LEGAL DISTINCTIONS THAT MATTER When a person applies for Medicaid eligibility there are many pitfalls that an unsuspecting or unsophisticated applicant can run afoul of. To help them retain the benefit of certain monies that they would normally have access to third parties or the applicant themselves can create a…
CREATE A GLOBAL PLAN TO GO INTO EFFECT TODAY If you are a parent, stepparent, grandparent or caretaker of a special needs child you need to prepare for the day when you are no longer able to physically and financially care for your special needs loved one. While it is…
The Veterans Administration has a program that allows for a large subset of the veterans population to qualify for certain benefits that pay for costs associated with caring for a veteran or their spouse. This Aid and Attendance pension may be in addition to any pension that the service member…
For over a decade it was sound and perfectly legal advice for financial advisors and elder law practitioners to advise their married clients to file and suspend their social security benefits, thereby maximizing their financial returns. The basic advice was to advise a married couple to have the spouse who…
Throughout the twentieth century, the Federal government took various legal steps to positively impact the lives of senior citizens, the disabled and the elderly in general. Throughout the 1930s a variety of retirement and pension programs were enacted, most significantly social security. 1952 saw the funding…
The Eastern District of Virginia Bankruptcy Court issued an opinion on a case with a unique factual scenario almost three years ago, on February 6, 2013 in the case of In Re Woodworth, (Bankr. E.D. Va., No. 11-11051-BFK, Feb. 6, 2013). The case is important because it speaks to the…
On December 19, 2014 President Obama signed into law a number of tax and financial measures to extend certain tax benefits. More specifically, the legislation enacted the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act of 2013, which amends section 529(e) of the United States Tax Code, to allow for tax-free…
WHAT IS BEST FIT Both an ABLE Act account and a special needs trusts try to accomplish essentially the same thing. Both attempt to ensure that a special needs child or person are financially planned for through various legal and financial means so as to enrich the life of the…
On December 18, 2015 President Obama signed the Protecting Americans from Tax Hike (PATH) Act, which made permanent, among other things, three rather popular charitable tax incentives were set to expire January 1, 2016. The most important provision of the PATH Act for estate planning purposes is the continued allowance…
Sumner Redstone is an entertainment business mogul with a majority share ownership of CBS entertainment and Viacom, and through Viacom, BET and Paramount Pictures, all through his majority ownership of his family business, National Amusement, which originally started out in the drive in movie theater business during The Great Depression.…