Power of Attorney – to Keep You in Control
The Constitution of the United States and the privacy laws that have emanated from its protections guarantee the right of each competent adult to act in her own behalf regarding…
Medicaid Where Assets Don’t Matter
I recently had the opportunity to help two clients who were in despair about lack of health care coverage. One was a young single mother of a disabled child, the…
Two Different Types of Special Needs Trusts
There are two types of Special Needs Trusts (SNTs), commonly designated as first-party and third-party SNTs. It is important to determine which type of SNT you have or need. This…
Plan For Your Health Care Decision-Making
The law presumes that every adult is competent to make his or her own health-care decisions, and that no one has authority to make such decisions for the individual unless…
Does Conservatorship End Joint Accounts?
Some folk think “estate planning” is putting their children on their bank accounts. However, this may not be enough if the client later becomes incapacitated. If the client does not…
Two Breaks for Disabled in New Tax Bill
The recent Tax Cuts and Jobs Act threatened to remove some important provisions for persons with disabilities from the law. However, two important provisions were kept after the tough negotiations…
Power of Attorney, Gifts and Self-Dealing
A recent Mississippi court case examined the legality of an attempted transfer of jointly-owned bank CDs by use of a power of attorney and how transactions done through the use…
Joint Custody by Grandparents Upheld by Court
More and more these days, grandparents have been called on to provide care for grandchildren due to problems experienced by their children. A recent Mississippi case expanded the interpretation of…
The New Reality of Old Age in America
People are living longer, more expensive lives, often without much of a safety net. As a result, record numbers of Americans older than 65 years of age are working —…
Why Do-it-Yourself Wills Don’t Work
From time to time, clients have come into our office with wills or powers of attorney they had prepared or printed from an online source. In most cases we have…