tHe lAuGhiNg pOiNt!!

Line Dance

Deciding who gets your assets after you die is difficult enough, but what if you want to make sure someone IS NOT included? Even though the word “disinherit” may conjure up images of family discord, there are many reasons one may wish to do it. Perhaps one of your children is a wealthy entrepreneur and another has special needs, or perhaps you are in a second marriage and want to provide for your children from a previous marriage—but not your ex-spouse. Disinheriting anyone other than members of your nuclear family is easy—just leave them out of your will. But states have special protections for spouses and children.

Spouses. If you live or have lived in a community property state like Arizona and Nevada, the law assumes that your spouse automatically owns half of everything you both earned during your marriage. There are ways to define money that is yours, separate from the community property, to make sure it goes where you want when you die. However, in order to do that, both spouses must sign a written agreement that explains which assets belong to each partner separately. There are rules that may apply when attempting to separate commingled funds, that is, funds of each spouse that have been deposited into a joint account. Therefore, it is important to consult an attorney to make sure that there is no question or misunderstanding that may cause conflict when you least expect or need it.

Other states give your spouse the right to claim a prescribed portion of your estate, no matter what your will provides, or even if you have a will at all. In these cases, it is impossible to completely disinherit a spouse, unless your spouse is willing to sign a marital agreement waiving his or her right to your estate.

Ex-spouses. Your exspouse has no claim to the assets of your estate, unless he or she has some claim against your estate before you die, such as a court order that has awarded a portion of a retirement benefit or pension. It would depend on how the assets were separated at the time of the divorce. Significantly, insurance policies with an exspouse inadvertently left as beneficiary take precedence over a will that leaves those same assets to another.

Children. In most cases, you can disinherit a child or grandchild simply by stating so in your will. However, simply omitting to mention a child does not automatically disinherit a child. The omitted child can contest the will if you do not make your wishes clear. Most states have laws that protect against accidental disinheritance; for example, if a child was born after you drafted your will. Again, unless you specifically state that the child is disinherited, the child will be legally entitled to the same share as the other children.

PANGUITCH OFFICE AT 46 NORTH MAIN STREET TO SERVE CLIENTS IN AND AROUND GARFIELD COUNTY.

Jeffery J. McKenna is a local attorney whose practice has been focused on Estate Planning for over 20 years. He is licensed and serves clients in Utah, Arizona and Nevada. He is a shareholder at the law firm of Barney, McKenna and Olmstead.

If you have questions you would like addressed in these articles, please feel free to contact him at 435 628-1711 or jmckenna@barney-mckenna.com or visit the firm’s website at WWW.BARNEYMCKENNA.COM, he would enjoy hearing from you.

Disinheritance is a personal issue. One who wishes to disinherit a family member may find that there are other effective options, such as putting assets in a trust for that heir, with a trustee making the decisions of what the money can, and can not, be used for. It is wise to consult an estate planning attorney before making decisions that affect the distribution of your estate and the harmony of your family, once you are gone.

A guy asks a girl to go to a dance. She agrees, and he decides to rent a suit. The rental has a long line, so he waits and waits, and finally he gets his suit.

He decides to buy flowers, so he goes to the flower shop. The flower shop has a long line, so he waits and waits, until he finally buys flowers. He picks up the girl and they go to the dance. There is a long line into the dance, so they wait and wait.

Finally, they get into the dance, and the guy offers to get the girl a drink. She asks for punch, so he goes to the drink table, and there is no punch line.

Vet Office

A man takes his sick Chihuahua to the veterinarian. They’re immediately taken back to a room.

Soon, a Labrador walks in, sniffs the Chihuahua for 10 minutes and leaves. Then a cat comes in, stares at the Chihuahua for 10 minutes and leaves. Finally, the doctor comes in, prescribes some medicine and hands the man a $250 bill.

“This must be a mistake,” the man says. “I’ve been here only 20 minutes!”

“No mistake,” the doctor says. “It’s $100 for the lab test, $100 for the cat scan and $50 for the medicine.”

THEME:

Rain, Rain, Go Away

“Oh, no!” the kangaroo groaned to her friend, the rabbit. “The forecast calls for rain.”

“What’s the problem with that?” asked the rabbit. “We could use some rain.”

“Sure,” the kangaroo said. “But that means my kids will have to play inside all day!”

Shower Thought

When we're young, we sneak out of our houses to go to parties. When we're old, we sneak out of parties to go home.

PUNishment

A bear walks into a restaurant and says, “I want a grilled…cheese.” The waiter says “Why the big pause?” The bear replies, “I don’t know. I was born with them.”

Sudoku

To Play: Complete the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 to 9

This week's answers on B5

Santa ____, Orange County

24. Multicolored horse

25. *Rand Paul's title, abbr.

28. Youngster

30. *Type of spinner popular in the late 2010s

35. Between duet and quartet

37. Newspaper piece

39. Pope's court

40. Bohemian

41. *Tonya and Harley Quinn to Margot Robbie, e.g.

43. *Like Millie Bobby Brown and friends in "Stranger Things"

44. Prows

46. Vaulting prop

47. Fencer's blade

48. *Animated story of Elsa and Anna

50. Greek salad ingredient

1. Having the means

2. Land of Israel

3. *____-cutting, broadcast TV phenomenon

4. Opposite of alpha

5. Not owner 6. Something ____

Frame job

45. Not often

49. *Amal Clooney ____ Alamuddin

51. Naturally footless 54. Japanese cartoon art

56. Expressionless

57. Junk e-mail

58. Hindu serpent deity

59. Singer-songwriter Redding

60. Item on Santa's list

61. Acidic kind of apple

62. A fan of 63. *Plant in Zach Galifianakis' 2019 movie

64. Those not opposed

67. *Popular meme move