One bad method used to avoid probate!

I have witnessed and have been told about many families trying to protect their real property from probate without using a revocable trust.  If you think it is a clever idea to add your children as joint owners to your real property in order to avoid probate, please think again.

Problems.

1. Homestead Exemption.  Everyone has a constitutional protection called the homestead exemption that provides you the ultimate protection against your home (up to a certain value).  Simply put, no one can kick you out of your home because you owe them money (except a bank may foreclose on property you’ve collateralized but that’s a different topic for another day).  Because your children likely cannot call your home their primary residence, the homestead protection is not available to them.  Therefore, they could lose part of your home to a divorcing spouse or creditor.

2. Control.  Use of the above mentioned method gives ownership rights to your children.  Therefore, you are now at their mercy to some degree.  You must have your children sign away their rights anytime you want to sell, lease, or mortgage your property.  It is even possible for angry or resentful children to have the surviving parent removed from the home.

3. Probate.  Thinking this method avoids probate is correct, but only if you die before your children.  If you have several children, then hopefully this would never be a problem, but a real interpretation of this method is that it is a temporary fix.

Alternatives.

1. Revocable Trust.  This instrument will provide you and your spouse complete control during your lifetime, it will keep your property out of probate, and keep your property free of any civil judgments against your children.

For more free information about creating a revocable trust (or living trust) in Arkansas, please give us a call or write to us today.

3 different criminal attorneys stabbed by client

CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Defendant Loses Right to a Lawyer After Allegedly Stabbing 3 of Them with Pencils or Pens in Court

Posted Nov 2, 2011 5:55 AM CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss

Updated: A man has been convicted of drug charges after a judge in Washington state declared that pencil-and-pen-packing defendant Joshua Monson forfeited his right to counsel because of three attacks on his lawyers during court hearings.

None of the lawyers was seriously hurt. In the first two incidents, which occurred less than a week apart, Monson was accused of stabbing two different lawyers with pencils he smuggled from jail, HeraldNet.comreports. On Tuesday, Monson grabbed the pen being used by his defense lawyer, Jesse Cantor of Everett, Wash., and stabbed Cantor in the head, witnesses said.

The attack occurred Tuesday as prosecutors gave opening statements in Monson’s felony drug trial in Snohomish County. Corrections officers set off an electric stun cuff on Monson’s leg as he lunged for the pen and then piled on top of him, the story says. The first person to reach Monson was a police officer seated at the prosecution table.

Judge David Kurtz said Monson would have to defend himself without a lawyer and would be strapped to a special chair for the rest of the trial. Kurtz advised jurors to ignore the incident, the restraints and the lawyer’s absence.

HeraldNet.com reported that Monson was convicted of drug possession Thursday while in the restraint chair. “A standby defense attorney from King County sat through the hearings to answer Monson’s legal questions,” HeraldNet.com wrote. Monson was not allowed to sign court documents with a pen or pencil.

HeraldNet.com also notes that Monson will be back in court again to face second-degree murder charges and, separately, two fourth-degree assault charges for the alleged attacks on his attorneys.

Updated Nov. 4 to report that Monson was convicted.

World’s Youngest Judge?

LAW IN POPULAR CULTURE

Indiana Lawyer Who Started His Legal Career as a 17-Year-Old Judge Gets the World Record

Posted Oct 31, 2011 4:30 AM CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss

Indiana lawyer Marc Griffin has claimed the title once held by a Texas man: Guinness World Records has declared that Griffin holds the record for being the world’s youngest judge.

Griffin was an enterprising 17-year-old high school graduate in 1974 when he persuaded county commissioners to appoint him to fill a vacancy for justice of the peace. Griffin later won re-election to the job that included presiding over some civil and criminal cases, as well as performing weddings. “I was marrying people, throwing people in jail, and fining people,” he recalls.

Griffin managed to snag the job at such a young age because of his realization that his township had a long-time vacancy for a justice of the peace. The last justice of the peace had died some 50 years before, and the position was never filled. Cases for the township were being handled by other justices of the peace in the county.

“I discovered this justice of the peace thing,” Griffin recalled in an interview with the ABA Journal, “and I thought, ‘Wait a minute, we need another court and I’m qualified.’ ” He requested a meeting with the county’s three commissioners, and persuaded them to recommend his appointment. The state’s governor concurred and gave him his commission.

Griffin learned of the vacancy because of his interest in the law while still in high school. “I knew I wanted to be a lawyer,” Griffin says, “so I used to sit and read statutory law. Some people read novels, some people read sports magazines. I would just sit and read Indiana law.”

Speeding tickets were a big part of Griffin’s docket because the highway speed limit had recently dropped from 70 to 55 miles an hour. He held court at all hours of the night when police needed authority to lock up suspected domestic abusers. But it was the weddings he performed and an attorney general’s opinion that garnered national news coverage. Griffin was marrying people even though he was himself too young to marry without parental consent, a fact noted by critics.

The state attorney general opined that Griffin was too young to hold office. An Associated Press “fun-sy” story reporting on the decision questioned whether the people Griffin had married were “living in sin” because their weddings were illegal, Griffin says. The legal dispute was put to rest when a circuit court found Griffin qualified to hold office, paving the way for a short-lived judicial career.

The state eliminated justice of the peace courts a year or two later. Griffin finished his education and got a law degree from Indiana University School of Law. He has a niche practice representing banks and insurance companies that obtain liens on properties through tax sales.

Griffin contacted Guinness after he read an article at ABAJournal.com about a Texas man who held the record for winning election as a justice of the peace at the age of 18. Griffin supplied Guinness with evidence verifying his appointment at age 17, and learned last Thursday that he is the new world record holder. A press release dispatched to the ABA Journal the same day announced his achievement.

Griffin says in the press release that he contacted Guinness 37 years after the fact because he didn’t realize the publication covered judicial records. “I thought they were just records of stunts, like doing the most jumping jacks,” he says in the release.

Digital Assets included in your wills and trusts?

More Wills and Living Trusts Including Digital Assets
Posted by: Bridget Mackay in Estate Planning on May 25, 2011
Tagged in: digita assets

Have you considered your digital assets in your estate planning? New evidence suggests many more people are including digital assets in their Wills and Living Trusts than ever before. Digital assets include the “real estate” you own online, including your social media presence, blogs or websites. If you have a stake in your online presence, you may wish to discuss the benefits of including digital assets in your own Will or Living Trust.
Why Do It?
Like most property you own, those online assets are worth something to you, both as recognition of your accomplishments as well as a valuable piece of property. Anything of worth you own, in any form, should receive some pre-planning guidance. If you were to die, for example, what would happen to your blog? Who would care for your social media presence or even inform your Internet friends of your death?
While many people have a simple presence online, others have a significant online investment to plan for after death. Estate planning can help you to do that, to ensure that your wishes are carried out according to your specific plans. Here are a few things to keep in mind about digital asset planning like this.
Organize all online “real estate” you own or utilize. Include all passwords, website administration panel codes and other identification information.

Designate one person to handle decisions regarding your items.

Make decisions about your social media presence. Do you want your Facebook page to list your death and to become a makeshift memorial? Do you want someone to take it down? How much information do you want the Internet to know about your death?

If you own online businesses, including revenue sharing programs or affiliate projects, document all details of this business. Determine if you want someone to take over these accounts for you or if the businesses should close. You may wish to note how your beneficiaries will divide your business’s income or who will run the business after you are gone.
Who should utilize this type of estate planning? Though anyone can list these details in their Will or Living Trust if they choose to do so, those who have a significant presence online, or those who own larger websites should definitely take steps to outline their specific needs. If you are not sure if this information should be a part of your estate plan, talk to your attorney about it.
Your estate planning attorney can help you to draft a Will or Living Trust that includes your digital products, your digital “real estate” and your wishes. In some cases, you may just want a family member to take over your online sites. If that is the case, make those wishes known ahead of time so as not to shock anyone who may otherwise be unaware of your business or your needs.
As technology continues to interweave with our personal life, it is becoming increasingly important to included digital assets into ones will and living trust.

facebook.com/ArkansasAttorneys

Be sure to add our business page to your profile so that you can stay up to date with trends in the law, news relevant to our practice areas, and the occasional piece of trivia!  facebook.com/ArkansasAttorneys

Conway Men’s Chorus Spring Concert 2011

The Conway Men’s Chorus will perform its Spring Concert 2011 at Reynolds Performance Hall on the campus of the University of Central Arkansas Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m., May 3, 2011.

Free admission.  Everyone is welcome.

Probate my will in Arkansas

To probate or not to probate?

Under Arkansas law, you will likely need an Arkansas lawyer to assist you in passing your loved one’s estate through the probate system.  Only specially titled assets, or assets owned by a trust, will avoid probate and these are described as “non-probate” assets.

Again, even with a will, your estate will need to be probated.

Frequently Asked Questions.

Q: I don’t need a will because when I die my spouse will take everything, right?

A: WRONG! Under Arkansas law, children are first in line to inherit.  There are some protections under the law for a spouse, but these laws only provide a nominal interest to a surviving spouse.  It is even worse if you have children outside of the present marriage.

Estate Planning attorneys in Conway, AR – Wills and Trust attorney in Conway, AR

Estate planning lawyer in Conway, AR – Wills and Trust lawyer in Conway, AR

SH&A offers a wide range of legal services relating to estate planning.  Our team of Arkansas attorneys can draft wills, revocable trusts, irrevocable trusts, power of attorney documents, living wills, medical power of attorney documents, and much more.  Give us a call today and we will listen to your unique situation and then work with you to provide a plan that meets your needs.  We proudly serve all over the state.

Conway Office – New Address!

The Conway office of SH&A has moved.  Our attorneys are now found at 335 Hogan Lane, Suite 100, in Conway, Arkansas. We have expanded our operations to provide better service to our clients.

We hope to see you soon.

Estate Administration in Arkansas (Probate in Arkansas)

Did you know there is a cheaper easier method of probating an estate under Arkansas law if you qualify?  The fees and expenses are significantly cheaper than the normal estate administration, or probate, of an estate.

Call today for a free consultation to see whether your loved one’s estate qualifies for this special provision of the law.  If you need a probate attorney in Conway, Arkansas, or any of the surrounding counties, we will be happy to assist your family.