Lafayette Estate Litigation Blog

Many parents do not talk about estate planning with their children. Even so, the children may have certain things that they expect or that they have been counting on.

As such, when the estate plan includes significant surprises, it can often lead to disputes. The plan simply does not match up with their expectations, even if those expectations were never grounded in reality.

After the death of a loved one, it can be a difficult time for many surviving family members. You may find yourself often reminiscing about the good times you shared with your loved one and likely also hoping that he or she left you some type of property as part of the estate plan that can give you a personal asset to hold onto for sentimental reasons.

While you may feel fine with receiving a small item, other individuals may not feel as content with such an outcome. In fact, family disputes over the contents of a will commonly take place during the probate proceedings. As a result, many inheritances can dwindle due to the need to cover litigation costs and other expenses.

Recently in Northern California there have been an abnormally large number of police shootings. While we are firmly behind the police in most instances, a number of these shootings have proven to be outrageous. For example, we know of an elder who was having some mental difficulties and broke out some windows in his home and made a lot of noise. A neighbor called the police and here they come, two squad cars, seven officers, and guns drawn. Someone indicated they thought the elder had a gun. When the police arrived the elder was in the house yelling and screaming and running around banging on walls, etc. They yelled for him to come outside with his hands up and drop any gun that he had. Eventually the elder staggered outside on the front porch and started to walk off the top step and in his hand he had a regular broom which he was using as a walking aid. One of the officers yelled at him to put down the broom and another officer got shaky. (Apparently he was a new recruit) and shot the elder in the abdomen causing very serious injuries. After the officer had shot the elder, he was heard to pronounce, "oh, shit", obviously realizing he had shot an unarmed man. The police without waiting for an ambulance hustled the elder to emergency care and put him in a lock down room at the local hospital where he was treated but interrogated on a daily basis by the police before he was allowed any freedom. The papers were told to hush up the story. The elder has permanent damage and will have a colostomy bag throughout the rest of his life. The bottom line is if you are ever involved in a situation like this, be very careful, walk slowly, carry nothing, announce your intentions, tell the police that they should have their guns not on alert, etc. Innocent elders are easy game for trigger happy police.

The average survival rate is eight years after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's - some live as few as three years after diagnosis, while others live as long as 20. Most people with Alzheimer's don't die from the disease itself, but from pneumonia, a urinary tract infection or complications from a fall.