Amy Shelf

Caring.com Expert

About

Amy Shelf received an undergraduate degree from Columbia University and a J.D. from Hastings College of the Law, where she graduated magna cum laude. While in law school, she had an externship with the San Francisco Probate Department, where she learned as much about family psychology as she did about probate practice.

Shelf has spent her entire legal career as a lawyer practicing estate planning and guiding clients as they plan for the certainties and uncertainties of the future. After practicing for several years with a law firm, she opened her own practice concentrating on affordable estate plans for clients of all means, with an emphasis on involving family members -- especially adult children -- in the planning process.

Shelf's childhood weekends were spent with her grandmother, the director of a senior center, who gave her the opportunity to see joy and dignity in aging and from whom she inherited her outspokenness.

Recently Published on Caring.com

  1. Friday December 04, 2009

    1. How does a quit claim effect our tax situation?

      Answer - How the transfer is characterized depends largely upon whether your in-laws intended to transfer the home as a gift or as payment for your caretaking services.

  2. Wednesday February 04, 2009

    1. How do I set up a bank account to handle my late sister's finances?

      Answer - The power of attorney you had over your sister’s affairs was effective only for as long as your sister was alive. Since she has died, and unless she had a living trust in place, a probate court proceeding is generally required to give you or anyone else authority to administer her estate–to take car...

    2. How can I be sure the power of attorney agent is acting properly?

      Answer - It can be very difficult to find out what is going on in this situation.

    3. What is the difference between power of attorney and conservatorship?

      Answer - A power of attorney for financial matters and a conservatorship can both authorize a person to have control over another person’s financial affairs.

    4. Who should receive our brother's inheritance if he can't be found?

      Answer - Usually, if a person named to take property in a will cannot be located, that property is distributed as if that person died before the person who made the will—in this case, your father.

  3. Saturday December 27, 2008

    1. Do we need a court order for the bank stating my mother is unable to handle her financial affairs any longer?

      Answer - The short answer to your questions are: Yes, it does seem the bank is talking about a conservatorship. And yes, it would be perfect if the power of attorney and doctor’s letter would suffice. However, there are many factors at play in your mother’s situation and, unfortunately, what you wish the ban...

    2. What can we do to allow adult children to see their mother?

      Answer - If you are one of the children, start by contacting the adult protective services agency in your area. You should be able to find the agency in your mother’s area by doing an internet search for “adult protective services” and her city and...

    3. Is there any legal action we can take against our sister's conservator?

      Answer - In all likelihood you and your sister should have been notified of your other sister’s conservatorship. While the notification requirements vary by state, most provide that immediate family members should be notified. If, for whatever reason, that did not include you as siblings, it most certainly s should have included your sister’s son or his caretakers...

  4. Thursday December 04, 2008

    1. What can I do to contest a power of attorney with a forged signature?

      Answer - It must be stressful indeed to help your fiance through a stroke and all of the medical and emotional struggles connected to that, even apart from the possible family battle you now face. Unfortunately, stories like yours are all too common.You are correct; a power of attorney produced by fraud is not valid...

    2. Can I add codicil to will without a lawyer present?

      Answer - 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...

    3. Did the executor of my grandmother's estate do something wrong by not giving me a piece of property willed to my dad and I after my father died?

      Answer - What your father and the executor, called a trustee if administering a trust rather than a will, should or should not have done is dictated by the terms of the trust your grandmother established. If the executor was supposed to set up a trust and did not, or was supposed to distribute only a limited...

  5. Saturday November 15, 2008

    1. What are my mother's options with regard to paying off her debt?

      Answer - The good news is that you are in a position to help your mother. Because you are a trustee, are named on her accounts, and have a power of attorney, you should have the authority to discuss these matters directly with the credit card companies, help your mother develop a plan, and help her follow it...

    2. How do we pay off my late father's debts?

      Answer - 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...

  6. Friday November 14, 2008

    1. How should the title, introduction, and signature pages of a living trust be set up to restate the terms of the trust?

      Answer - There are at least two very important things to keep in mind when restating a trust. For one, be sure to make very clear reference to the existing trust and establish that this new document is a restatement and continuation of the existing trust...

    2. How do I prove to the IRS that I'm entitled to receive information about my parents' taxes?

      Answer - You should be able to complete and file IRS Form 56, “Notice Concerning Fiduciary Relationship” and indicate that there is a valid trust. You can download the form directly from the IRS website. Part II will ask you to indicate your authority -- and you should check "Valid trust instrument and amendmendments...

    3. Is there a statute of limitations on when creditors can ask for money after a parent's death?

      Answer - It must have been quite an unwelcome surprise to receive that bill. Your hunch was right: There is a statute of limitations for creditors’ claims against an estate. New Jersey gives creditors nine months from the date of death to present claims to the personal representati...

    4. How do you divide estate property equally between siblings?

      Answer - Whatever you and your siblings decide to do, you must all be guided first and foremost by what the will stated -- or if there was no will, by the controlling state law, called the law of intestate succession. If the will or the law requires that the estate is to be divided equally, you must do that...