When Should You Review Your Estate Planning Documents?

First, let’s clarify what your estate planning documents are. Of course, they include your Will and any Codicils, and perhaps your trust or trusts. But they also include any powers of attorney (both financial and health care) as well as all beneficiary designations for life insurance, retirement plans, annuities and transfer on death accounts. A thorough review of your estate … Read More

When is a trust necessary or helpful?

There are many causes of mental and physical incapacity and there are many people who are very bad a managing money, and for one reason or another, should not be left in charge of their own investments.  In these cases, a trust may be a good idea.  It can be a revocable trust or it can be an irrevocable trust. … Read More

Should I Create a Trust to Avoid Probate?

Avoiding probate is a common reason for creating trusts. One thing to note is that only a funded trust will avoid probate. Meaning, only assets that have been transferred and titled in a trust will avoid probate.  When properly funded, the trust document and not a Will controls the disposition of the assets and avoids the necessity of opening a … Read More

How is a revocable trust funded? Should all assets be transferred to a revocable trust?

Revocable Trusts are funded by re-titling or transferring title by deed or assignment of individual assets to the revocable trust.  Assets may include stocks, bank accounts, real estate, timeshare interests, or business interests. Once assets are transferred into the trust, a schedule of assets should be attached to the trust document as this assists the trustee in the management of … Read More

Moving to a New State Can Get Complicated

Posted on July 5, 2016 by The Arc. To read the original article, please click HERE.  By Wendy H. Sheinberg, CELA written for The Arc in partnership with the Special Needs Alliance.  Moving to another state is a challenge for most families. If a family member has disabilities, that challenge is even greater. State benefit programs vary, and states administer federal programs at … Read More

Proud to be a Certified Elder Law Attorney

Last week I received an email from the new President of the Board of Directors of the National Elder Law Foundation (NELF). As a Certified Elder Law Attorney (CELA) myself, his words struck a chord with me. As CELAs, we take pride in the fact we are uniquely trained to work with the elderly, their families, and special needs clients. … Read More

Do I need a trust?

Just yesterday, I was asked by a friend “Do you think that I need a trust?” “Well,” I said, in my usual lawyerly fashion, “it depends.” In our law firm, we draft many trusts for many different reasons. We also discuss with clients whether or not they should have a trust of any sort. There are many types of trusts, … Read More

Illness & Suffering: A Cat’s Viewpoint of the Medical System

My cat Jaspurr stopped eating sometime in the fall of 2015.  I did not notice this because the other cat was finishing up the left overs in all the dishes.  But I finally did notice when he became emaciated to the point that he was skin, bones and fur.  I took him to the vet.  The vet took blood and … Read More

ABLE Act for New Mexico

In December, 2014, Congress passed the Stephen Beck, Jr., Achieving a Better Life Experience Act (“ABLE”). The federal law amends Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code as a new Section 529A. Only people whose disability was established prior to age 26 can open an ABLE account. Anyone can contribute to an ABLE account, but the total of all contributions … Read More

How to Dispose of Tangible Personal Property

We have heard the time worn adage “One man’s treasures are another man’s junk.” Put more personally, when I have moved from one residence to another, I have always been surprised by boxes that are never unpacked, or by discovering property and household items in the back of cupboards that I have never used. What I thought were going to … Read More

The Right of Same-Sex Marriage

The United States Supreme Court Upholds the Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry. On June 26, 2015, the United States Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, authored by Justice Kennedy, upheld the right to marry as a fundamental right in the U. S. Constitution, no matter the genders of the two who wish to marry.  There were several appellants in … Read More

What is a living trust and should I have one?

Many people in New Mexico have what they call “living trusts.” Although there are many seminars offered on living trusts, many people who have them do not need them. On the other hand, our office does prepare these trusts for our clients, but only in circumstances where the trust will solve a present problem or a future one. The use … Read More

What is a Living Will?

In the late 1980’s, people around the United States began asserting their right to self-determination to decide how their medical care should be managed during the last days or weeks of their lives. They invented the term “living will” to describe a document that would describe their intentions and that could be presented to medical providers. Courts and legislatures were … Read More

Planning for Long Term Care

Helpful Tips to Help You and Your Loved Ones Plan For Long Term Care Caring for a disabled family member can be exhausting and navigating the system for public benefits to provide for your loved one’s ongoing financial security only increases the burden.  Here are some helpful tips to get you started with long-term care. Start Planning EARLY! Nobody knows … Read More

What if you are appointed as Personal Representative, Trustee or Agent?

First, we have to understand the concept of a “hot document.”  A hot document is one that confers authority.  A Will is never a hot document until the Testator dies.  A Power of Attorney usually confers authority at the time that the document is signed.  Sometimes, a Power of Attorney is drafted as a “springing power” which means that it … Read More

The Special Needs Alliance

I attended a spring “boot camp” of the Special Needs Alliance last weekend.  I have been a member of this organization since 2002.  It is an invitation-only professional organization of lawyers who have expertise in planning with families who have disabled family members.  These lawyers are a reliable place to start when a family needs to know about trusts, Medicaid … Read More

Annual PBWS Trust School Held on Saturday, March 5, 2011

Last Saturday, several of our clients, friends and their family members, attended our annual Trust School.  We hold another session of the Trust School each fall, concentrating on Special Needs Trusts.  But this spring session is all about all types of trusts.  The title this year was “The Truth About Revocable Trusts.”  The co-sponsor was Bank of the West.  Their … Read More

Is Being an Agent a Mission Impossible?

An agent is a person chosen by another person to act on their behalf.  The person who chooses an agent is often called the “principal.”  The agent represents the legal rights and responsibilities of the principal, but the principal does not give up any of those rights when appointing an agent.  The most common form of agency that our law … Read More

In Health Care, Where Does All the Money Go?

I really do not know the answer to this question.  But now that I have your attention, let me talk about two articles that appeared recently.  The first article is titled “With health care, like anything else, we get what we pay for,” which appeared in a February 7, 2011, column by Winthrop Quigley in the Albuquerque Journal.  In that … Read More

Why do we Worry About a Conflict of Interest?

In our law practice, we represent family members.  When we are retained, it often has something to do with our client’s relationship with his or her family.  Families are organic and they have systemic issues that date back for many years.  We work very hard to design solutions to problems that aim at strengthening relationships in families, but sometimes, that … Read More

Medicaid Long Term Basics

We have many people who contact us about financing long term care. Sometimes there has been a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s or another long term debilitating disease, and sometimes there has been a fall or a sudden illness that puts the family in crisis mode. In any case, it is not unusual to have to undo and restructure some preliminary Medicaid … Read More

Why Can’t I Have a Trust?

When you open your newspaper and a pink flyer falls out telling you to come to a seminar about trusts, does that make you wonder why you do not have one too?  It seems like everyone has trusts these days.  Should everyone have trusts, as the flyer seems to imply?  Maybe I should have one and my lawyer just forgot … Read More

What My Family Should Know

My adult daughter asked me once what medications I was taking.  I told her that I took two prescription medicines.  She asked me what they were and what they were for.  I told her that one was a medicine for hypertension and that the name started with a B, and the other was for high cholesterol, and the name of … Read More

NAPA Becomes Law

On January 4, 2011, The National Alzheimer’s Project Act (“NAPA”) was enacted by Congress.  This Act creates an integrated national plan to overcome Alzheimer’s, which includes providing information and coordination of research across all Federal agencies aimed at improving the early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and to coordinate the care and treatment of patients who have Alzheimer’s. According to the … Read More

Ho Hum. Oh! Ho Ho Ho

The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010, also known as the Tax Relief Act of 2010, was signed by the President on December 17, 2010.   For those of us interested in estate and gift taxes, we learned right away that this Act provides significant estate and gift tax relief by increasing the federal applicable exemption … Read More

President Obama Signs Tax Bill

On Friday, December 17, President Obama signed tax legislation that extends the current income tax rates and capital gain rates for two years.  Below are the income tax rate schedules. The capital gain rate will remain 15% for long term capital gains. Single Filing Status [Tax Rate Schedule X, Internal Revenue Code section 1(c)] 10% on income between $0 and … Read More

Taxes Taxes Taxes

We have been following the debate among the Democrats and the Republicans and the White House over taxes during this lame duck session.  Below is a blog from attorney Jeffrey A. Marshal in Pennsylvania, that describes the bill that has been introduced in the Senate by Harry Reid proposing to change the picture for the estate and gift tax in … Read More

Budget Cuts and Medical Care

In a press release dated November 23, 2010, Dr. Alfredo Vigil, Secretary of Health for New Mexico, announced an 8% cut to the annual budgets of the 3,700 recipients of Developmental Disabilities Waiver Program.  There will also be a 5% rate reduction for all providers in this program.  Most significantly, Dr. Vigil stated that no more families will be admitted … Read More

Over the River and Through the Woods

The cover of The New Yorker this week features a turkey with different slices marked for different nutty relatives.  It is an example of the dread that many families feel about the holidays.  What will happen around the table this year?  Will we have a repeat of the anger, frustration, silliness, shame or embarrassment that has happened in years past?  … Read More

Pets, You Gotta Love ‘Em

Our pets are beloved family members.  Most of us will go to more trouble caring for our pets than we might for our children.  My daughter used to criticize me because in her eyes, I would wisk our family cat off the vet if she had a warm nose, and if my daughter felt sick I would say “Well, let’s … Read More

Continuing Care Retirement Facilities

We all live where we want to, until we can’t anymore.  Then, housing becomes a much bigger issue than we ever thought it would be.  It is not about which town, or which neighborhood, or split level or ranch.  It is about what type of housing will accommodate us as we age, and, to be honest, as we grow more … Read More

PBWS Goes On The Road

Last week the annual Southern New Mexico Estate Planning Institute was held.  This is the 18th year of this institute, and it continues to be very high level and the best two day program addressing the issues of estate planning that is held in New Mexico.  It attracts lawyers, accountants, trust officers, development professionals and financial planners mostly from the … Read More

Restaurant Review

Ordinarily we would not do a blog about restaurants that we like, but this is not an ordinary restaurant.  We had lunch on Friday at Tim’s Place.  You may have read about this eatery in the local newspaper, because it opened just recently.  It was recommended to me by a friend in California.  Really!  From California.  He had heard about … Read More

What is a Posse?

We know about posses from watching western movies.  The sheriff deputized a group of men by giving them badges, and then they rode off on their horses to catch the cattle thief.  The posse was an organized group who were endowed with certain powers and duties of loyalty to the sheriff all in the interest of a common goal, to … Read More

Who Is Protecting Seniors?

Ads have been running on TV paid for by the Coalition to Protect Seniors, Inc., which state that people on Medicare should oppose health care reform because it will take away $445 million in Medicare benefits.  Our law firm works very hard to protect seniors, and we have studied the Affordable Care Act, and we do not think that it … Read More

September 23, 2010, A Big Day!

In 2009, a woman came to our office who had been referred to us by a divorce attorney.  She was a mother whose 6 year old son was born with a chromosomal defect.  The family is an honest hard working family.  Dad worked in construction and mom had recently taken a part time job as a home health aide.  Neither … Read More

What It Takes to Stay at Home

As we age, we can lose many of the faculties that we have taken for granted for years such as, hearing, sight, balance, memory and mobility, to name a few. Even with very good health, these functions upon which we have depended for years can fail us. The familiarity of our homes becomes one of the things that we can … Read More

Legislative Risk

Legislative Risk: No federal estate tax in 2010.  No step up in basis in 2010 (except for $1.3 million).  Will the Bush tax cuts expire?  No more two year GRATs?  What will happen in 2011?  Uncertainty.  Like we do not have enough of it! Are there opportunities for planning in all of this uncertainty?  Here are a few: If you … Read More

Advice From a Grandmother

I am spending this week eagerly awaiting the arrival of my first grandchild.  I know, this is old hat for many of you, and you are the lucky ones!  But this is my first.  What advice can I give the new parents without being too pushy or meddling,but imparting the wisdom of my age and experience?  Make sure that you … Read More

Nursing Home Rebels

Assert yourself at any age One of our client’s mother moved recently from independent living to an assisted living facility in the Sacramento Valley in California.  She had previously lived in an apartment independently, and she had been responsible for her own meals and taking her own medications.  As she aged, however, she decided that she could benefit from more … Read More

New Test for Alzheimer’s

The New York Times ran an article on August 10, 2010, reporting that a study had been completed showing that a spinal fluid test can predict whether or not a patient has Alzheimer’s.  It is now well known that a person can have this dreaded disease for ten or more years before symptoms appear.  Once the disease has become evident, … Read More

All About Blogging

One feature of our new website will be a regular blog.  What by the way is a blog?  What we intend to do with our blog is to provide a mix of news that we think will interest our friends and clients, tax law and litigation updates, and stories that we think will inspire.  We will also offer a question … Read More

Do I Need an Estate Plan?

My short answer to this question is “Yes!” “Oh,” you might say, “of course you would say that; you are an estate planning lawyer and you are drumming up business.” Setting your suspicions aside, let me tell you that everyone has an estate plan already, provided for you by state and federal law.  If you are over 18, and legally … Read More