guardianship. Perhaps their spouse has ended up in assisted living or a nursing home. Maybe their developmentally disabled child just turned 17 and they have been told they should get the process u

When a former client becomes incapacitated, we might hear from family members asking that we share documents and offer legal advice. We might take a little time to figure out what we can share and what additional information we might need to get. If our o

You've carefully considered your estate plan, and decided it's important to avoid probate. One way to accomplish that: use beneficiary designations to direct assets to named beneficiaries. But don't forget the importance of maintaining those beneficiary d

The HEMS standard, common in trusts, is an arcane expression. That does it mean, and what's the significance?If the trust directs the trustee to pay attention to the "health, education, maintenance and support" of a beneficiary, that's magic language in

529 Plans (for education) and ABLE Act accounts are tax cousins -- sort of. Recent tax law changes bring them closer together. We update you on how the new rules can work

Arizona law about giving notice in probate, guardianship and conservatorship proceedings has recently changed. What might have been a well-meaning piece of legislation has significantly increased the cost of court proceedings. And there's very little reas

We often find ourselves representing couples in development of a comprehensive estate plan. Do both spouses/partners need separate counsel? Not usually, but everyone has to appreciate that there are challenges.As we discuss in this podcast episode, ther

Last week the Arizona Court of Appeals decided that people under guardianship do not automatically lose the right to vote. In this podcast episode, we discuss the case and its implications for other individuals.As we explained in a recent issue of our n