For the ever-increasing number of those who become legally incapacitated later in life (i.e. unable to handle their legal and financial affairs) having a legal guardian appointed looms as a distinct possibility. A guardianship proceeding may be commenced by a hospital, nursing home, assisted living residence, family member or a…
Schedule an in-office, Zoom or phone consultation Here.
New York Estate Planning & Elder Law Blog
Capital Gains Tax Tips
Your “basis” for calculating capital gains taxes is what you paid for the stock or the real estate. For real estate, the basis gets raised by the amount of any capital improvements you make to the property. When you sell your primary residence you may exclude the first $500,000 of…
The Value of Revising Your Estate Plan
You should strive to review your estate plans every few years. While it might not seem like it, many events can occur during this period that impacts your estate planning goals. Besides personal changes, the country also experiences national elections every four years which often lead to changes in estate…
Advice on Removing an Executor from an Estate
After a person is named an executor, the individual takes on the obligation to adequately and promptly complete the estate’s administration in addition to distributing an estate’s assets to anyone listed as a beneficiary. Assuming that the executor appreciates the duty that he or she owes to the estate and…
Feds Issue Warning about Denying Care to Individuals with Disabilities
Federal workers are currently reminding the country’s health care workers that withholding treatment due to an individual’s disability is frequently illegal. Withholding services in such a way is illegal even if resources are few. The US Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights is currently informing providers…
Staying Away from Financial Elder Abuse
A 90-year-old woman is a recent victim of elder abuse. The financial scammers hacked into the woman’s account and removed $20,000. Frequently, financial abuse scammers present themselves as technical support or service representatives who offer to resolve issues connected to compromised email or bank accounts or even the renewal of…
Taking Advantage of the Estate Tax Portability Provision
The estate tax exemption is slated to return to $5 million in 2026. For married individuals, the exemption is considered portable”, which means that the estate of the second spouse to pass away can benefit from the unused amount of the exemption that was available to the first spouse who…
What You Should Know About Creating a Special Trust for Your Elderly Loved One
Many adults with special needs children routinely worry about how the child will survive when the parent can no longer support them. Often, leaving money directly to a special needs child can end up jeopardizing that child’s ability to receive any support from government-funded programs including Medicaid and Supplemental Social…
The Stonewall Era of LGBTQ+ Elders Approaches Long-Term Care
One new study found that many LGBTQ+ individuals worry that prejudices held by long-term care facility staff could continue placing these elderly individuals in an environment rife with discrimination and misunderstanding. Many elderly LGBTQ+ individuals even feel the need to go “back into the closet” due to fears about being…
Health and Human Services Lengthens Deadline for State Improvements to Some Medicaid Services
The Department of Health and Human Services through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently notified states that they have one more year to utilize funding from the American Rescue Plan to bolster both community- and home-based services for Medicaid recipients who require long-term care support and service. The…