Blog: Estate Planning
The Tax Relief Act of 2010 – How Does it Affect You?
On December 17, 2010, President Obama signed into law the 2010 Tax Relief Act which has provisions dealing with income tax, estate tax and unemployment insurance provisions. What is important about this new law is that it is a temporary measure and, for the most...
Dad, Can We Talk? Answers to 9 Top Questions About Discussing Long-Term Care Planning
Recently a reporter asked ElderLawAnswers founder and president, Harry S. Margolis, some questions for an article on talking with aging parents or other family members about sensitive issues such as wills, funeral arrangements, assisted living or medical treatment...
Elder Law Attorneys Specialize in Helping the Elderly
Many elderly persons rely entirely on their children, family members or other trusted individuals to help them. This dependence upon caregivers or family members makes an older person more vulnerable to abuse and financial exploitation. Legal arrangements and...
Employer Support for Care Giving Employees
“There are only four kinds of people in this world. Those who have been caregivers, those who are caregivers, those who will be caregivers, and those who will need caregivers.” Rosalynn Carter, Former First Lady The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that in the year...
Are your parents financially healthy?
The Financial Health of Aging Seniors With our current economic challenges, those of us looking forward to retirement need to be well-informed about our financial needs in coming years. And not only pre-retirees, but individuals already in retirement need to be wise...
The conversation nobody wants to have…
PreNeed (Pre-Paid) Funeral and Burial Plans Advantages and Disadvantages of Prepaid Plans One way to plan in advance for the end of one's life is to sign a formal contract called a "preneed funeral plan." With this plan, money to pay for a funeral and/or burial is...
Can’t Afford Long-Term Care Insurance? Consider These Creative Strategies
By Steve Vernon | Aug 23, 2010 Original Article Found Here This post continues my ongoing series on the threat of big bills for long-term care, starting with my first post Should You Buy Long-Term Care Insurance? Last Monday I provided tips for buying long-term care...
Helping Your Elderly Parent with COPD Related Depression
Experts say that over a million people in the United States have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). It is a chronic lung condition that includes bronchitis, emphysema or both. COPD affects the airways and air sacs within the lungs, which makes breathing...
The Third Generation Connection
Written By : Eleni McDermott Original Article found at Seniors List: Click here "Your first child is your last doll and your first grandchild is your first baby" Russian ProverbToday we are witnessing a new breed of grandmother. She is energetic, better educated,...
The Difference: Gamble or Plan for the MOST important decisions of your life
If we had a crystal ball and could see into the future, we would not need to prepare ahead for end of life decisions. James was 62 years old when a stroke made it impossible for him to communicate with his family. Neither his wife nor children knew anything about his...
Charitable Remainder Trusts: Income for Life and a Good Deed at Death
Many people like the idea of leaving bequests to favorite charities in their wills. But instead of leaving money to a charity in your will, you can put that money into a charitable remainder trust and collect income while you are still alive.
Twitter’s new deceased-user policy vs. Facebook’s
Consider it a sign of the times, or even just success that Twitter now has a policy in place to handle ownership of a user’s account once they’ve died.
As expected, interested parties need to send in several pieces of information about how they relate to that person before Twitter will take action.
Once the proper credentials have been sent to the company (via e-mail or snail mail), Twitter is then able to do one of two things: either remove a deceased user’s account entirely, or provide an archive of all that user’s tweets so family members can access them offline.
Steinbrenner Fourth Billionaire in 2010 to Escape Taxes, If Not Death
New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner is the fourth known U.S. billionaire to die during 2010, according to Forbes magazine. Why is this significant? Because there is no estate tax in 2010, meaning that the U.S. Treasury has lost billions in tax revenues unless Congress acts between now and the end of the year to reinstate the tax retroactively.
10 Reasons to Create an Estate Plan Now
Courtesy of Elder Law Answers Many people think that estate plans are for someone else, not them. They may rationalize that they are too young or don't have enough money to reap the tax benefits of a plan. But as the following list makes clear, estate planning is for...
Advance Directives: Why are they important?
Last year, AARP surveyed members 50 years of age and older regarding end of life issues and noted that over half of the respondents did not have a living will or a health care power of attorney.