ACHING JOINTS. SOLUTIONS FOR JOINT OWNERSHIP.
Aching Joints. October 2018. By Timothy S. Barkley, Sr. “When my husband died, my kids wanted me to put them on the house. I haven't done it yet – should I? My daughter lives locally, and she's on my accounts so that if something happens to me, she can take over.” Mrs. Selby was visiting her attorney to discuss updating her will after the death of her husband of over forty years. She was testing “conventional wisdom” against professional advice. Her four children had suggested ways to simplify management of her money during her life and transfers at death by using joint ownership. Her attorney asserted, “I never advise joint ownership with children. The problem is the ‘owner’ part of ‘joint ownership.’ When you make your child a joint...
BY HOOK OR BY…
By Hook Or By... September 2018. By Timothy S. Barkley, Sr. The phone rings a lot. “My sister who lives with Mom never lets me talk to Mom or see her. When I call she hangs up the phone, and if I come to her house she pretends nobody is home. She even disconnected the doorbell. I think she told Mom I was dead. I just went to the adult day care that I heard Mom was at, and she was there, so I took her out to lunch. She cried and told me she missed me and wanted me to take care of her. Can we get a power of attorney?” Meanwhile, across town in another lawyer’s office, the phone rings: “My brother – the druggie nobody has heard from in years – just took Mom out of her day care. He told the staff he was taking her to lunch. Now she’s talking...
GUARDIANSHIP
Guardianship. July 2018. By Timothy S. Barkley, Sr. The lawyer’s telephone rang. A man’s voice on the other end spoke urgently: “My name is Henry Jones. My mother, Ophelia Jones, fell yesterday and is in the hospital. I saw a power of attorney on her desk with your card. Did she sign it?” “I’m sorry, Henry” replied the attorney. “I hope she’ll be OK. Your mother only took it home a few weeks ago to review it, and hadn’t called to set up a time to sign it. Unless she signed it somewhere else, it’s probably not signed, and not effective.” “Can I get her to sign it in the hospital?” the son asked. “That depends. Is she mentally ‘with it’?” “No,” Henry lamented. “She hit her head pretty hard on the coffee table when she fell, and...
LESS COMPLICATING
Less Complicating. June 2018. By Timothy S. Barkley, Sr. First, the phone call. “Can you look over our wills and trusts? It’s been a few years, and we want somebody to make sure they’re up-to-date. And we’re going on vacation and want to make sure everything is covered in case something happens.” Certainly. Let’s get together. Next week? The meeting. “We had this done about twenty years ago by a lawyer in Rockville. I read your articles, and I keep hearing about changes in the tax laws. Can you look at this and tell us if we have to change anything?” The lawyer assents, hefts the proffered three-ring binder of estate papers, and begins to flip through. “This plan creates two trusts, to protect your kids from estate tax when the second of...
CONSTRUCTING A PLAN
By Timothy S. Barkley, Sr. May 2018. Our last installment ended with our intrepid caregiver, Elizabeth, lamenting, “That's what scares me. Who can help me put together a plan?” Her attorney nodded. “It is a scary situation. The thought of your mother coming home from rehab to an apartment that she can't access, living alone there with your father who has become unable to handle life's realities, is frightening.” Elizabeth nodded. “There's no money to have them both go someplace where they'll get care. It seems like it's all up to me.” The attorney empathized. “That's going to be more and more often the case, I'm afraid, as folks realize their retirement savings just aren't adequate to see them through the end of life. Medicaid...
THE SANDWICH SHOP
By Timothy S. Barkley, Sr. April 2018. The attorney's phone rang. He activated his headset, “This is Tim.” “Good morning! This is Elizabeth Johnson. I need to talk to you. It's about my parents. My mother fell last night, and was taken to a local hospital with a broken hip. She hit her head, too, when she fell. My dad is upset, and not making much sense.” They met a couple of hours later. “I'm sorry about your folks!” “Thank you,” she said with feeling. “My mom is stable, but the bump on her head seems to have affected her vision. She's on pain meds, and doesn't remember the fall. They say they'll put a pin in her hip as soon as she's been completely checked out, then send her to a nursing home for therapy. That'll take a couple of days....
MEET THE JOHNSONS
By Timothy S. Barkley, Sr. March 2018. The bell on the outside doorknob jangled, startling the attorney out of his reverie. It had been a long day, and there was another client appointment pending. He straightened, stretched and strode to the waiting room. A middle-aged couple stood waiting there. He held out his hand, introducing himself. They reciprocated, “Albert Johnson, but you can call me Bertie.” “Elizabeth Johnson, and please DON'T call me Liz or Beth. It's 'Elizabeth.'” The attorney inclined his head, smiling: “As you wish.” “Thank you for seeing us so late.” This from Elizabeth, who returned the smile. “Our lives are so harried, we can hardly find time for anything outside the usual routine.” “No problem at all,” the attorney...
I NEED A LAWYER
By Timothy S. Barkley, Sr. February 2018. “My brother said we should just download a will off the Internet for our mother, but that made me nervous. I didn’t understand it, and when I asked what things meant, he got mad at me. I don’t think he understood it, either.” I looked at the Will. It left everything to Mom’s three children, whom we will call A, B and C, and provided that if “any” of them died, the estate would be distributed to “their children.” C has already died. When Mom dies, should C’s share be distributed to C’s children (more correctly denominated “his children”), or in equal shares to the children of A, the children of B and the children of C (“their children”)? Did Mom want C’s share to stay in C’s family, or did Mom want...
JUST ANOTHER ESTATE PLAN
By Timothy S. Barkley, Sr. December 2017. “So first, I need to know a little about you. Married?” “Yes.” The hirsute gentleman nodded his head. “Will your spouse be joining us?” “No,” he said, “this is something I need to get done real soon. I leave for a business trip in a week and want this signed before I leave. Can you do that? I’ve been putting this off for a long time and promised the wife I’d get it done before I go.” “When do you leave?” “I fly out on the 24th and would like to get this in place before I leave.” “Can do, but we need to move quickly. So, you’re married. Any kids?” “Yes, from my first marriage.” “Are they adults?” “No.” “Is their mother still around? If she is, the kids would just go to her as their natural parent...
OUR TOWN
By Timothy S. Barkley, Sr. November 2017. The man plucked at my elbow in the Post Office the other day. “You're that guy!” he exclaimed, “that guy who writes for the Messenger.” Relieved that he had not mistaken me for some old enemy, I nodded and smiled. “Wait a minute, I know you!” said the lady in Wal-Mart a few weeks later. “You write about wills for the paper.” Pleased to be thus recognized, I allowed myself to be finagled into a short conversation on the topic of trusts. “I can't take you anywhere,” muttered my wife. “People keep stopping us to chat.” A few days ago, a neighbor stopped her minivan and rolled down her window as I walked to work. “I'm going in for an operation in a couple of days and don't have a power of...
EXECUTOR 102: WHAT DO I DO NOW?
By Timothy S. Barkley, Sr. October 2017. Uncle Herman has just died, and you have been duly selected as the Executor of his Last Will and Testament. Hopefully, you were forewarned. Congratulations. You must marshal, preserve, and distribute the assets of the Estate in accordance with the terms of the Will and the Law; and treat creditors, beneficiaries, and the taxing authority impartially. This can be no small feat. If you are also a “legatee” – that is, a beneficiary of the Will – you have an inherent conflict of interest, since you must (a) make sure all legitimate creditors are paid, while (b) hoping your own inheritance is not diminished. While this sounds simple enough for a reasonably moral individual, there are times when...
EXECUTOR 101: SO YOU’RE AN EXECUTOR
By Timothy S. Barkley, Sr. September 2017. You have just been notified that you are the executor of your uncle's will - the uncle whose funeral you attended yesterday. Or, he didn't die yet, but he confided that fact at the latest family gathering on the occasion of your parents' golden anniversary. Or, perhaps you're the uncle trying to decide on who to bestow that signal honor, as you rewrite your will after the death of your only child - or write your will for the first time, figuring that now that you're retired, it's time to think about what happens when you die. Whatever your circumstance, well-laid plans "gang aft agleigh," as the Bard wrote. Your plans, and the plans of your loved ones, can be torn asunder by the choice of the...