Living Wills Questions

1. How can I obtain the forms required for a free living will or advance directive?

   Your best bet may be to head for the nearest hospital -- or the one in which you would likely receive treatment -- and ask the patient representative or someone staffing the department of social services for the forms used and accepted there. The friendlier types may even help provide advice for completing them if you get stuck along the way...
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2. What do I do when a health care directive is challenged by hospital doctors?

   Laws in most states obligate doctors to honor a valid advance directive—or else transfer the patient to the care of a doctor who will honor it.But as you might already have discovered, it can be difficult indeed to break through the unwritten Physicians' Code of Silence and find one who will act agagainst the express lobbied wishes of another...
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3. Is there restitution when you find out medical professions did not comply with legal documents?

   As you’re finding out the hard way, it can be extremely difficult to get and interpret medical information about another person—especially from within the confined walls of a hospital.
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4. Can a doctor ignore a living will?

   Your mother’s living will might not control this situation, but there should be a way to right the disturbing wrongs you describe.
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5. Is there an online living will form for the state of Tennessee?

   I do not know if there is an online health care directive/ living will for Tennessee. I suggest that you contact the Tennessee State medical Association, who should be able to provide the form. Or try a Goggle search.
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6. Why would my step-father now create an affidavit for a property already included in a trust?

   You want to know why your step-father would create an affidavit for property already included in a trust. I cannot tell you why. I do not know what type of affidavit he prepared. Nor can I speculate on why he did so. Most importantly, I do not know the terms of the trust...
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7. How Can I Find a Will That Has Disappeared Now That the Person Who Made It Has Died?

   If you have access to the will maker's living space and property, the first sensible step is to look in the obvious places: desk drawers, file cabinets, closets. You'll generally be able to identify the will once you see it; most are stapled onto a distinctive colored cardboard backing and are clearly...
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8. What is the specific wording to use when excluding children from will?

   You are legally free to disinherit children if you want to do so. But as you seem to have sensed, it is best to add specific language to your will that removes all doubt about your intentions. That's because there's a legal rule that holds that if you forgot to mention a child in your will, that child may be entitled to a certain percentage of your estate...
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9. When making a minor change in a will, do I need to have it done by a lawyer?

   The lawyerly answer is: It depends.
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10. Does my girlfriend need her dad's permission to receive property left to her in her grandfather's will?

    Your girlfriend's grandfather might have been trying to be crafty from the grave by imposing this requirement of cooperation. But how and whether that will work depends on the exact wording of the will.If the will simply left the entire estate to your girlfriend AND her father, the law will imply that the two of them should divide the property equally...
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11. Can I add codicil to will without a lawyer present?

    No law requires that you hire a lawyer to prepare or to be present when you make a will or codicil. The laws controlling how to make a valid codicil vary from state-to-state. In most states, however, you must sign and date it. And at least two people, neither of whom are entitled to take property under...
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12. Can dementia change personality?

    Dementia can, indeed, change a person’s personality if the part of the brain where personality is lodged is damaged. Sometimes there are situations or people that are triggering this behavior. It can be helpful to keep a log of when and under what conditions she gets so angry and out of control. Is s it around a particular task, such as bathing...
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13. How can I obtain my deceased mother's medical records?

    You ask about getting your deceased mother's medical records. I am not clear about why you want them, but my experience is that most often, people want a deceased person's medical records because they suspect that something was not right about the care the deceased received. If that is the case, be prepared to pay a fee for the records...
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14. How do we pay off my late father's debts?

    While your father’s debts live on without him, the banks and lawyers cannot get paid from assets that don’t exist. The standard process is to notify all of the known or potential creditors and then state law sets out an order in which they should get paid.Often official “notice” to these creditors oditors occurs through a probate court proceeding...
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15. Does a name on a deed override the name in a will if the deed is dated after the will?

    Sounds as if the deed rules here. If your mother changed the legal owner of the house to your sibling, then the property was not in her estate when she died, so what the will states about it no longer has any effect.
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16. Can my stepfather keep us from seeing Mom and getting her will?

    In a weird way, your mother’s fall might have offered you an opportunity. Now that she’s safely ensconced in a facility while mending, her husband no longer controls who comes to see her and when. So you and your brothers may now be able to reestablish some relationship with her, even if she sometimetimes may seem addled or forgetful...
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17. Do you need a will if you don't have any assets?

    I doubt if your grandmother needs a will. As you grandmother has no assets, aside from funds in her joint account with her daughter (your mother), what purpose would a will serve? The cautious, conventional lawyer's response would be—of course she needs a will; everyone does. I disagree with this coconventional wisdom...
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18. We lost our will from 25 years ago. What can we do?

    You have lost your will, which you made twenty-five years ago.It is unlikely—I'd say highly unlikely—that your will would have been filed in your local (county) courthouse. Normally, wills are not filed with any government agency after they have been prepared. Wills are generally filed only after thr the will writer dies, as part of a probate proceeding...
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19. How do I get my siglings to waive ownership of our deceased father's cars?

    Sorry, I cannot answer your question. What forms you need—if any exist—are matters of Ohio law. Every state has its own laws and rules controlling cars registered in that state. I practice law in California. While I am familiar with general rules and methods of estate planning, which are similar is ...
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20. Can our adult children be excluded from my ex-husband's will?

    Whether your children are entitled to any property from your ex-husband's estate (property) depends on whether he has excluded them from his will or not. A parent can legally disinherit a child or children from inheriting any property from his or her estate...
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