If your wife's living will is very clear about refusing feeding tubes and being force-fed, then, no, you should not. This is, however, a delicate and complicated area. If there are family members or friends who disagree with your wife's wishes, they could call Adult Protective... View More

Anything left by way of a will has to go through a probate process which is expensive and time consuming. The parent(s) should have a revocable living trust which avoids probate and can specify exactly what your parent wants to happen to all of the assets, including the house. Because one child... View More

There typically is no need to place a vehicle into a living trust. The only times that might be done is if the settlor had a vehicle that had some collector value.

Under California Medi-Cal rules, a home is an exempt asset, so you typically would have no need to transfer it to someone else, much less an estranged spouse. There are a couple of different ways you can transfer a home to someone else and still keep your Medi-Cal benefits, but you should consult... View More

Hi Steve, The rules here prohibit any professional from contacting you directly. I do, however, recognize your concerns for your father. If you would check www.naela.org (National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys), you can search by zip code as Los Angeles is a geographically very large area in CA.... View More

Yes. The Fair Housing Act (FHA) applies to nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and other long-term care facilities, because each of these facilities is considered a "dwelling" under the FHA.

Depending how you want to change your beneficiaries can have differing consequences. It is advisable that you have the lawyer who prepared the trust make the desired changes, particularly if you are intending to disinherit any children.

My condolences for the loss of your father. Unfortunately, how this can or will be handled will be dependent upon what the law is in Arkansas, so you will need to consult an Arkansas attorney, preferably near the city where your father resided when he passed away.

It would depend upon your age, exactly what type of benefits you are receiving and how much money your friend left you. It is a large amount, you can often set up a supplemental needs trust to protect your benefits. Some times, you simply need to appropriately spend down the money before the end... View More

My condolences for the loss of your mother. Any bank or savings account that designates one or more individuals as the beneficiaries upon the death of the account holder, will pass to the named beneficiary. This means that if you and your niece were named by your mother as death beneficiaries on... View More

Unfortunately, this happens all too often when IRA owners do not designate a beneficiary on their beneficiary statement. The IRA institution will pay the proceeds only to the estate, which, depending upon the State, may further complicate the process and cause greater expense. Because there was... View More

I don't believe it's possible to answer this question without reviewing both the terms of the trust and the LLC agreement.

There may be ways at least some of her money can be protected, but you will need the assistance of a qualified elder law attorney. Sometimes you have to spend money to save money.

It's not only difficult, it's impossible. Only the individual can change their own healthcare directive. I can't think of any situation where it would be appropriate to change another person's health care directive.

If the total in her bank accounts was under $150,000, there are various summary procedures available. It would also depend upon whether your sister had a spouse, children or living parent. Unfortunately, though, some of the bigger banks like Wells Fargo, B of A, Citibank and Chase like to bully... View More

The trust document will specify where your brother's share goes. Typically, it would go to his children and, if he had none, his share would likely go to the other surviving beneficiaries. You would have to review the trust language to be certain.

If your father and step-mother did not have mental capacity at the time the trust was established, it would not only be invalid, although it could require a court proceeding to prove that, it could also be elder financial abuse. You need to contact an elder law attorney who can evaluate the entire... View More

If the property in California was in your mother's individual name, unfortunately, you will have to go through a probate proceeding in the county where your mother resided when she died.

Living trusts typically are not filed with the court system. Occasionally, a shorter document called a Certificate of Trust, may be filed with the County Recorder's office, in order to sell the home.

You should ask your question again and post it in the Landlord/Tenant section as it was erroneously posted as an Estate Planning issue.