Elder Law
Question: My mother owns her home and is considering putting it into an irrevocable trust. She is concerned that if in the future she wanted to take a Reverse Mortgage on the property, she would not be able because the house is owned by a trust, is that correct? Answer: The mere fact that a […]
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Question: My mother has a trust that protects her house in case she needs long term care in a nursing home. Is this legal? Also, when she dies the trust is paid to another trust for me. Do I need this? I am only 53 and my mother is 75. Answer: I assume what you […]
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While the best elder law and estate plan is to have a valid health care proxy naming agents and a valid durable power of attorney naming an agent to make financial decisions, not everyone has done the proper planning. It is not uncommon for an elderly person to fall ill, be hospitalized and then need […]
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The Medicare program is administered jointly by the state and federal government. Medicare is available to adults 65 years of age and older, or to anyone under the age of 65 who is entitled to Social Security Disability. Medicare provides varying levels of medical coverage, depending on the plan you have. Medicare Part A and […]
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A revocable trust is not used in Medicaid planning. According to the Medicaid program, assets in a revocable trust are still considered available resources for eligibility purposes. This is because the grantor of a revocable trust has full control of and access to the money and property in the trust, and thus can utilize those […]
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There are several planning methods that can be utilized throughout your lifetime to reduce or eliminate taxes upon your death. Gifting is one option to avoid estate taxes. Anyone can gift up to $15,000 per beneficiary in 2020 without having to pay any gift tax (which is combined with the estate tax). Additionally, the Federal […]
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For certain retirement accounts, the IRS requires you to take distributions based upon your life expectancy once you reach the age of 72 ½ (the required age was raised from 70 ½ with the passage of the SECURE Act in December 2019). As a result of the COVID-19 emergency, the CARES Act suspended the requirement […]
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As of Monday, May 18, 2020, any uncontested probate, administration and small estate matter involving an individual who passed away due to COVID-19 related causes is deemed an essential matter. This means if your estate involves a COVID-19 related death and the court will process the matter upon filing of properly completed filings and notice […]
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It is difficult to escape stories in the news today about the rise in COVID cases in nursing facilities in New York State and around the country. Given the vulnerability of the senior population to the virus, we were not surprised to hear in the beginning of March that the nursing homes were being “locked […]
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Millions of Americans have already received their Economic Impact Payments (EIP) authorized by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) continues to automatically send the EIP to most eligible individuals. Many have received checks payable to taxpayers who died in 2018 or 2019 since payments were based […]
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