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Showing posts from 2019

Iowa Guardians and Conservators: Substantial Changes in Store for 2020

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If you are (a) currently acting as the guardian and/or conservator for an Iowa resident or (b) plan to be appointed as guardian and/or conservator for an Iowa resident,  bigly changes are in place for 2020 for annual reports or initial reports starting January 1, 2020 . I'll leave the procedural details out for now.  (Nobody except for attorneys really read those anyway). Maybe another post for another day.  But for the annual reports for guardians and/or conservators, the forms are going from the very basic two pages (or so), to 16 and 19 pages long, respectively.  Granted, some of the information that goes on the forms is fairly simple to fill out, but it is a substantial change to what was previously required under the old statute and rules and will take more time and effort.  But hey, all of the guardians and conservators that I work with have  plenty  of time to learn the new forms, fill them out and either file or have an attorney file them, right? Another questi

Some Gifts Are Not Forever: Iowa's Rule on Confidential Relationship and Refunding of Lifetime Gifts

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A recent ruling from the Iowa Court of Appeals addressed gifts from a parent (now deceased) to a trusted child.  Applying the standard involving "confidential relationships" and gifts during life, the Iowa Court of Appeals affirmed that the recipient of the gifts was required to return the gifts received during mom's life back to her estate. Photo by  Rene Böhmer  on  Unsplash Quick facts:  Mom and dad had four kids.  Dad passed away a few years ago and one of the sons started assisting mom with her financial affairs.  This son was also a Florida-licensed attorney (cue the evil character background music).  Unfortunately, sibling love was not bountiful even when mom was alive, which continued after mom passed away.  Following mom's death, it was eventually revealed that numerous accounts and funds had been transferred ("gifted") to the son that was helping mom out, but that the gifts were "at his mother's direction" and his siblings were