Sunday, February 20, 2005

What does it take to make a valid will? There should be a short, clear answer to that question, but the answer is long and complicated. As a result, the public does not understand the importance of complying with all legal requirements. Otherwise, the piece of paper that looks like a will is a worthless scrap of paper that will cause nothing but trouble. Ironically, the cost of mistakes is often many times the cost of getting it done right in the first place. As with so many legal problems, the laws of your own State lay down the rules. While most states have similar rules, each state has adopted many variations that can alter the validity or the interpretation of any will. As a result, anything we say here may not be the law in your state. Also, the validity of the will may depend on what kind of person is making the will. To be valid, the will must be in writing and signed by the testator who in signing the document intending to make a will, and must be of age, which is generally 18, and must have sufficient mental capacity and must know and understand the contents of the will and the effect that its provisions will have. The will must be attested by two witnesses [three, in some states]. That is, they must witness the testator signing it and state in a clause at the bottom of the will the facts that show that it was duly and properly signed and witnessed. Obviously, the will must not be a forgery. The testator must not have been acting under any kind of improper influence or fraud when the will was signed. Also, there are many provisions in the state laws and in the decisions of the state's courts that limit what the testator can and can not say in a will. In addition, the wording of the provisions must be clear enough to determine what the testator meant by any particular sentence. And those are just the basic requirements. The problem is further complicated by the fact that the legislatures in their statutes and the courts in their decisions have written millions of words that attempt to construe whether the will and all its provisions are valid, so that they may be given full force and effect. This is Murphy's Law, with a vengeance! Hardly a day goes by, in my writing of treatises on the subject for lawyers, that I don't observe another new way for things to go wrong. As a judge and probate lawyer, I often observed that the biggest lawyers' fees were being paid because someone saved a little money by drawing their own will, with the result that the "will" did not get admitted to probate, or required expensive litigation to determine exactly what its meaning was. These questions, and others relating to wills and the probate process are explained in greater detail, often with links to your own state statutes, in my books in the Estate Planning Series, including What You Need to Know About Wills, Probating Estates-Handbook for Executors and Administrators, and Settling an Estate Without Probate. You can find out all about them at my website, www.justicepublications.com.

Tuesday, February 15, 2005

Who should be executor of your will? The wrong answer can be the worst mistake of your entire life. A dishonest or incapable executor can totally destroy what you have spent your life building. Or, inept handling can create long lasting hatreds among your family members. In some cases, the selection is obvious, but in others, you should be very careful to be sure that you are making the right choice. The answer can depend on a number of different factors. You should be careful that the executor is able to handle the complexities that will arise during probate. This is much easier with the help of an experienced lawyer. Actually, the lawyer does most of the work in many estates and is there to help an inexperienced executor. If it is necessary to probate your estate, someone will have to hire a lawyer to handle it, since that can't be done by non-lawyers. If you have arranged your affairs so that the will does not have to be probated, a lawyer may not be legally required but may be desirable if complex questions arise. In making your selection, you probably will be weighing several candidates, including a bank with a trust department. That choice involves a tradeoff of important considerations. A member of the family will often perform without a fee. On the other hand, a bank will charge its regular fees, but offers many definite advantages. Individuals can be incompetent, lazy, dishonest, or otherwise unable to do a good job. A bank, on the other hand, has an experienced, computerized staff. It is strictly audited and is supervised by state officials. It is strong enough to make good any losses for its mistakes, which are rare. If you decide on an individual, honesty is the most important strength to require. It should be someone who has the ability to handle an estate the size and complexity of yours. It may be difficult for a family member to put aside feelings and to treat all beneficiaries fairly. At any rate, you should always have enough alternates on standby to take over if your first choice or choices is unable to act. It is always good to have a bank as one of the choices, since it [or a successor] will always be there. Also, a bank is nearly always the right choice if there are children by two different spouses, or there is a serious sibling rivalry. It is easy for the bank to be fair and impartial to all the beneficiaries. Most people will chose their own spouse, which is often the best choice, but they need to name one or two more, to act after one spouse dies. The next choice may be one of their children. We discourage the use of two co-executors to act together. Rather, name your first and then your second choice. Rarely can two executors do any better than one. Co-executors slow down the progress rather than hastening it, and can increase the amount of fees. Unless any person you chose is extremely honest and capable, you probably should not waive the giving of bond, or providing surety on the executor's bond. The additional cost could mean the difference between having beneficiaries paid in full or getting nothing.

Thursday, February 10, 2005

Will your family be able to avoid probating your estate? There are a lot of good reasons people want to avoid having their estate go through the probate court [known as avoiding probate]. The process is usually slow, and often expensive. Also, it may be entirely unnecessary if you have a good estate plan in place. Estates have to be probated for a number of reasons, to give effect to a will that disposes of the estate, to be able to transfer good title to real estate, to get bank accounts released and securities transferred, not to mention the settlement of disputed claims, and settling disputes among heirs, creditors, etc. Good planning can avoid those hassles. There are two basic, effective plans for avoiding probate. One is to have all your property in life insurance, jointly held real estate, bank accounts, securities [which are known as nonprobate assets]. They are property that is held in some form that permits the title to be vested in some other person, automatically upon the death of the owner. That plan has serious faults. You don't know who will die first, so that all the combined property will probably go to the heirs of the survivor, which is not normally the wishes of the parties. Also, this method results in leaving many questions unanswered that would be answered with a proper estate plan. The best alternative is to have nearly all your estate in a living trust that you set up. It gives you complete control during your lifetime. You can change it as long as you are alive and mentally competent. Normally, this trust [which we call the Comprehensive Living Trust] receives title to nearly all your propery. You have the control and determine the distribution of the income income during your lifetime. Upon your death, it can be distributed almost as though it were your will. Or, you can have it kept alive to distribute income to a spouse, minor children, etc., as long as there is need and then distributed. The variations are virtually unlimited, depending only on your situation and wishes. Even this plan cannot succeed in avoiding probate, though, if you have failed to "fund" the trust fully, that is, put title to all your property into the trust, with the exception of an amount fixed by your state's Small Estate Statute. That can vary, but typically is $50,000, more or less. But the trust can do a lot for your estate plan, even if you do not fund it sufficiently to comply with the Small Estate act's maximum amount of personal estate for using it. In addition to your Comprehensive Living Trust, you also need a "pourover will" which gives to the living trust all remaining estate that you have not transferred to the trust. The will has to be filed at the courthouse, but is not probated if you have planned well. Then, if the title to your car, or a bank account, for instance, has not been transferred to the trust, your family can transfer it to them or sell it by furnishing a "small estate affidavit." We will have further blogs on this subject. You can also learn more about creating and using Comprehensive Living Trusts in our book, What You Need to Know About Trusts. Also, we describe the procedures in avoiding probate in our book, Settling an Estate Without Probate. You can acquire either or both of those books and start reading only a few minutes from the time you read this paragraph, by clicking on justicepublications.com.

Thursday, January 27, 2005

The Payable on Death Account - A most useful estate planning tool. A fairly recent development by the banking community is the payable on death account. It is available at most banks and savings and loans in the U.S. Properly used, it can do a lot for you. Improperly used, it can cause trouble. Therefore, you should understand what it is and how it can benefit you. The payable on death account was originally known as a Totten Trust, but it may have a different name in your state. You can hold most kinds of bank accounts in this way. The P.O.D. account is a living trust. Typically, you own the account. You deposit the money in the account and name some person(s) or institution as the beneficiary. You continue to own the money in the account and are the only one who can withdraw it, just like any other account. You are entitled to the earnings from the account, and must include them in your income tax returns. You may make additional deposits, and may withdraw money, even close out the account or change the name of the beneficiary. The important difference is that, when you die, any remaining balance in the account becomes the property of the named beneficiary(ies). One of the benefits of this type of account is that the beneficiary has almost no red tape in order to withdraw the balance, nor is there normally any waiting. All that is required is a copy of your death certificate, to prove ownership in the beneficiaries. You sign the trust agreement when you sign the signature card at the bank. You are the donor or grantor of the trust. If the beneficiary dies before you do, and no other alternate is named before you die, the account is the sole property of your estate, to be distributed to your will [if there is one], otherwise to your heirs at law, after payment of all your debts. There may be a rare exception if your bank uses a trust form that could make the account payable to the beneficiary's estate if she/he dies before you do. One of the dangers of such an account is that you may change your mind and decide to will that account to someone else. Any such attempt is totally ineffective, since the trust agreement will control and it will still go to the beneficiary. Another danger is that you will forget to change the account if the beneficiary dies, or if your relationship with the beneficiary goes sour. One of the great advantages of this kind of account is that it does not have to "go through probate," thus probably saving some time and expense. Therefore, it is known as a nonprobate asset, about which much more in this blog from time to time later on. Any money in these accounts is taxed at death by the federal estate tax, and probably by your own state's death inheritence or death tax. In all your estate planning, you must bear in mind [and be sure to tell your lawyer] that this fund is already committed to someone in a payable on death account. Also, some states have adopted the Uniform Transfer on Death Security Registration Act, which permits you to handle your stocks, bonds, and other securities in the same way by having the transfer agent use the language on the security that is required by the Act in order to create such an interest in the beneficiary. If that possibility interests you, ask your stockbroker or lawyer about it.

Wednesday, January 26, 2005

The Many Benefits and Uses of the Living Trust. There are many kinds of trusts, and many benefits that just about anyone can obtain from them. To understand all the possible ways that you might benefit from the use of a living trust in your estate planning, you need to know something about trusts. I will be writing a series of items pointing out how you might use one or more of them. While trusts are used for many other purposes than estate planning, those most used in estate planning are either called living trusts or testamentary trusts. In some ways they are just alike. The principal difference is that a testamentary trust does not go into effect until the death of the testator [the person who signs the will]. A living trust, in most cases, goes into effect immediately upon signing by the grantor [the person whose trust it is]. Our discussions will be limited, at this time, to living trusts. More about testamentary trusts later. The practice of preparing and using trusts has grown up slowly over centuries. There is an almost unlimited numbers of ways they have been drawn up. Therefore, any general statements we make about them may be subject to many exceptions. As with all such matters, your law of trusts is based on the law of your own state. Therefore, what is true in your state may not be consistent with what we say, but it is not possible to discuss all the possible variations. Fortunately, the laws of trusts of most of the states are remarkably similar, thus making a very complex subject a little less complex. Also, be aware that the language used in talking about trusts can vary greatly. For example, the grantor is often known as the donor or the settlor of the trust. The most common living trust is that in which the grantor puts all, some, or most of his/her property into the trust, to be held and managed by the trustee, and to accomplish certain objectives during the grantor's lifetime. The trust usually provides for the distribution of the property, at the grantor's death, much as though it were a will. Or, it may provide that the property must be held for special purposes, such as the care and support of a spouse or others. When its objectives have been accomplished, the property is distributed to the grantor's selected beneficiaries. Every trust agreement provides, in effect that the grantors conveys the trust property to the trustee who holds that property to be distributed in the manner and at the time or times to the benficiaries of the trust. That is, there are three parties to the trust, the grantor, the trustee, and the beneficiaries. Frequently, the beneficiaries who receive the income from the trust [known as income beneficiaries] are different from those who receive the trust property after the death(s) of the income beneficiaries. The same person can be any one, or two, or three of those parties. For instance, the grantor may also be the trustee, as well as one of the beneficiaries. The manner in which this is done depends on the wishes and needs of the grantor. The trustee may be some person, and may even be the grantor. Often, it is the trust department of a bank. The best selection for the trustee can be a very difficult problem, because of the various advantages and disadvantages of each alternative.

Monday, January 24, 2005

Announcing a new Series of items on Living Trusts. Possibly the most useful of all the documents that are now in use to create estate plans is not receiving the attention it should. Many people are missing the benefits of the remarkable Living Trust. There simply isn't much unbiased information readily available so that everyone can weigh the possible benefits to themselves. The Living Trust meets certain important needs of the rich, the poor, the old, the young, in fact just about everyone. We will explain in a Series of items the situations where a Living Trust might be useful to you. One of the most serious problems for people who read blogs is that it is somewhat difficult to determine the reliability of the information they are furnished. They have every right to be skeptical about everything they read that relates to estate planning. It is interesting to note that the Wall Street Journal had an article several days ago about the fact that there are no rules or laws that govern blogs as such. True, the laws relating to libel apply to statements in a blog, and one can be guilty of a crime for using a blog to swindle someone, for example. Hugh Hewitt, in his new book, Blog: Understanding the Information Reformation That's Changing Your World, has pointed out that errors can [and frequently are] pointed out almost instantly by those who take issue with erroneous facts or distasteful opinions. Witness the case where the exit polls in the recent election had Kerry winning, but were corrected by vigilant bloggers before the polls. A conference at Harvard on "Blogging, Journalism, and Credibility" met this past weekend to discuss the problems that relate to the credibility of blogs. It will be interesting to learn their conclusions. At the very least, the public should be entitled to know who is responsible for the contents of a blog. Otherwise, the most vicious lies can be distributed without hope of prevention or redress. Also, the public should be able to discern the true motives behind any information in a blog. In my case, you have a right to know something about me, which you can learn by clicking on my web site [see the left margin]. You have a right to know, too, that I am happy to give as much information as possible on my chosen subjects. I hope that you will want to know all the additional information I can't possibly give you in a blog, since that would merely mean rewriting my books, a task that would take a long lifetime to perform. I am not offering my services to anyone. My only business is the writing of lawbooks. I love to do it, and have written more than anyone else ever has. You might call it my Magnificent Obsession. I have no business or other association with any lawyer. My only interest, other than to give you useful information about estate planning, elder law, retirement and the legal problems of old age and disability, is to sell you one or more of my books. So, as quickly as I can fit it in to a very busy schedule of writing for my publishers, I'll include at this spot a number of items about how you might be able to use a Living Trust to very good advantage in your own estate plan. In the meantime, stay tuned!

Tuesday, January 11, 2005

Will your will be found when it is needed. Every year, many people die leaving perfectly valid wills, which are never found so that they die intestate [without a will] and their property is usually given to their heirs at law, in certain defined proportions [something they probably never intended]. It is sometimes possible to probate a "lost will," that is, one that is established to have been properly signed and witnessed, but that is not always easy to do. We'll discuss that procedure here at a later date. At any rate, it is a good idea to have several copies of your will [with the signatures of the testator and the witnesses copied, too] but that is not full insurance that it will be probated. The answer is to keep your will [and all other estate papers] together in a safe place. For many people that is their bank box. But be sure that several members of your family know it is there. Also, in some states that may cause some delay in probating the estate, if the law requires that the box be inventories before its contents can be released. Also, if the bank is your executor, the will hold the original if you wish. That is probably the safest place of all. No place is a safe place if no one can find it when you die. I've had some bizarre experiences in looking for wills that the testator had stored in a "safe place." In one case, a lady left a large estate to charities that would not receive the benefit if the will was not found. It was not in her safe deposit box, so it almost had to be at her home. I spent a New Year's Eve combing through her house, to no avail until it was almost midnight [a great way to celebrate]. As I was about to give up, I bent down to examine lower shelves of a breakfront in the dining room when I spied the corner of an envelope. Eureka! The will. No matter where you keep your estate papers be positive that several of your close family members know where, and don't move them until you tell those people. Shocking news about wills. It came as a shock to me to read in today's (1/11/05) Wall Street Journal that a survey showed that one of five affluent people do not have wills. That probably means that they also don't have living trusts, living wills, powers of attorney, etc. Another survey showed that 58% of all adults are without wills. That will mean tragic waste for themselves and their families in the years ahead, all because of neglect. The cost of a sound estate plan by a competent estate planning lawyer will be less than a few months payment on the car, and will pay infinitely greater dividends, with the benefits lasting decades after the car has been traded. Also very disconcerting is the finding that

Sunday, January 09, 2005

The solid foundation for an effective estate plan. To build a really effective estate plan, you need to know all about everything you have, and what you owe now and might owe in the future. In putting that information together, you'll provide it, all in one place, for your executor or familiy member who will otherwise be put to a huge task of digging up a lot of information that is usually very hard to get. While it takes time, this process is fairly easy. It merely means listing all the important details about everything you own and you owe, and then updating it periodically to be sure that the information is always current. We call this form of notebook an "estate planning record." We have never found any that was sufficiently complete to put all the needed information in one convenient book. So we developed My Estate Planning Record Book. It is available to you free, right today, when you order any other books in my Estate Planning Series, all of which are very reasonable priced. You can looked at detailed Tables of Contents of all the books in the Estate Planning Series, by checking http://www.justicepublications.com. There, you can use your charge card to have it instantly downloaded onto your hard drive. You can then read any of them, and can print any part or all of any of the books you order. Whether or not you want your free copy of My Estate Planning Record Book, check these books now to begin a well rounded Estate Planning Library of your own. Whether you use your own book, or My Estate Planning Record Book, the record you build should contain all the essential information about you and your family. That includes names, addresses, birth dates, social security numbers for those who will be beneficiaries. It should include a detailed description of each asset you own, its approximate value and location and all other essential information. It should contain all sorts of information such as the names of your lawyer, banker and other advisors, a description of the estate planning documents you have prepared, their location, etc., as well as a description of all your insurance of all kinds, as well as the sources of your retirement income. This Record Book should be kept in a place where it is sure to be found when you pass away. It should be filled with current information. The hours you spend preparing it will translate into great savings in time and money. They will avoid many of the mistakes that are made in settling so many estates today.

Saturday, January 08, 2005

The most omitted item in estate plans. I have learned many things in my years as a probate judge and lawyer, but one of the most important is that almost no one does a good job of telling family members and their named executor enough about their property, its location, and how best to find and dispose of it. That omission can be corrected fairly easily. It consists of (1) a good, complete inventory of every asset, its location, and how to retrieve it, if there are special problems, such as finding a safe deposit box or a bank account in another city, and (2) a Letter of Instructions, telling your family and executor best to liquidate or distribute the assets in the most effective, economical way. Today, I'll tell you some of the information you should include in that Letter. Your Letter should be prepared very carefully. There may be a temptation to include too much information. For example, it should not contain anything mean about anyone, regardless how you feel. Such a statement can be libel and your estate could become "liable for libel." Also, be careful in explaining why you have prepared your will that you did. The more you say, the more harm you may do. For instance, if you state that you cut out a nephew because he drinks too much, you are only rubbing salt in the wound. On the other hand, it may be appropriate to include a statement to explain that you have given one child more than another, because of a large financial burden. You have spent years learning about your business, stamp collection, whatever. Yet, you expect an executor to step in with no warning and take over, and hope that it can be liquidated at a favorable price. Most people have some special problem like that but which 0nly they understand well. Help them with suggestions as to where to obtain sound, reliable advice, the best ways to liquidate problem assets, and how to avoid the special difficulties that such assets can present. Explain special problems that could be encountered, such as how to get rid of your timeshares for something more than nominal value, or how best to sell you boat in Florida. Think hard. You probably have something equally challenging. Yet, you think there is nothing difficult about it since you understand it so thoroughly - why doesn't everyone? Unless the contents of your Letter are pretty routine and unexciting, run the Letter by the lawyer who prepares your will. Be sure you haven't said the wrong thing that will do much more harm than good. Keep your Letter with the will, so it is sure to be found when you are gone. We'll have more to say in a later message about these so-called "safe places" for the will. Get the Letter out each time your consider any changes in your will or living trust. Take the time to correct it so that it is always up-to-date. This is not going to be a small task, but it is extremely ironic that so many people have worked so hard to put together an estate that is instantly decimated at their death because the family and the executor were not well informed about it. Begin now to correct that mistake by writing your own Letter of Instructions. It can save your family countless hours and dollars!

Wednesday, December 29, 2004

Why young parents need wills. Many young parents feel they don't need wills because they have little property to leave. They couldn't be more wrong. Every parent of a child under 18 should have a will, for several very important reasons. It presents problems when a minor inherits property. These problems can be avoided if each parent has a will leaving their property to each other, or in trust for the child(ren) if one is already deceased. Every parent should have a will that provides that, if neither survives, their entire estate goes into a trust to use for the care, support and education of all the children until the youngest is at least 18 (or even older). Also, each parent should have a will in which there is a guardian (called a testamentary guardian) is appointed if neither is alive. In this way, the parents are assured that the care of their children will be in the hands of someone they trust. Note, though, that neither parent has the right to deprive the other of the custody of minor children, despite what is said in their will, unless the surviving parent is declared unfit by some court. There are other important reasons most people need wills, but any of these is reason enough to have such a will, just in case the worst should happen. How can you get a capable lawyer to prepare your wills, trusts, powers of attorney, etc.? If you don't have a lawyer, of course you can look in the yellow pages for a lawyer, or you can check in law lists. such as Martindale-Hubble at the library on on the Internet, or you can contact your local bar association, but there is a much better way. Take a lot of time and talk to everyone you know who is similarly situated to you. Question each of them until you can get one or two who firmly tell you that they have a lawyer who handles such matters, and that they know, like, and trust her or him. Such a person can give a complete, usually unbiased recommendation. Be careful though, because the lawyer could be their brother or nephew. Also, be sure to get one who handles a lot of estate planning. Why you can't trust everything you read or hear about the law. The law is extremely complicated, it becomes even more complicated when it is raised in court in an actual trial. If you have a legal problem that can have a great impact on your freedom or your pocketbook, make every reasonable effort to get a lawyer. As Lincoln said, "A man who represents himself has a fool for a client." From many years of experience as a practicing lawyer and a trial judge, I have learned that even I need a lawyer if a serious legal problem arises. No lawyer understands all the fields of the law. None of them can handle every kind of legal problem. Every case is different and every client is different. The way any more complicated legal problem will be handled will differ depending on many factors about the client, as well as such questions as, what is the law in your own state on that point. While the cost of legal service seems high (and it often is) some money spent now with a capable lawyer can save vastly more in time, trouble, grief and damages, let along your personal liberty if you try to solve your serious legal problems yourself. And certainly we don't pretend to be able to solve your serious legal problems. Only a capable lawyer can do that. We will continue to provide you with information about the law, but never confuse what you read or hear as legal advice, because information and advice are entirely different.

Monday, December 20, 2004

A Whole New Era for Boomers. According to the current issue of AARPTheMagazine, there are 77 million boomers. They are now 40 to 58. They are facing a huge "role-reversal." The are leaving behind their huge tasks of raising and educating the kids, paying off the mortgage, etc. They are beginning to look forward to the harsh realities of retirement. Many of them have done little or no estate planning. They are beginning to be fully aware that retirement probably won't be a "lifetime of endless days of golf, grandkids, and cruises." The probable cost of living, let alone the cost of medical care and care for the aged, may surpass their resources. We are working hard to help them to "re-invent themselves, so that they can make the huge adjustments that will be needed if they are to enjoy a secure, comfortable old age. We will make numerous suggestions in these blogs about the best way to make the necessary changes. We expand on those ideas in our book, Estate Planning for People Over 50. You can get a copy, and learn more about our Estate Planning Series at http:/www.justicepublications.com/

Wednesday, December 15, 2004

A Warm Welcome to Something New in Blogs:  I'm very happy to extend a cordial welcome to the HunteReporT. We intend to bring new reports with much new material every week.
 
Something About the Author. My name is Robert S. Hunter. I've had many years  experience as a probate judge and lawyer, an estate planner, and author of many books on the law. If you want to know more about me, you can refer to http://www.justicepublications.com/.
 
Grandparents' Dilemma: There are few warmer bonds of affection than exist between senior citizens and their grandchildren. Yet, they often have to stand by, while they see their own children's families break up. That can leave the grandchildren without real family support, unless the grandparents provide it.
  They have no right to step in and provide much needed care. In fact, they have no greater rights, in most states, than any stranger. The superior rights of the worst possible parent can exist until a court finds them unfit. This often bars good grandparents from giving their loving care.
  If you are a grandparent, and find yourself in that situation, you can learn more about the problem and how to protect your precious grandchildren by checking http://www.families.org/ or http://www.grandparentsrights.com/ .
 
Beware of Shady Credit Counselors. A family faces real tragedy when it faces bankruptcy. The best solution for most people is to consult a local credit counselor who will get the creditors off their backs and get their credit rating restored.
   Those counselors may be nonprfit [supported by local businesses] or for profit. Either can be highlly effective, but can be borderline frauds. According to a F.T.C. member, some of them charge excessive fees, hide upfront service charges, and use their nonprofit status to draw customers.
   Before resorting to a credit counselor, seek out one that is supported by local merchants [they have the most to gain when you succeed]. For suggestions how to avoid mistakes in making that decision, check on http://www.aarp.org/bulletin/scamalert/.
 
Facing the Calamity of Alzheimers. More and more people face the calamity of Alzheimers, as the number of old people increases sharply. Now, there is neither a prevention nor a cure. Recent discoveries offer great hope that both can be here within the next 10 to 20 years.
   Now you can learn a lot more about what you can do to prevent it for yourself and your family, and how to deal with it if it strikes, by checking with the sites of Alzheimers Disease and Education Referral Center of the National Institute on Aging at http://www.alzheimers.org/ or the Alzeheimers Association at: http://www.alz.org/.
 
Getting More Information on These and Related Subjects: In our future issues, we'll cover many more topics relating to wills, trusts, probate, estate planning, retirement,  elder law, and caring for the elderly.
 
If you want more information about those subjects, refer to our books that are part of our Estate Planning Series, on http://www.justicepublications.com/