Matthew Curtiss, Esq

Pitfalls of bequeathing money to pampered pets

Washington University Professor Frances Foster believes that the traditional concept of family is outdated and legal changes are needed to reflect how important pets are in peoples' lives.

"Trouble [Leona Helmsley's dog]-- and millions of American pets like her -- should inherit," she said in an article in the Florida Law Review.

"American inheritance law is trapped in an outdated family paradigm. That paradigm assumes that the decedent's closest relatives by blood, adoption or marriage are the most deserving recipients of the decedent's estate," she added.

But Foster said for many Americans today that is not the case because "their pets, not their human family members, are their nearest and dearest."

via www.reuters.com

Many people want to provide for their pets, but its not just about the money to keep them in a manner in which they are accustomed.

It can be just as tough a decision as picking a guardian for your children, but pets need guardians too. Can the pet guardian care for the pet? Do they already have pets that would be compatible?

Charitable Lead Trusts Draw Renewed Interest - NYTimes.com

A feature of it that is coming back into vogue is the charitable lead trust. After parceling out specific gifts, Mrs. Onassis put the rest of her estate into one of these trusts. It was set up to last 24 years, distributing money to charity annually. Whatever is left in 2018 goes to her heirs, in this case her grandchildren.

via www.nytimes.com

Lower interest rates mean smaller mandated payouts to charities while allowing for possible higher investment returns for beneficiaries.

So you're taking the Connecticut Bar Exam....

I have no sage words of advice except to relax.  You've done the practice exams, you've written out essays.  You're dialed in on how much time to spend on each multiple choice question and each essay.

Day 1 will go by quicker then you imagine and you'll be tempted to rehash it all out in the parking lot with your former classmates.

Just leave and go relax.

The night, I walked down the street from my hotel to find a nice looking bar and ordered a burger and a pint.  Freaking out over flashcards in my hotel room before a day of essays was not going to increase my chances of passing.  Keeping calm and acting like a human being seemed the best approach.

So relax and get throught it. You'll be fine.

Family Value: How To Pass Down Your Passwords

Taking 15 minutes now to jot down your online passwords could save your family hours of frustration after you are gone.

As we all know, large chunks of our lives, both financial and personal, are lived online—bank statements, stock trades and email archives are all available with a few keystrokes. But when people die, their passwords often go with them, along with access to their digital assets.

Leon LaBrecque, a certified financial planner in Troy, Mich., says he has encountered the problem with a number of clients, including one who also was a friend who died of cancer. Mr. LaBrecque's friend had told him that his financial records were on his computer, but when the planner asked the client's wife for his password, she didn't know it.

"I looked at the dog sitting in the chair next to the computer, and typed in his name, Pepper. It worked, but I've been in other situations where we've had to hire a computer programmer to get into a hard drive," Mr. LaBrecque says.

via online.wsj.com

Like I posted previously, make the list, but also provide relatives with common combinations or password "roots".

Perhaps you always use the last 4 digits of your phone number with either a street name or a college or a pets name. Let them know that you use the combinations so its easier to figure out a password in the event you've changed it since you made the list.

Designing Your Death Dossier - WSJ.com

The financial consequences of failing to keep your documents in order can be significant. According to the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators, state treasurers currently hold $32.9 billion in unclaimed bank accounts and other assets. (You can search for unclaimed assets at MissingMoney.com .)

Most experts recommend creating a comprehensive folder of documents that family members can access in case of an emergency, so they aren't left scrambling to find and organize a hodgepodge of disparate bank accounts, insurance policies and brokerage accounts.

You can store the documents with your attorney, lock them away in a safe-deposit box or keep them at home in a fireproof safe that someone else knows the combination to.

That isn't to say you should keep everything. Sometimes people hold onto so many papers that loved ones can't find the important ones easily.

via online.wsj.com

The WSJ article lists 25 documents you need before you die.

At least in Connecticut, four of those documents can be consolidated into a single health care document called the Advanced Directive and Appointment of Healthcare Representative.

Online passwords are getting to be more of a priority considering that many people are nor only receiving their bank statements, credit card statements and loan information via email. This is complicated by the fact that people change (or should change) their passwords every few months or so to prevent fraud. It probably would be helpful to keep rotating top 5 password list and other password variations list to a loved one.

Man Gets Protective Order for Self and Puggle During Family Estate Dispute re Autographed Baseballs - News - ABA Journal

During his lifetime, Chicago White Sox investor Larry Pogofsky was the proud owner of a collection of autographed baseballs worth as much as $25,000 each.

His ambition was to collect one signed by every Hall of Famer, reports the Chicago Tribune.

Now, after his death at age 64, the collection is at the center of a complicated family estate dispute, the newspaper recounts:

Son Lyle "Brad" Pogofsky, 34, filed a civil suit against his brother, Benjamin Pogofsky, 31, contending that his sibling had been harassing him over the collection and seeking a judgment enforcing what he says was his father's promise that the collection would go to his oldest son after he died.

Meanwhile, Brad Pogofsky was arrested and charged by Highland Park police with felony residential burglary and theft for allegedly taking some of the baseballs from his mother's home. His lawyer says he is innocent. His mother, to whom the entire estate reportedly was left, says her husband left instructions that the collection was to go to Benjamin Pogofsky.

Benjamin Pogofsky denies that he harassed his brother and has obtained a Cook County Circuit Court protective order for himself and his puggle, Jolie, against his older sibling.

"It's always the emotional items that get fought over," comments attorney Mitch Pawlan, who says he has used a deck of cards to help settle such property contests. "It's never pretty. One of the things you have to work on is trying to keep the family together. That's where the counseling comes in."

via www.abajournal.com

More often than not, its the little things that get fought over. Amazing what refrigerators and candlesticks can do to people who you think love and respect each other.

Huguette Clark, Montana Mining Heiress, Leaves NY Fortune To Nurse, The Arts

NEW YORK — Huguette Clark, the Montana copper mining heiress who died in New York last month at 104, has left most of her $400 million fortune to the arts – wealth from the Gilded Age that produced the Rockefellers, Astors and Vanderbilts.

According to her will, obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday, Clark gave to Washington's Corcoran Gallery of Art a prized Claude Monet water-lily painting not seen by the public since 1925.

The Manhattan district attorney's office is looking into how Clark's affairs were managed while she spent the last two decades of her life in a hospital, a virtual recluse, people familiar with the probe have said. Before that, she lived in the largest residence on Fifth Avenue – 42 rooms.

The people spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly about the probe.

The daughter of one-time U.S. Sen. William A. Clark left instructions for the creation of a foundation "for the primary purpose of fostering and promoting the arts," according to the will prepared and signed in 2005, when she was 98.

About $300 million will go for the arts, including the 1907 Monet from his famed "Water Lilies" series, which is worth tens of millions of dollars, said attorney John Dadakis, of the firm Holland & Knight.

via www.huffingtonpost.com

Sadly, I was not on the list of devisees.....

Leona Helmsley's pampered Maltese 'Trouble,' one of the world's richest dogs, dies at age 12

Leona Helmsley's pampered pooch "Trouble," who inherited $12 million from the real estate mogul, has died at the age of 12.

That's 84 in dog years.

Like many Americans, the pampered Maltese retired to Florida in 2007, shortly after Helmsley died.

Carl Lekic, the general manager of the Helmsley Sandcastle hotel in Sarasota, cared for her.

"Trouble was cremated, and her remains are being privately retained," spokeswoman Eileen Sullivan said.

"The funds held in trust for her care have reverted to The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust for charitable purposes."

via www.nydailynews.com

Tax Court Allows Lawyer to Deduct Some Care Expenses for Dozens of Foster Cats

A California lawyer who cared for dozens of foster cats in her Oakland home may deduct part of her claimed $12,000 in expenses, the U.S. Tax Court has ruled.

Jan Elizabeth Van Dusen was a volunteer for Fix Our Ferals in 2004, according to the opinion (PDF) released last week. She trapped feral cats, had them neutered, cared for them in her home, and released them to the wild or attempted to place them in no-kill shelters. She cared for 70 to 80 cats at her home that year, about seven of which were pets.

The Tax Court allowed some of Van Dusen’s expenses as charitable contributions, TaxProf Blog reports.

The court said some of the claimed expenses were not related to foster cat care and not deductible. They included the costs of cremating a pet cat, bar association dues, and fees related to her vehicle.

The court allowed cat-care expenses of less than $250 substantiated by Van Dusen’s records, but disallowed higher expenses because she did not have a contemporaneous written acknowledgment from Fix Our Ferals.

via www.abajournal.com

The seeking of deductions for bar association dues was a bit over the top.

Fishing Friday - Rainy weather puts a damper on the opening of fluke season

Captain Jack at the Fish Connection said they weighed in three bass over 40 pounds this past week, one caught on live bunker, two on chunks. One of the fish was caught from the Norwich docks, the second from a shore spot on the west side of the river across from the Thermos Condos and the last one in a boat off Mohegan Sun.

Before the rains came, people were also catching larger bass drifting eels in Norwich Harbor or casting them from shore after dark along the Shetucket River up from the Norwich rip-rap. Schoolie bass are all along the river as far down as New London.

Jack also got confirmed news about more bass now in the Mystic River plus some smaller blues here and there in Connecticut waters. Your best chance for fluke is Montauk or over at Block Island.

via www.theday.com

Another year of not getting the boat in until Memorial Day. Find the short in the bilge pump wiring; bottom painting.