New York Estate Planning & Elder Law Blog

HHS Secretary Asks Former CVS Executive to Help Agency Lower Drug Prices

Published on: May 20, 2018 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar recently tapped former CVS executive Daniel Best to lead the agency’s effort to help lower drug prices for millions of Americans on Medicare coverage. Best was most recently a vice president of industry relations for the company’s Medicare Part D business and included CVS’s prescription drug plans, Medicare Part D plans and other clients.

“Daniel Best recognizes what President Trump and I, and every American know: prescription drug prices are too high,” Azar said in a statement announcing the appointment. “He has the deep experience necessary to design and enact reforms to lower the price of medicines that help Americans live healthier and longer lives.”

At a March 19 speech in Manchester, New Hampshire, President Donald Trump reaffirmed his pledge to lower prescription drug prices. “If you compare our drug prices to other countries in the world, in some cases it’s many times higher for the exact same pill or whatever it is, in the exact same package made in the exact same plant,” President Trump said during the speech. “We’re going to change that.”

CMS Issues New ID Cards, Announces Increased Payments to Private Plans

Published on: May 17, 2018 | by Ettinger Law Firm

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Studies (CMS) recently made a pair of announcements regarding changes to some of the important services the agency offers to millions of seniors across the country. Both of which aim to improve customer experience for CMS enrollees and help combat the threat of identity theft against those seeking vital medical treatments paid for in part by the federal government.

To help protect seniors from identity theft, CMS has begun phasing in new Medicare cards that no longer display enrollees’ Social Security numbers. Pennsylvania residents will be among the first to receive the new cards that assign each person a randomly generated eleven-digit number.

Social Security numbers are vital for accessing key financial information, medical records, and legal documents and should a Medicare enrollee’s card fall into the wrong hands, it could result in a serious case of identity theft. The new cards are tied directly to existing accounts so those who receive the new cards will have all their medical information will still be available with their doctors.

Intellectual Property and Estate Planning

Published on: May 16, 2018 | by Ettinger Law Firm

The broad scope of “intellectual property” (IP) laws protects United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) registered ideas in the form of copyrights, patents, and trademarks. With the rapid expansion of technological innovation at the global level, the growth of statutory and legislative rule elements in this area of law has been remarkable. Estate law and its ability to protect the IP rights of inventors, artists, and authors, is now also applied to the rights of heirs and beneficiaries gifted intellectual property by way of inheritance. Estates without a will are subject to probate court proceeding. Intellectual property included in an estate will be divided according to a plan drafted by state legislature where the estate is held.

Transfer by Bequest

If a will has been written before a decedent has died, the transfer of intellectual property rights will be performed at the bequest of the owner in a written estate planning document. Bequests traditionally written to transfer tangible personal and real property, are now drafted with language that allows for the inclusion of intellectual property rights. Depending on the intent of the Decedent, the estate may also be structured to designate intellectual property assets separately in a “residuary estate” to be subsequently divided among its beneficiaries, rather than accorded specific heirs.

Connecticut Man’s Challenge to Still Living Father’s Estate Fails

Published on: May 14, 2018 | by Ettinger Law Firm

A federal court in Connecticut recently dismissed a lawsuit brought by a Connecticut man who felt jilted after being excluded from his still-living father’s estate on the grounds the plaintiff had yet to suffer any actual injury. The case is a cautionary tale for both testators and heirs in situations where familial tensions can manifest themselves into lengthy and expensive court battles that may end up doing little to resolve tensions.

The petitioner in this case filed suit against his father, sisters, and PNC Bank which was acting as the trustee to the father’s living trust. The petitioner alleged his sister, who was acting as the testator’s health care proxy and using a general power of attorney to make financial decisions, asserted undue influence on the testator to exclude him from the estate.

Unfortunately for the plaintiff in the case, the federal judge ruled that his lawsuit failed to live up to the basic principles of when and why courts can hear cases. The judge determined that because the plaintiff’s father was still living and he had yet to be excluded from any expected inheritance, the testator’s last will and testament could not be invalidated as of yet.

What are the Legal Rules to Estate Investment Robo-advisory Services?

Published on: May 12, 2018 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Robo-advisers are transforming the investment industry, including the estate advisory and planning segment. Algorithms present cost-effectiveness that translates to further savings for the investor by eliminating the “middleman.” Human advisers charge significantly more than these alternative wealth management services, making traditional services less appealing of an option for younger investors sold on technology and rapid returns. How does this bode for retirement investors, and especially the estate planning segment of the market?

Robo-Adviser Investment Services

The more complex the management of a fund, product, or portfolio of services, the less likely an investor will be fully-satisfied with robo-advisory services one hundred percent of the time. Major investment firms piloting robo platform as part of their consumer services offerings, are finding artificial intelligence to be a support feature rather than an obstacle to delivery of high-quality investment advisory services. Robo-advisers offer the kind of on-demand attention that a “living trust” requires; collecting the current financial position and investing goals of a client without the imposition of human delays. According to industry experts, the best is yet to come. Now that robo-advisers are capable of handling sophisticated tasks like retirement and estate planning, both investors and human advisers benefit from an obsolescence of human error. It is perhaps for this reason that legislators have been laissez faire in creation of new regulatory rules associated with robo-adviser practice.

The Law of Incapacitated Parties and Probate

Published on: May 9, 2018 | by Ettinger Law Firm

When estate planning clients require a legal guardian to perform power of attorney, the process can be complicated. This is especially true when rules of guardianship are involved in distribution of revocable trust assets for purposes of medical care or other life-sustaining care need of the trustee. In some states, like New York, state law allows for the legal guardians of incapacitated parties to withdraw life-sustaining therapies if the former deems the patient’s wishes are met with the decision. While informed consent laws provide for guardian power of attorney in meeting those medical treatment requirements, the payment for those professional services may be beyond a patient’s means without disbursement of convertible trust assets.

Guardianship and Estate Planning

The following is a checklist for representation of a trustee who is an incapacitated party in the estate planning process:

Doctrine of Revocation: Estate planning and the Rules to Spousal Inheritance Post-divorce in New York

Published on: May 7, 2018 | by Ettinger Law Firm

At the turn of the 21st century, divorce or annulment of a marriage did not automatically revoke any revocable disposition or appointment of property from an ex-spouse at time of a decedent’s death in New York. Since 2008, with the amendment of the. Existing Estates, Powers and Trusts Law, EPTL 5-1.4, estate law rules to divorce or annulment revocation of inheritance applies to any revocable disposition or appointment of property assigned a former Spouse as a designated beneficiary. New York Law EPTL 5-1.4 revokes any nomination of an ex-spouse as trust fiduciary, executor, agent, guardian, representative, trustee, or attorney-in-fact. Under the prior divorce and annulment revocation rule, the legal termination of a marriage agreement did not automatically revoke an ex-spouse’s power of attorney, or most revocable dispositions (“testamentary substitutes”), including joint tenancies (i.e. joint banking accounts), lifetime revocable trusts, or insurance policies (IN RE: The Estate of Joseph SUGG, Deceased. No. 2013–5055/B, Decided: June 29, 2015).

Amend, Restate or Execute a New Will?

When a couple divorces, changes to a will must be effectuated to an estate. Amendment, restatement, or execution of a new will is required under current New York estate law. Estate planning documents can be changed with the assistance of a licensed attorney experienced in matters of trust document modification and probate litigation. A client undergoing divorce is advised to review existing estate planning documentation at the commencement of a divorce, and at time of finalization. Estate law rules to entitlements provide that a soon to become ex-spouse will automatically lose named beneficiary status in a will or revocable trust. In matters where there is a judicial separation, annulment or final decree of divorce in process, revocation occurs only at the end of those proceedings, regardless of couple or court determined outcome.

New Medicaid work requirements could cause family caregivers to lose their coverage

Published on: May 7, 2018 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Proposed work requirements to Medicaid eligibility could result in some family caregivers losing their vital coverage, according to a recent analysis of Kentucky’s reforms by advocacy group Justice in Aging. Medicaid is vital to helping caregivers take care of their own health while caring for a loved one but depending on how states implement work requirements or defines “work,” family caregivers may end up losing their health insurance or face additional hurdles to keep it.

Caregivers are unpaid individuals like spouses, partner, family members, friends, or neighbors involved in assisting others with activities of daily living and/or medical tasks. The selfless work they do for others in need is vital to the health and wellbeing of the individual and cannot be taken for granted or impeded by barriers that would cause widespread hardship.

According to the National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP, an estimated 43.5 million caregivers have provided unpaid care to an adult or child in the last year and of that number, 34.2 million Americans have provided unpaid care to an adult age 50 or older in the same time period. The majority of caregivers care for one other adult while about one in six care for two-adults. About 15.7 million adult family caregivers care for someone who has Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia.

How ERISA Rules Protect your Estate from Attachment

Published on: May 4, 2018 | by Ettinger Law Firm

In 2018 new legal reforms were implemented that will effectively protect estate trusts from retirement benefit plan asset seizure by creditors.

Reform of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) in the past year extends protections to estate trusts, and their assets. The latest ERISA rules cover managed retirement plans and welfare benefit plans held by nearly fifty-four percent of retirement benefits, and fifty-nine percent of insurance benefits associated with those plans. With the new reform, trust assets will be at a lesser risk of court ordered attachment by creditors for the collection of a decedent’s outstanding debts due to fiduciary bonding agreements to nondisclosure.

Prudential Measure, Fiduciary Reform

Healthcare Industry Warning Against Proposed Short Term Plans

Published on: May 2, 2018 | by Ettinger Law Firm

The country’s largest trade group for health insurance companies is sounding the alarm on proposals from President Trump that would expand the sale of plans that cover fewer services to people who cannot afford some of the current short term plans. America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) claims the proposal would lead to more Americans becoming uninsured or underinsured, resulting in higher healthcare costs in the future.

The rule proposed by the Trump administration would lift restrictions from the previous administration that limited short term health insurance coverage to a maximum of three months and allow individuals to purchase short-term health insurance for up to one year. The administration claims the move would create an alternative for those unable to afford plans compliant with ObamaCare covering a comprehensive list of services.

Opponents of the plan say the rule changes would mean insurance companies could end up charging individuals with pre-existing conditions more for their health care coverage, a major restriction placed on companies under current statutes of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Instead, members of the AHIP suggest the short term health insurance plans be limited to only six-months of coverage, ensure clear disclosures to consumers about what short term plans do and do not cover, and inform consumers of the potential availability of discounted coverage through the marketplace.