The Weible Law Firm

12/09/2024

Please be advised that “Luke Weible” is an imposter.

“He” does not work for the Weible Law Firm and never has.

He is a scam artist. Beware.

Scott Weible.

03/31/2024

I, and my Firm, prepare many revocable trusts every year. I think they are, one of many, useful estate planning tools. Every attorney you talk to about estate planning should talk to you about them.

It is, not, however, true that probate cases involve “excessive attorney fees”. The attorney fees for a contested probate case are not markedly different than those for a contested trust administration.

SOOOOOO, if you speak to one of these ‘document preparers’ or ‘paralegals’ or attorneys who operate ‘trust mills’, who try to scare you into buying a “trust” because of what they tell you are “excessive attorney fees” in probate, or because probate “takes years”, you should run the other way.

So, here’s a kind of primer in how to talk to an “estate planner”:

1.) Are you a licensed attorney?
2.) What kind of license do you have?
3.) Do you have license which qualifies you to prepare trusts?
4.) What qualifies YOU to prepare trusts?
5.) What course of study did you complete that trained you how to prepare estate plans?
5.) Do YOU yourself prepare the trust (or will!)
6.) If you ‘work with an attorney’, what specific role does the attorney play in drafting my documents? How long does the ‘attorney’ typically spend on a set of estate planning documents?
7.) Does “the attorney” read, correct and approve the specific wording of the trust/documents you want to prepare for me?
8.) Please explain exactly how “probate involves excessive attorney fees”. What exactly do you consider “excessive attorney fees”?
9.) Isn’t it true that, a contested trust can also lead to significant attorney fees?
10.) Do you also handle probate litigation? Trust litigation?
11.) If my trust/will becomes embroiled in litigation who is the attorney who you would recommend to handle that litigation?
12.) How many trusts a month/a year do you personally prepare?
13.) How many trusts a month/a year does this ‘Firm’/Business prepare?
14.) What is the “attorneys” standard hourly billing rate?
15.) What part of the $x,###.oo that you charge for my estate planning is paid to the attorney?
16.) How many people in your firm are tasked with preparing estate plans? What are their licensures?
17.) If something is not done right with my estate plan, who is responsible for the errors … You? The Attorney?

As the Knight says to Indiana Jones: Choose wisely.

01/07/2023

New Short-Term Rental Law in Oro Valley, Arizona.

If you live in Oro Valley, or even the Greater Tucson Area, you’ll want to know about these new laws, whether you are a “short-term landlord” or a near-by property owner. In addition, if you yourself use short-term rentals, you’ll want to ask your landlord to prove that they have complied with all local laws, as the landlord’s failure to meet local codes could get you into hot water, too:

Thanks to the Oro Valley Chamber of Commerce:

OV adopts rules for short-term / vacation rental properties
by Dave Perry
Special to The Chamber


On Wednesday, a unanimous Oro Valley Town Council adopted what it called “reasonable regulations” for short-term / vacation rental properties in the community.
And it’s giving owners of short-term / vacation rentals until early May to comply with the rules.

“We didn’t invent this ordinance,” Councilmember Tim Bohen said. It is being created to anticipate any “major problems” with parties, noise, parking and other violations experienced by communities “throughout the state,” he added.

Paul Melcher, Oro Valley’s director of community and economic development, estimated there are between 260 and 400 short-term vacation rental properties within Oro Valley. Some may not be registered with the town. It is a growing industry of businesses, generally operated by sole proprietors, generating economic activity, tourism, employment, and resulting sales, utilities and bed tax revenues for the community. In the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2022, Oro Valley collected $512,456 in 6 percent bed tax revenues from short-term rental properties. That makes short-term / vacation rentals a multi-million-dollar industry in the community.

Doug Seemann, a 30-year Oro Valley resident, and his wife own their primary residence as well as a second home in Oro Valley they rent through the platform AirBNB. He told council the economic benefit and tax revenue generated through short-term / vacation rental properties is “far in excess” of the town’s regulatory and enforcement expense.

At this point, complaints about short-term / vacation rentals are relatively few. Lt. Carmen Trevizo of the Oro Valley Police Department told the council that, in 2022, OVPD responded to 7 complaints about short-term / vacation rentals “that affected quality of life.”

“The biggest thing is, people don’t want party houses,” Councilmember Josh Nicolson said. Party houses “reflect poorly on responsible short-term rental owners.”

Council studied rules and regulations for months ahead of Wednesday’s approval. These rules identify prohibited uses of such properties, requirements to notify neighbors both before a business is opened and annually prior to its permit renewal, provision of emergency contact information, requirement for background checks, and more.

“It’s something we definitely want to be ahead of,” Councilmember Steve Solomon said Wednesday. “There could be, in the future, potential” for abuse by renters. Mayor Joe Winfield expressed his agreement with Solomon.

Owners of short-term / vacation rentals are being given time, and tools, to comply with the town’s rules. Nicolson suggested the grace period; “most are small business operators, not big corporations,” he said.

“We want to make sure it’s easy to follow the process, and be in compliance, without it being an undue burden,” Solomon said.

To read Oro Valley’s current rules regarding short-term / vacation rentals, click here: Short Term Rental and Vacation Rental Regulations

07/09/2022

Inflation Everywhere. Even justice costs more.

I read today in the “Legal Dive”

(https://www.legaldive.com/news/large-cities-saw-highest-law-firm-rate-hikes-in-the-us/626573/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter%20Weekly%20Roundup:%20Legal%20Dive:%20Daily%20Dive%2007-09-2022&utm_term=Legal%20Dive%20Weekender >

that, basically, lawyer rates in the U. S. have risen an average of 3.4% compared to 2021. This data comes from the 2022 Enterprise Legal Management Trends Report LexisNexis CounselLink that came out last week.

Just to give you an idea about what the rates are in different places, it was reported that New York City’s “median” rate for partners is $955.00 per hour, Washington, D.C.’s $872.00 per hour, San Francisco’s $580.00 per hour, Boston’s $830.00 per hour, Houston $572.00 per hour, Nebraska’s state median rate rose to $349.00 per hour, while Wisconsin’s state median rate rose to $475.00 per hour. Whereas the Netherlands came in at $687.00 per hour, UK at $736.00 per hour,

The rates law firm partners in the U.S. charged clients last year rose an average of 3.4%, according to a LexisNexis CounselLink report.

05/17/2022

"THE BITTERNESS OF POOR QUALITY
REMAINS LONG AFTER THE
SWEETNESS OF LOW PRICE IS
FORGOTTEN.”

-BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

04/27/2022

We, at the Weible Law Firm PLLC, are not the most expensive lawyers in town, nor are we the cheapest lawyers in town.
But, we DO provide excellent and unequaled CUSTOMER SERVICE. We give our clients MORE than what they pay for;
and we do it with a smile.

"Customer Service" can be defined as what, for example, you do for your client that you do not charge them for ... such as agreeing to an evening appointment without an extra charge, or delivering your product on the way home, without an extra charge, or even letting your employees perform off-site services for your good clients (say, driving to their home to notarize their documents) without charging the client extra. Customer Service includes just calling your potential client back promptly ... even sometimes after hours. Customer Service is the most important thing a business provides ... even more important than the actual products/services it sells, because good customer service personalizes the business relationship and gives the customer the proper respect and honesty he, or she, deserves.

So, for example, Starbucks replaces the coffee you just bought, if you drop it. Or, when the USPS delivers mail, sometimes they will bring it to the door, instead of leaving it the mailbox. No extra charge. FedEx carefully closes your gate, and does not slam it ... or delivers the package the day you need it, even if they have to work overtime. A lawyer might, for example, offer to mail copies of her clients' estate planning documents to the client's children on the East Coast, at no extra charge.

My favorite example is of the Porsche dealership in Pasadena. If a customer brought his, or her, 911 Turbo Carrera in to change the spark plugs, the normal service charge is $600.00! This is because the car is designed so that you have to actually drop the engine down out of the (rear-engined) car to get at the sparkplugs. Even the people who can afford these cars don't like paying $600.00 for someone to change their sparkplugs. So, this particular dealership gives its mechanics permission to do 'off-site' tune-ups for their customers, essentially as independent contractors. The Dealership doesn't get any money for the work, but the mechanic gets a little fee (not $600.00, but probably a couple of hundred bucks), and the customer saves some money and time. So, everyone's happy ... most of all the customer. So, the customer is so impressed with the Dealer's willingness to 'do her a favor' that the customer never thinks of buying their next $150,000.00 car from anyone else! CUSTOMER SERVICE!

You should look for lawyers, law firms, coffee shops and people who mow your lawn, who charge you a good and fair price for their services, but don't ni**le with you about the little things.

03/12/2022

It appears that some (mostly non-lawyer legislators) are trying to disrupt the functioning of the judiciary and the legal profession. But, more important … to what end? Who wins if lawyers are no longer overseen and supervised? Follow the money, because that is always what motivates these kind of idiocies:

…
…

According to the Bar Track Magazine/Blog of March 11, 2022,

"Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee passed SB 1565 on a party line vote of 6-4. The bill would remove the mandatory/integrated bar by prohibiting the Supreme Court from requiring that attorneys belong to the State Bar. It will likely make it to the House floor for final vote in the next week or two. If it is passed from the floor, it will head to the Governor for his signature."

The bill, which would add A.R.S. § 12-119.05, reads as follows:

"The supreme court shall license attorneys for the practice of law in this state. The supreme court may not require an attorney to be a member of any organization to become or remain a licensed attorney in this state."

Assuming the measure is enacted into law and is not declared unconstitutional as a violation of the doctrine of separation of powers, consider this:

The State Bar of Arizona currently has no role in the initial licensing of attorneys in Arizona. That function, pursuant to Rule 33 of the Rules of the Supreme Court of Arizona, is delegated to the Committee on Character and Fitness and the Committee on Examinations, which are separate and distinct from the State Bar of Arizona.

Once a lawyer is admitted to practice, he or she is subject to regulation by the Supreme Court of Arizona, a function which the court exercises through the State Bar of Arizona. There is no reason to believe that the court will not continue to exercise its regulatory authority through the State Bar of Arizona. While a lawyer may not be required to be a "member" of the State Bar of Arizona, he or she likely will be required to pay a licensing or registration fee, which may or may not be less than the amount currently charged as bar dues.

It appears that no one at the Legislature produced a written analysis of how the legislation would work in practice, how it would change the activities of the State Bar of Arizona, the effect it would have on amount of annual fees to be paid by lawyers, and the ability of the court to fulfill its duty to protect the public?
…
…
…

10/10/2021

We’d like to see our clients enjoy their lives. Here’s one way that our clients, our families and our friends can enjoy their lives much longer … this article was originally published in “MarketWatch”:

Exercise Is the Wonder Drug for Healthy Aging

This article originally appeared on MarketWatch.

If you could do one thing to improve your longevity, your physical health and your state of mind as you age, it’s as simple as this: move.

Studies have shown regular exercise is associated with lower risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, several forms of cancer, depression and dementia in older people. But only about one in four older Americans exercises regularly, researchers for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found, and nearly half get no exercise at all.

We’ve all seen the local TV news features about the 90-year-old running his 20th marathon. But those are outliers; exercising can be as easy as getting up from the couch and walking around the house and as cheap as a pair of sweatpants and athletic shoes. The sheer inertia of a sedentary lifestyle, however, often prevents people from taking that first step.

“A lot of the patients I see in my clinic are very sedentary,” said Dr. Ronan Factora, a geriatrician at the Cleveland Clinic. “It’s a lot easier to take a pill than to go out and take a walk. And sometimes it’s even a struggle for me to get my patients to stand up and walk around and not sit down for long periods of time.”

That’s despite the fact that even a little regular exercise can go a long way. Cardiovascular activity in particular—walking, running, biking, swimming—has remarkably salutary effects on all aspects of physical and mental health.

“Cardio helps to lower your blood pressure, it helps to get your sugars under better control, it helps to get your cholesterol under better control, it helps to improve your body’s response to stresses and builds up your endurance over time,” Dr. Factora explained. “All of that is linked with [lower risk of] heart disease and heart attacks.”

A massive 2016 study of 1.4 million U.S. and European participants over 11 years conducted by researchers at the National Cancer Institute and published in JAMA Internal Medicine also found that physically active people had materially lower risk of getting 13 different kinds of cancer, including esophageal, liver, lung and colon cancer, as well as leukemia and myeloma.

Exercise also may help stave off or alleviate depression. “For some people it works as well as antidepressants,” said Dr. Michael Craig Miller, assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Exercise “spurs the release of proteins called neurotrophic or growth factors, which cause nerve cells to grow and make new connections. The improvement in brain function makes you feel better,” Harvard Health Publishing wrote.

Researchers found that aerobic, or cardiovascular, exercise may increase the size of the part of the brain called the hippocampus, which shrinks in later life, leading to higher risk of dementia. ”Aerobic exercise training is effective at reversing hippocampal volume loss in late adulthood, which is accompanied by improved memory function,” according to a 2011 study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“What’s good for the heart is good for the brain,” Dr. Factora said. “It’s really hard to point to one specific drug that has so many benefits compared to cardiovascular exercise.”

How much cardiovascular exercise do you need?
Government health agencies and medical societies agree people over 65 should do 150 minutes (2 ½ hours) a week of moderate-intensity activity, such as hiking, pushing a lawn mower or riding a bike, or 75 minutes a week of high-intensity activity, such as fast swimming, jogging or singles tennis. And up to a point, the more you do, the better off you’ll be,
In addition, doctors recommend doing strength training two days a week to keep your muscles toned. ”You need those muscles in good shape to maintain your posture, your balance, help reduce your risk of falls. It’s linked to maintaining your independence as much as possible,” Dr. Factora said. “Even just using your large muscle groups and doing the resistance training two or three times a week, that’s going to be enough. You don’t have to look like a bodybuilder.”

And you don’t have to be a marathoner to do cardiovascular exercise, either. In fact, people who haven’t been active should begin slowly. “You have to start small, build up your endurance over time. If you want to start taking a walk, and you get tired really easily, start with five minutes,” said Dr. Factora. “And then, just build up the amount of time that you continue to be active before you take a break and work towards 30 minutes.”

“The key thing is to pick something that you’re going to enjoy,” he continued. “Pick something that you like to do and stick to it.”
Exercise really is a natural wonder drug. So, get started and get moving, people.

09/22/2021

We saw a recommendation on NextDoor for Yoel's garage door service ... and are sure glad we followed it! He came to our house as promise...

07/25/2021

“Inheritance” is not owed.

Today I read an — absurd — article in an electronic magazine called “Market Watch”, under the by-line “The Moneyist” who advised parents with a sizeable estate that, even if one of their children are rude to them, refuse to communicate with them, refuse to participate in the family gatherings, refuse to allow their children (and the parents’ grandchildren) contact with them, and make rude, snide and horrible comments about the parents (apparently because the all-knowing child has different political views) … that even if the child is soooooooo offensive that no civilized person would treat their dog this way … that, somehow the parents should give this ungrateful sot a proportionate share of their estate when they die.

This is absolutely asburd, morally and ethically (and legally as well). No one “deserves” your money, not your children, not your grandchildren, not your acquaintances … and certainly not the U. S. Government.

Legally, you can give your estate to any one or any entity you want. You want. It’s not what they want. The only limiting factor, legally, is that if you are not going to leave something to one, or more, of your children, you have to say so explicitly in your will … you can’t just not mention the offending rude child, as the law assumes if you left them out with no mention, you just forgot. So, you have to say, explicitly, “And, I leave nothing to Child #2.” You don’t have to say why. Just say that they get nothing.

This is not being vindictive or small. This is simply applying the rule that all parents must teach their children … acts and words have consequences. You cannot live your life disrespecting your parents (or anyone), spending your time vacationing while they stay home wondering what has happened to you, never call them, never write to them, never let them see their grandchildren, never giving them the time of day, and expect that, when they die, there will be a fat pile of money waiting for you.

Actions, deeds, and omissions have consequences. And, the ‘advice’ that your children’s actions, deeds and omissions should not have any consequences is just an extension of the ‘everyone gets a prize, no matter how putrid the performance’ culture that seems to have developed.

We do people, and the world a disservice when we do not hold people in general, and our children in particular, to a high standard of conduct and penalize them, or at least do not reward them handsomely when they do not act as civilized members of our families.

05/19/2021

CryptoCurrency

We read that Communist China has banned Ann cryptocurrency — except of course the crypto-yuan which Communist China is preparing to foist on its subjects.

And, from people who do not want there to be an alternative means to exchange value, there are false claims that, e.g. DogeCoin has no “intrinsic” value.

Well, ever since the USA abandoned the Gold Standard (meaning that Dollars are no longer backed by the gold stored at Fort Knox) the US Dollar has had no intrinsic value, either. And, “printing” 5.4 Trillion New Dollars (electronically, I might add … new paper money was not issued, most people just got an electronic credit) did not help to support the Dollar’s (non-intrinsic/market determined) value.

So, the people who are trying to scare you away from cryptocurrency, such as DogeCoin, are really trying to prevent you from taking “your value” and playing in a different ‘sandbox’, one that could increase your wealth (or not) instead of theirs. 

Don’t believe me, though. Think for yourself.

And here’s another take on the value of, say, DogeCoin (As reported by Benzinga):

“The meme cryptocurrency Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) has skyrocketed in 2021, driven in part by public endorsements from influential Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO Elon Musk.

“Many investors dismiss the meteoric rise in Dogecoin, but Empire Financial Research editor Enrique Abeyta said this week there's something very serious going on with the joke crypto.

….

“Dogecoin's status as a high-risk speculative investment doesn’t make it fake or worthless.

….

‘What's happening here is real ... whether Dogecoin was meant as a joke isn't relevant — it's relevant if people want to ascribe value to it,’ Abeyta wrote.”

In other words, DogeCoin, like the Dollar (which is mainly, now, electronic), is valuable because we — not the Government — says it is. If, like in Venezuela, and WWII Germany, the people lose control confidence in the Dollar, it could take $5,000 dollars to buy a loaf of bread.

So, if people ascribe each DogeCoin a minuscule $10.00 value, then that is what it is worth.

There is no reason, in other words, that a DogeCoin cannot have the same value as a BitCoin or an Ethereum.