Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Berch has announced the formation of a new committee “to examine ways to streamline and improve monitoring for those for whom guardians or conservators have been appointed.” Court of Appeals Judge Ann Scott Timmer will be chairing that committee. In addition, Justice Berch announced that the Arizona Supreme Court “will form a committee to review the fees that are charged by those appointed to serve as guardians and fiduciaries.”
You can find the full text of the State of the Judiciary speech here: http://www.azcourts.gov/portals/51/2010StateoftheJudiciary.pdf.
Paul Deloughery
(You can contact me directly by email at paul@delougherylaw.com or phone at 602-443-4888. For more information, visit www.delougherylaw.com)
The information in this blog is general in nature and is not intended to address any particular situation.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Arizona UAGPPJA passes
HB2426 (the Uniform Adult Guardianship and Protective Proceedings Jurisdiction Act) passed the Arizona Senate Committee on Public Safety and Human Services this morning. This is good news!
HB2425 (which would limit attorneys fees in adult exploitation cases) also passed the Committee. I am not a fan of this bill, because it further limits attorney fees in adult exploitation cases by limiting attorney fees to actual damages (unless a judge permits additional fees). For instance, if an older adult dies from neglect in a nursing home, there may be only minimal "damages." However, traditionally the threat of punitive damages is more of a deterrent to wrongful or negligent conduct. And these cases are normally taken on a contingency fee basis. This new bill will reduce the number of attorneys willing take these cases because they are taking even more of a risk that they will not be paid.
Paul Deloughery
(You can contact me directly by email at paul@delougherylaw.com or phone at 602-443-4888. For more information, visit www.delougherylaw.com)
The information in this blog is general in nature and is not intended to address any particular situation.
HB2425 (which would limit attorneys fees in adult exploitation cases) also passed the Committee. I am not a fan of this bill, because it further limits attorney fees in adult exploitation cases by limiting attorney fees to actual damages (unless a judge permits additional fees). For instance, if an older adult dies from neglect in a nursing home, there may be only minimal "damages." However, traditionally the threat of punitive damages is more of a deterrent to wrongful or negligent conduct. And these cases are normally taken on a contingency fee basis. This new bill will reduce the number of attorneys willing take these cases because they are taking even more of a risk that they will not be paid.
Paul Deloughery
(You can contact me directly by email at paul@delougherylaw.com or phone at 602-443-4888. For more information, visit www.delougherylaw.com)
The information in this blog is general in nature and is not intended to address any particular situation.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
How to hold large amount of cash
There are times when a person needs to hold a large amount of cash. Perhaps a large tax bill is owing (such as an estate tax). Also, more and more people skiddish on the stock market or the future of the American dollar are holding a large portion of their wealth (such as 20% or more) in cash. So ... how do you hold $1,000,000 or more in cash?
Few people would suggest that you hold the actual physical cash. Cash in a house can get stolen or destroyed in a fire. Better would be to put it in a Certificate of Deposit Account Registry Service (CDARS) account. Read more about this at http://www.cdars.com/. Essentially, participating banks will distribute the funds among other participating banks so that all funds are held in accounts that qualify for the FDIC insurance. If you want to be even more careful, you can research which banks will be holding the funds by going to www.institutionalriskanalytics.com and looking up the "IRA" grade of the specific banks. It is scary how difficult it is to find a bank with an A grade.
I hope this information is helpful. Paul Deloughery
(You can contact me directly by email at paul@delougherylaw.com or phone at 602-443-4888. For more information, visit www.delougherylaw.com)
The information in this blog is general in nature and is not intended to address any particular situation.
Few people would suggest that you hold the actual physical cash. Cash in a house can get stolen or destroyed in a fire. Better would be to put it in a Certificate of Deposit Account Registry Service (CDARS) account. Read more about this at http://www.cdars.com/. Essentially, participating banks will distribute the funds among other participating banks so that all funds are held in accounts that qualify for the FDIC insurance. If you want to be even more careful, you can research which banks will be holding the funds by going to www.institutionalriskanalytics.com and looking up the "IRA" grade of the specific banks. It is scary how difficult it is to find a bank with an A grade.
I hope this information is helpful. Paul Deloughery
(You can contact me directly by email at paul@delougherylaw.com or phone at 602-443-4888. For more information, visit www.delougherylaw.com)
The information in this blog is general in nature and is not intended to address any particular situation.
Update on the UAGPPJA and other legislation
The proposed Arizona Uniform Adult Guardianship and Protected Proceeding Jurisdiction Act (HB2426) has been single-assigned to the Senate Committee on Public Safety and Human Services. It is unknown when a hearing on that bill will be held.
The bill to limit attorney fee awards in vulnerable adult cases
(HB2425) passed the House yesterday on Third Read and has been sent to the Senate. It has not yet been assigned to a committee(s).
I hope this information is helpful. Paul Deloughery
(You can contact me directly by email at paul@delougherylaw.com or phone at 602-443-4888. For more information, visit www.delougherylaw.com)
The information in this blog is general in nature and is not intended to address any particular situation.
The bill to limit attorney fee awards in vulnerable adult cases
(HB2425) passed the House yesterday on Third Read and has been sent to the Senate. It has not yet been assigned to a committee(s).
I hope this information is helpful. Paul Deloughery
(You can contact me directly by email at paul@delougherylaw.com or phone at 602-443-4888. For more information, visit www.delougherylaw.com)
The information in this blog is general in nature and is not intended to address any particular situation.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Estate Tax Update
The U.S. Senate adjourned on Thursday, December 24th without addressing the current estate tax law scheduled to enter one year of full repeal in 2010 followed by a return of the estate tax in 2011 with much lower exemption amount ($1 million) and a much higher maximum tax rate (55%).
On Dec 3, 2009 the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 4154 which would have made the 2009 Estate Tax Level Permanent. For calendar year 2009, the estate tax exemption amount is $3.5 million ($7 million total for a married couple) and the maximum tax rate on estates is 45%.
I hope this information is helpful. Paul Deloughery
(You can contact me directly by email at paul@delougherylaw.com or phone at 602-443-4888. For more information, visit www.delougherylaw.com)
The information in this blog is general in nature and is not intended to address any particular situation.
On Dec 3, 2009 the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 4154 which would have made the 2009 Estate Tax Level Permanent. For calendar year 2009, the estate tax exemption amount is $3.5 million ($7 million total for a married couple) and the maximum tax rate on estates is 45%.
I hope this information is helpful. Paul Deloughery
(You can contact me directly by email at paul@delougherylaw.com or phone at 602-443-4888. For more information, visit www.delougherylaw.com)
The information in this blog is general in nature and is not intended to address any particular situation.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Removing a personal representative or trustee
I just posted a new article about removing a personal representative or trustee based on breach of fiduciary duty. You can read the article here.
I hope this information is helpful. Paul Deloughery
(You can contact me directly by email at paul@delougherylaw.com or phone at 602-443-4888. For more information, visit www.delougherylaw.com)
The information in this blog is general in nature and is not intended to address any particular situation.
I hope this information is helpful. Paul Deloughery
(You can contact me directly by email at paul@delougherylaw.com or phone at 602-443-4888. For more information, visit www.delougherylaw.com)
The information in this blog is general in nature and is not intended to address any particular situation.
Transferring Property Without Probate
Clients frequently ask me something like the following: “I inherited a piece of property, do I have to go through probate just to transfer this one piece of property into my name?” In Arizona, the answer is often no.
If the property has $75,000.00 or less in equity, the land can often be transferred to the new owner without probate. In Arizona’s depressed real estate market, more and more properties now have less than $75,000.00 in equity and therefore qualify for transfer via an “Affidavit of Real Property Transfer.” (Real property just means land, as opposed to “personal property” which means cars, jewelry, furniture, etc.)
To determine whether the property has $75,000.00 or less in equity, simply subtract the outstanding balance of any lien against the property (a mortgage or “deed of trust”) from the assessed value of the land. For example, if the County Assessor’s Office values the land at $100,000.00 and the property has an outstanding mortgage balance of $50,000.00, this property has $50,000.00 in equity, and it qualifies for transfer via an affidavit.
There are some other restrictions, however. All of the following must be true to use an affidavit instead of probate:
-the prior owner must have died at least six months prior to filing the affidavit;
-a personal representative must not have been appointed over the prior owner’s estate in Arizona or any other state (if a personal representative has been discharged, an affidavit may still be used);
-the prior owner’s debts must be paid, including funeral expenses and expenses of his/her last illness.
-Title companies may require a probate even though you have met all of these other requirements. This is often because of the title insurance requirements.
There are a few additional restrictions, but if the prior statements all apply, you likely can use an affidavit rather than probate to transfer the property into your name. Feel free to contact us to determine if an affidavit can be used in your case. Deloughery Law Office, P.C. charges a low flat fee (plus filing fees which vary by county but typically total between $250.00 and $300.00) to draft and file the affidavit and all the other required documents.
If an affidavit is not available in your case, we can still assist you either through opening an informal probate or ancillary probate (which is used if the prior owner’s estate is being probated in another jurisdiction).
I hope this information is helpful. Paul Deloughery
(You can contact me directly by email at paul@delougherylaw.com or phone at 602-443-4888. For more information, visit www.delougherylaw.com)
The information in this blog is general in nature and is not intended to address any particular situation.
If the property has $75,000.00 or less in equity, the land can often be transferred to the new owner without probate. In Arizona’s depressed real estate market, more and more properties now have less than $75,000.00 in equity and therefore qualify for transfer via an “Affidavit of Real Property Transfer.” (Real property just means land, as opposed to “personal property” which means cars, jewelry, furniture, etc.)
To determine whether the property has $75,000.00 or less in equity, simply subtract the outstanding balance of any lien against the property (a mortgage or “deed of trust”) from the assessed value of the land. For example, if the County Assessor’s Office values the land at $100,000.00 and the property has an outstanding mortgage balance of $50,000.00, this property has $50,000.00 in equity, and it qualifies for transfer via an affidavit.
There are some other restrictions, however. All of the following must be true to use an affidavit instead of probate:
-the prior owner must have died at least six months prior to filing the affidavit;
-a personal representative must not have been appointed over the prior owner’s estate in Arizona or any other state (if a personal representative has been discharged, an affidavit may still be used);
-the prior owner’s debts must be paid, including funeral expenses and expenses of his/her last illness.
-Title companies may require a probate even though you have met all of these other requirements. This is often because of the title insurance requirements.
There are a few additional restrictions, but if the prior statements all apply, you likely can use an affidavit rather than probate to transfer the property into your name. Feel free to contact us to determine if an affidavit can be used in your case. Deloughery Law Office, P.C. charges a low flat fee (plus filing fees which vary by county but typically total between $250.00 and $300.00) to draft and file the affidavit and all the other required documents.
If an affidavit is not available in your case, we can still assist you either through opening an informal probate or ancillary probate (which is used if the prior owner’s estate is being probated in another jurisdiction).
I hope this information is helpful. Paul Deloughery
(You can contact me directly by email at paul@delougherylaw.com or phone at 602-443-4888. For more information, visit www.delougherylaw.com)
The information in this blog is general in nature and is not intended to address any particular situation.
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