By Tim Barkley. November 2016. Elderly and alone, my client had faced the future with fear. Widowed and childless, she relied on her money to secure her the attentions of her neighbors and nieces. Money was the carrot; the stick was her threat to write them out of the will. Ambitious and unscrupulous, some of the recipients believed they had found an opportunity too good to pass up. They became perpetually importunate, sad faces masking an...

By Tim Barkley. July 2013. “Well, thank you for your time, your Honor.” The hearing on emergency guardianship had concluded in manner not entirely satisfactory to Susan and her brothers. “All rise!” directed the bailiff, as the judge departed the courtroom. Mary smirked at her siblings and left, wheeling her mother out. Susan turned to the lawyer with a stunned expression: “What just happened?”...

By Tim Barkley. June 2013. Susan’s voice was urgent: “I’m at my mom’s place at the assisted living. The social worker just told me that Mom signed a new power of attorney and replaced me. Our sister Mary, who hasn’t been around or spoken to Mom for years, is the agent. The social worker said Mary showed up last week, and she thinks Mary brought a lawyer here to have Mom sign the power of attorney. Can she do that?...