September Review: Estate Tax Changes Around the Corner?
October is around the corner, which means it’s time for the September review of elder law news and developments. Of utmost concern: Potential changes to the estate tax. We’ll devote most of our review to the current proposal, even though it’s very far from a done deal. Those who might be affected should think about […]
October Round Up: Covid, Care Homes & Taxes
It’s the last Monday of the month. That means we’re a bit closer to closing out 2020 and also that it’s time for the October Round Up of developments in elder law. Covid-19 and Care Homes The pandemic has hit nursing homes particularly hard. AARP this month launched a “Nursing Home COVID-19 Dashboard,” which tracks […]
June Roundup: Estates, Lawsuits, and More
If you are a regular reader, you know that at the end of the month, we like to survey the elder law landscape and share interesting happenings. For the June roundup, we focus on estates involved in litigation, touch on potential estate tax changes, and revisit ethical wills. Clients, especially those with trusts, wonder why […]
Want to Help Loved Ones? Know the Rules
We’ve seen the headlines: hundreds of thousands of jobs lost, millions have filed for unemployment, the economy is getting slammed. Chances are, someone you know and love is suffering, too. Considering the wide-spread coronavirus damage, you may want to help ease the pain. If you find that you want to help, there are rules around […]
New Estate Tax Limits Highlight Need to Plan
Every year, the IRS announces inflation-adjusted numbers for all kinds of tax-related things. Estate and gift tax limits are among them, and the 2020 numbers are here. The new estate tax limits will be $11.58 million per person, up from $11.4 million. The same figure applies to lifetime gift tax exclusion, as well. That means […]
October Roundup: Britney, Death Taxes, Rats Driving Cars
Each month, we like to survey the elder law landscape and share news stories we found interesting or helpful. The main October roundup item focuses on someone who’s not old: Britney Spears. She remains under conservatorship, a legal arrangement designed to help incapacitated people, often elderly but not always: What’s the Deal With Britney? Maria […]
September Roundup: Watchdogs, Wealth Tax, and More
October is just around the corner, which means it’s time for our end-of-the-month collection of elder law news items. Some of the September roundup items challenge conventional assumptions about watchdogs, death at home, wealth taxes, and obituaries: Do Watchdog Agencies Protect Us? Many believe that if you lodge a complaint with a state agency about […]
Estate Tax Portability — What If the Executor Refuses to File?
JANUARY 30, 2017 VOLUME 24 NUMBER 5 We knew it would happen, and now it has. A surviving spouse has sued to force the administrator of the deceased spouse’s estate to file a federal estate tax return to perfect the “portability” election. Before we can tell you how it turned out, we’ll need to explain […]
Does Your Existing Trust Split Into Two Shares On a Spouse’s Death?
MARCH 9, 2015 VOLUME 22 NUMBER 10 A letter from a reader asks: “My husband and I set up a revocable trust which will divide our assets in half when one of us dies. This was to avoid estate taxes. Now that estate taxes are no longer a problem, are there still benefits to splitting […]
Top Ten Reasons You Might Want a Trust, Rather Than Just a Will
JANUARY 26, 2015 VOLUME 22 NUMBER 4 Do you need a living trust? Even with an estate tax threshold of over $5 million (and double that, for most married couples)? That is the primary question posed by most of our estate planning clients. For years the answer depended mostly on the size of your estate. […]
