Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Arizona

Re: Wills and medical directives

A will which met the legal requirements of a valid will when signed in another state will be recognized in all states. Note the condition I mention.

Medical directives are problematic. Those I prepare are signed in formal structure calculated to meet the requirements of other states. 95% of the medical directives I see, prepared by others, have deficiencies according to my standards. I cannot, of course, give an opinion on your documents.

If you plan on staying in Arizona for an extended time, you should have your documents checked by an estate attorney. If you are from a non-community property state, and move to Arizona, your old wills or trusts might not take advantage of tax breaks available in community property states, and you could pay a lot of extra taxes. Most attorneys do not focus on this and do not make clients aware of it.

Best regards,

James D. Jenkins

Re: Wills and medical directives

Each state has certain small differences in the requirement. You should redraft as necessary