At the stroke of midnight tonight, the estate tax will expire.  While the House of Representatives passed a stop-gap measure in early December extending the current 45% rate and $3.5 exemption to 2010, Senate Republicans and Democrats have been unable to agree on a temporary "fix" keeping the tax in place.   As a result, […]

Today's Clarion Ledger reports that 6 individuals have been charged with a scam to cheat nursing home residents out of more than $25,000.  Under the scheme, social workers at a nursing home allegedly told seniors whose accounts became too large to remain on Medicaid, to pay the excess money to them or others they directed.  […]

A recent case before the Mississippi Court of Appeals illustrates the importance of planning for disability, and the importance of remaining loyal to a disabled spouse.  In the Conservatorship of Ellis, husband who was not institutionalized (also known as a Community spouse) was denied the right to be conservator over his institutionalized wife's affairs, despite […]

A story in Sunday's Clarion Ledger shows just how important it can be to have your affairs in order to avoid family fights over your care and assets.  Mississippi native Larry Speaks, who served as Press Secretary for Ronald Reagan for 7 years, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2008.  Speaks was taken by his children […]

While football star Steve McNair's estate is not typical in size or complexity as compared to the average estate, it is nonetheless instructive as to how expensive and public a probated estate can become.  The McNair estate has only been open 4 months, and the first interim fee request for the estate's lawyers, Adams & […]

I just learned that Keith Ball has been appointed Federal Magistrate for the Southern District of Mississippi.  I have known Keith most of my life and know him to be honest, fair, and smart.  He will be an excellent edition to our Federal bench.  Congratulations Keith!

A recent Mississippi Court of Appeals case illustrates the importance of good record keeping and evidence from neutral third parties where lifetime gifts are made to a caregiver child.  Mississippi law presumes that a lifetime gift (called an inter vivos gift by lawyers) made to a person with influence over the giver, such as a  […]

The Mississippi Court of Appeals, in In re Est. of High v. Cobb, has ruled that a copy of a Missouri resident’s will that was executed in Missouri, may be probated in Mississippi as a lost will, despite the inability to present the original.  The decedent had property in both Missouri and Mississippi. The decedent […]

Wednesday is Veterans Day, and in honor of our Veterans, the Morton Law Firm is hosting an open house for our clients and their friends and families.  We will also present a brief course on VA Pension benefits.  Many of our Veterans are unaware that they qualify for up to $2,000 in additional compensation to […]

The Wall Street Journal had an interesting article today on the frequency, and moral dilemma, of extra-marital relations of caregiver spouses caring for a spouse with Alzheimer's disease.  Sadly, as our population ages, and incidents of Alzheimer's increases, we will no doubt see this issue wrestled with by theologians and families with greater frequency.