Colorado Probate Blog - Wade Ash Woods Hill & Farley, P.C.

Denver is experiencing an alarming rise in violent crimes...

Work-at-Home scams are becoming increasingly problematic...

Wade Ash is saddened to announce the passing of Marc A. Chorney. Marc retired from Estate Planning in our firm last year. He will be sorely missed by his many friends, clients, family members, and those of us that worked with him. 

If it seems as if we are always talking about COVID Scams, you are right...

We are saddened to share with you the loss of our long-time partner and friend, Mike Farley. Mike was one of the great lawyers in the trusts and estates field, both locally and nationally. He will be missed by his colleagues, as well as his clients.

In the November 2019 Wade Ash Newsletter, Herbert E. Tucker submitted an article regarding the pros and cons of pre-death will contests. In that article, he pointed out only a handful of states will entertain a pre-death will contest. A majority of states, however, will not entertain a motion for determination of the validity of a will during the testator’s lifetime because a will is deemed ambulatory and, therefore, only takes effect upon the testator’s death. Simply stated, most Courts will not render advisory opinions where there is no actual controversy before the Court.

Technology makes it easier for fraudulent lovers to pull off one the fastest growing internet scams...

Even though many states, including Colorado, have legalized aid-in-dying laws permitting terminally ill patients the right to end their own life, several hospitals prohibit this process. Colorado adopted aid-in-dying legislation in 2016. Accordingly, it is legal in Colorado, but faith-based hospitals have rules and policies that prohibit doctors from prescribing aid-in-dying medication to assist their terminally ill patients end their life.

As wonderful as it is to watch your favorite shows on a Smart TV, that Smart TV is also watching you...

Congress passes last minute tax changes...

Beware of charging cords in your hotel room or in the airport. Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office warns a free charge on your electronic device could end up draining your bank account. Juice jacking happens when an unsuspecting user plugs their electronic devices into a USB port or USB cables that are loaded with malware. People don’t see this scam coming, however, if it is too good to be true, it probably is. This scam uses malware that infects the device giving hackers a way in. They can then read your export data, including your passwords. Rather than use any available charger, you should always carry your own charging device, only charging directly from an electrical outlet and using portable batteries that were bought from known venders. The scam is similar to scammers, who steal debit card numbers by putting illegal card readers or skimmers on ATMs. Don’t let the Grinch steal your holiday season.

In 2011, Colorado passed legislation permitting chemical methods to decompose a decedent’s remains. Holistic funeral homes are cropping up in Colorado. These funeral parlors offer an environmentally friendly process called alkaline hydrolysis.

"While we are enjoying this season with friends and family, remember, scammers never take a holiday..."

"Sometimes spammers use spoofed numbers for robocalls..."

A dependent adult is defined as an adult of any age who cannot provide properly for his or her basic needs. This includes difficulty managing finances and/or resisting fraud and undue influence by a trusted party.

Data breaches have become commonplace...

Bringing smarter criminal justice...

The gift, estate and generation-skipping exemptions are $11.4 million per taxpayer in 2019. Keep in mind that if a Credit Shelter Trust was earlier created at the death of a family member, that trust ordinarily will not be included in the estate of the beneficiary. With the larger estate tax exemption, the family may not care about estate tax inclusion, but they may want a “stepped up basis” for the assets in the trust at the death of the current beneficiary to minimize capital gains taxes. If this applies to your situation, you probably need to take some actions now in order to obtain the stepped-up basis for the trust assets on the death of the current beneficiary.

Be cautious of a new social security scam targeting the elderly and the vulnerable...

     The Colorado Probate Code affords a surviving spouse, who may be unintentionally omitted from his or her deceased spouse’s Will, an intestate share. The rationale for this provision of the Code is the presumption that the Decedent would have wanted the surviving spouse to receive his or her estate rather than beneficiaries named in a prior Will that predates the marriage.