United Way in RI and Newport Probate Attorney

August 2008 Newsletter

Here’s a new source of information: “United Way- 2-1-1.” Material about this free service was forwarded to me by a lawyer friend and fellow practitioner from Middletown- Cristina Offenberg. The material from the United Way of Rhode Island reads as follows:

2-1-1 is the fastest and easiest way to get information when you need it, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. One call gives you access to resources across your community, whether you need to get help- for you, for a family member or for a friend- or want to help. No more wrong numbers, no more wasted time trying to find the right person to call.

Examples were listed: “daycare for your child, financial assistance for a utility bill, find a mental health counselor to help you in a crisis, or connect with any other community service.” Or, “If you are able to help others by donating your time as a mentor or volunteer or by donating food, clothing, toys, furniture, 2-1-1 is also for you.”

It sounds useful. Try it and let us know how helpful it is to you. “Cris” Offenberg stated in her email that other states were utilizing the same system so try it wherever you live.

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The Law Offices of Jeremy W. Howe, LTD. are ElderLaw attorneys in Rhode Island who specialize in Wills and Trusts, Estate Planning, Guardianship, Probate, and Veterans Aid and Attendance Benefits.

They also are Newport Rhode Island Divorce Lawyers, Attorneys, Mediators, and Arbitrators providing services for Family Law issues such as Divorce, Child Custody and Visitation, Support, and Military Family Law. 

Call them today at 401-841-5700 or visit them on the web at http://www.CounselFirst.com.

Newport RI Probate and Elder Law Attorneys

Family Issues During Death of a Loved One

Very few events in life are more difficult to accept than the pending death or the actual death of a loved one. As elder-law attorneys and estate planners, we see too many cases where the siblings, or the spouses, or other significant heirs or beneficiaries of a person disagree regarding: pre-death care and housing; the choice of attorney-in-fact, personal representative or trustee of the family member; or the testator or grantor’s disposition of their estate contained in the will or trust itself.

Recently I have seen a number of cases where life insurance was left to one child with the intention that the child would use those funds for burial costs or to pay the last debts of the estate. “Family issues” arose and the funds were retained by the beneficiary against the wishes of the decedent. You can imagine the resulting turmoil within the family in any of these cases.

It is our desire to avoid such problems in the first place by planning well in advance of death, by reviewing a client’s entire estate including non-probate assets and by making certain that the representatives for the client will be able to fulfill the intentions of the client without a family feud.

Our complete analysis of your estate is done at a modest flat fee and “We make house-calls.”

Jeremy Howe
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The Law Offices of Jeremy W. Howe, LTD. are ElderLaw attorneys in Rhode Island who specialize in Wills and Trusts, Estate Planning, Guardianship, Probate, and Veterans Aid and Attendance Benefits.

They also are Newport Rhode Island Divorce Lawyers, Attorneys, Mediators, and Arbitrators providing services for Family Law issues such as Divorce, Child Custody and Visitation, Support, and Military Family Law. 

Call them today at 401-841-5700 or visit them on the web at http://www.CounselFirst.com.

Newport RI Estate Lawyers to Participate in Holiday Charity Event

December, 2010 – Newport, RI

From November through December 10, 2010, Attorney Kristy Garside on behalf of the Law Offices of Jeremy Howe will participate in Elves for Elders, a charitable event organized and facilitated by Seniors RULE (Resources Unlimited-Liaisons for Elders). Seniors RULE is a non-profit organization whose members provide services for seniors. The services provided can be found at seniorsrule@myway.com.

The event involves a secret-Santa program whereby the names of elderly individuals in nursing homes in Rhode Island who may not receive a gift during the holiday season are gathered and placed on a Christmas tree for others to purchase a gift. The trees are placed throughout the states at various locations, and will come down on December 10. The gifts will then be wrapped and distributed by Seniors RULE members.

When asked what prompted the office’s involvement in the group, the attorney replied, “This is the time of the year when a lot of elderly people feel the most isolated, some of them literally. We take full advantage of every opportunity to become involved in community outreach programs and donate our time. I think we would all like our communities to be there for all its members, even if they have no loved ones who are able to be there for them. You never know whose life you're going to touch.”

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The Law Offices of Jeremy W. Howe, LTD. are ElderLaw attorneys in Rhode Island who specialize in Wills and Trusts, Estate Planning, Guardianship, Probate, and Veterans Aid and Attendance Benefits.

They also are Newport Rhode Island Divorce Lawyers, Attorneys, Mediators, and Arbitrators providing services for Family Law issues such as Divorce, Child Custody and Visitation, Support, and Military Family Law. 

Call them today at 401-841-5700 or visit them on the web at http://www.CounselFirst.com.

RI Estate Lawyer Kindness Matters

Newport RI Probate client shares thanks with Law Office of Jeremy Howe and Associates for care during difficult time:

Dear Hilary & Jeremy,

Words cannot express my heartfelt appreciation for the kindness you’ve shown me. Making things go perfectly stress-free was a true blessing for me and I will always remember your thoughtfulness.


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The Law Offices of Jeremy W. Howe, LTD. are ElderLaw attorneys in Rhode Island who specialize in Wills and Trusts, Estate Planning, Guardianship, Probate, and Veterans Aid and Attendance Benefits.

They also are Newport Rhode Island Divorce Lawyers, Attorneys, Mediators, and Arbitrators providing services for Family Law issues such as Divorce, Child Custody and Visitation, Support, and Military Family Law. 

Call them today at 401-841-5700 or visit them on the web at http://www.CounselFirst.com.

Estate Planning in RI Elder Law House Calls

A new (grieving) widow wrote to Jeremy:

“Thank you so much for handling the Deed to my home, my Will and all other matters. I appreciate your kindness in coming to the house for my convenience. It is difficult for me to get to your office. …I’ve always felt relaxed in your presence and confident that you would advise me what to do which would be most beneficial to me. …I really do consider you a dear friend.”

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The Law Offices of Jeremy W. Howe, LTD. are ElderLaw attorneys in Rhode Island who specialize in Wills and Trusts, Estate Planning, Guardianship, Probate, and Veterans Aid and Attendance Benefits.

They also are Newport Rhode Island Divorce Lawyers, Attorneys, Mediators, and Arbitrators providing services for Family Law issues such as Divorce, Child Custody and Visitation, Support, and Military Family Law. 

Call them today at 401-841-5700 or visit them on the web at http://www.CounselFirst.com.

Wife Receives Portion of Pension in RI Divorce

Divorce Attorney Results from Jeremy Howe

The following RI Family Court QDRO and Pension Plan Award in a RI Divorce was negotiated by the Newport RI Divorce and Estate Planning Law Offices of Jeremy Howe & Associates.

Hired by the Wife to draft the Qualified Domestic Relations Order so she could receive her portion of the Husband’s annuity. We discovered upon reviewing the pension documents that there were in fact two pension plans.

The court orders referred to only one plan, so the Wife was missing out on her portion of a substantial, if not the largest, marital asset.

We prepared the Qualified Domestic Relations Order for the designated plan and notified the attorneys for the parties that they had an unresolved issue.

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The Law Offices of Jeremy W. Howe, LTD. are ElderLaw attorneys in Rhode Island who specialize in Wills and Trusts, Estate Planning, Guardianship, Probate, and Veterans Aid and Attendance Benefits.

They also are Newport Rhode Island Divorce Lawyers, Attorneys, Mediators, and Arbitrators providing services for Family Law issues such as Divorce, Child Custody and Visitation, Support, and Military Family Law. 

Call them today at 401-841-5700 or visit them on the web at http://www.CounselFirst.com.

Durable Power of Attorney Validity

A REMINDER ABOUT THE VALIDITY OF YOUR DURABLE POWER OF ATTORNEY

When you sign a “Durable Power of Attorney” document, you name an “Attorney in Fact”, to act on your behalf in all financial matters. This power endures even if you become incapacitated, disabled or incompetent. However, many people do not realize that once you die, your Durable Power of Attorney is no longer valid. In other words, it dies when you die.

Often, the Attorney in Fact will attempt to access accounts post-death only to be told that he does not have the legal right to do so. Just recently a gentleman came into our office to discuss this very issue. He was a joint owner of his mother’s only bank account, but she was the sole owner of a mutual funds account worth approximately $125,000. On a Friday, this gentleman thought that he should – as his mother’s Attorney in Fact – transfer the mutual funds into the joint account so that he could pay her nursing home bills. But because he had other things that he needed to take care of that day, he put off the transfer intending to do it at the beginning of the following week.

Unfortunately, his mother died that weekend and her son was no longer able to access her mutual funds account. As a result, it became necessary to open a probate estate so that the son could be named Executor and then have the necessary power to access the account. While opening a probate estate is not difficult or complicated, it takes months to clear assets within an estate and there are court costs, inventory taxes and attorneys fees. In short, avoiding probate is a useful strategy to consider in many cases. Here, timely action under the durable power of attorney would have made life much easier for the family.

Whether you are granting a Durable Power of Attorney to a family member, trusted friend, a professional, or whether you are acting as the Attorney in Fact for a grantor of the powers, be mindful of the limitation of this power and act accordingly in managing assets and accounts.
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The Law Offices of Jeremy W. Howe, LTD. are ElderLaw attorneys in Rhode Island who specialize in Wills and Trusts, Estate Planning, Guardianship, Probate, and Veterans Aid and Attendance Benefits.

They also are Newport Rhode Island Divorce Lawyers, Attorneys, Mediators, and Arbitrators providing services for Family Law issues such as Divorce, Child Custody and Visitation, Support, and Military Family Law. 

Call them today at 401-841-5700 or visit them on the web at http://www.CounselFirst.com.