How to Request a Detailed Accounting from the Trustee?

The beneficiaries of a trust are usually entitled to receive an accounting, whether by virtue of the terms of the trust or because it is required by applicable statute (for example, the applicable Arizona statute is found at A.R.S. § 14-7303). However, statutes and trust documents rarely specify exactly what kind of accounting is required. Even if the applicable state statute may not require a detailed accounting, an Arizona court may order such a detailed accounting as an equitable remedy. 3 Am. Jur. 2d Agency § 321 (Action for accounting or for breach of duty to account). The type of accounting is relevant because, as the saying goes, the devil is in the details and you as a beneficiary want a full disclosure of all the relevant facts to be able to protect your interests and to know if the trustee is doing a good job.

A detailed accounting might include the following:

(1) A statement of receipts and disbursements of principal and income that have occurred during the last complete fiscal year of the trust or since the last account.

(2) A statement of the assets and liabilities of the trust as of the end of the last complete fiscal year of the trust or as of the end of the period covered by the account.

(3) The trustee's compensation for the last complete fiscal year of the trust or since the last account.

(4) The agents hired by the trustee, their relationship to the trustee, if any, and their compensation, for the last complete fiscal year of the trust or since the last account.

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.

Family Law Is Added As Practice Area

Deloughery Law Office, P.C. is soon to become Deloughery & Ruotolo, P.C. Fred Ruotolo is moving over from the NRG law firm (which stood for Nirenstein, Ruotolo and Garnice, PLC) to broaden the former Deloughery Law areas of practice into family law. Fred is a very reputable attorney with extensive experience in divorce, custody, maintenance, child support ... and, by the way, he is also familiar with estate planning issues.

Click here to read more.

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.

Statute of Limitations Against Trustees

An action against a trustee for breach of trust much generally be commenced within two years after (1) the resignation, death or removal of a trustee, (2) the termination of the benericiary's interest, or (3) the termination of the trust. See the Arizona Trust Code at A.R.S. 14-11005. This limitations period can be shortened to one year by sending a report that adequately discloses the the existence of a potential claim for breach of trust and informs the beneficiary of the time allowed for commencing a proceeding. The date the notice is sent is the beginning of the one-year period. Such a report must provide sufficient information for the beneficiary to know, or that would indicate he "should have inquired," of the potential claim.

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.

Joint Probate

In the event that a husband and wife both die, and there has not been a probate on either of their estates, you can actually probate both estates. You would file both Wills, and caption the pleadings like "In The Matter of the Estates of Matthew Blank and Missy Blank."

For more information, contact me.

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.

Remember to Effectuate Personal Service In Temporary Guardianship and Conservatorship Procedure

One of the most common mistakes made by persons who have successfully been appointed guardian or temporary conservator is to fail to have the "incapacitated person" (aka the ward), personally served with the court pleadings upon appointment of a temporary guardian.

A.R.S. § 14-5310(B)(4.) provides, "The petitioner or the petitioner's attorney certifies that that person will give notice of the petition, the order and all filed reports and affidavits to the proposed ward by personal service within the time period the court directs but not in excess of seventy-two hours following entry of the order of appointment."

A.R.S. § 14-5401.01(B)(4) provides a comparable provision for temporary conservatorships.

The Maricopa County Superior Court's website has a useful checklist for persons who have been appointed. Also, just be sure to read the Order that appoints you as the guardian or conservator.

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.

Division of personal property

Probably everyone has heard a story about a divorce where both parties racked up huge legal fees fighting over the pet dog and the dishes. Well, the same thing can happen in a probate or trust administration if things are not done correctly. There is no substitute for the help of an experienced probate attorney to help you avoid these legal landmines. For more information about this issue, click here to see an article that I recently added to my website.

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.

interim accountings required by conservator

I am interested in how other fiduciaries handle the requests for interim accountings from family members.
 
A conservator is required to do the annual accounting per statute.  If you are a conservator, a family member may ask you for an interim accounting. If a family member is requesting accountings more frequently, the conservator may agree to do so under the condition that the ward is not paying but the requesting party pays the additional costs.
 
As an alternative, if you are consrvator, you may use Quicken to keep track of your wards’ finances so if a family member wants an interim accounting you just provide them with an itemized category report. That is quick (it takes 5 minutes to run the report) and typically provides the family member with all of the information they are looking for without preparing a full blown accounting.

14-5418(B) doesn’t require the conservator to provide an accounting.  It only requires the conservator to keep “suitable records of the conservator’s administration” and to “exhibit” those records “on the request of any interested person.”  Thus, as the attorney for the conservatorship, I would tell the family members that I will either provide them with a copy of my Quicken register (or similar type internal recordkeeping that I maintain in the ordinary course of business) or that they may come to my office and view copies of the bank statements, receipts, etc.  (Note that 14-5418 does not require you to even provide them with copies of the documents; only that you “exhibit” them.)

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.

New bill regarding guardians and withholding life support

There is a new bill being proposed at http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/49leg/1r/adopted/h.2616-se-hhs.pdf. Apparently, this legislation came about after a spouse instructed physicians to withdraw life support from her husband in the absence of any written directives or a health care power of attorney. The husband was apparently in a medically induced comma after some sort of medical incident. The husband’s mother and sister objected, a guardian ad litem was appointed and recommended that the life support not be withdrawn. The husband survived and made a full recovery.

The new bill would require the guardian of a person to give notice to family members and other interested parties. That makes perfect sense to me.

If you have any opinions one way or the other, contact your Arizona state legislator.

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.

Checks Given By Decedent With Intent To Make Gift

If a person signs a check with a recipient's (donee's) name, intending to make a gift, and then the donor (the person who wrote the check) dies before the check is deposited, is the gift effective?

Answer: Normally no. If a check is not paid during the donor's lifetime, it generally does not constitute a valid gift of the funds it represents, even if the check was presented for payment prior to the donor's death. (See 38 Am. Jur. 2d Gifts Section 60.) The reason is that a completed gift requires not only intend (which arguably exists) but also delivery. Complete delivery does not occur until the funds are actually transferred. If the donee cashes the check before the donor's death, then there would be a completed delivery and thus a completed gift.

If the check were certified (a cashier's check), then the delivery to the recipient (donee) would be completed.

The result is that if recipient does not receive the funds from the check until after the drawer's (person who wrote the check) death, that person will be required to return the funds to the deceased person's estate.

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.

New article on conservatorships

I just added an article entitled Frequently Asked Questions About Conservatorships on my website. Click here to see the article.

Paul Deloughery

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.

Tribute to Paul Harvey

The radio newsman Paul Harvey just died at the age of 90. Being from Minnesota, and having older parents, I grew up listening to him on Winona Minnesota's KAGE radio station. The world changes too fast for my taste.

Mr. Harvey was blessed to have been able to live out his life at home, without having to go to a nursing home. My wish for everyone reading this blog is that you can all make arrangements to do the same. At this time, unless you are independently wealthy, the best way to do this is to buy long term care insurance. I did not always believe in LTC insurance, but as I get older, I see that it is really crucial. I do not sell LTC insurance, but I know honest insurance people who you can contact.

As Paul Harvey used to say ... "Good day."

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.

blogflux.com

This blog has just been submitted for inclusion on the web blog directory http://www.blogflux.com/.

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.

How to hire a "free" lawyer for probate

These days, I am finding that probates are often cash poor. In other words, imagine that all the cash has been used up in trying to keep up mortgage payments and your loved one's final medical bills that once your loved one dies. Now you are left with a house, a car, and debts. Somehow, you need to come up with cash to support the various monthly debt payments until the house and other assets can be sold. Otherwise, you are looking at foreclosure. What to do!?!

Luckily, some lawyers (like me) will help with your probate with little up front payment. The key is to have at least some asset that can eventually be sold to cover legal fees and court costs. As long as you have a car, house or other property with equity, you should be okay. The probate statute says that legal fees get paid before other creditors (even the IRS), so there is no reason to struggle without professional help. For more information, click here to see website.

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.