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Tax & Estate Planning

What Is The Difference Between Elder Law And Estate Planning?

Elder law and estate planning serve two different — but equally vital — functions. The main difference is that elder law is focused on preserving your assets during your lifetime, while estate planning concentrates on what happens to your assets after you die. Elder law planning is concerned with ensuring that seniors live long,

Estate Planning for Your Special Needs Child

Parents of a developmentally-disabled or otherwise incapacitated child bear a life-long burden of care.  In fact, after their child turns 18, it gets harder.  As an adult, the child is not permitted to continue participating in many programs that were available during school-age years. And adults with special needs encounter many challenges not faced as

Power of Attorney – An Essential Estate Planning Tool

A Power of Attorney, often referred to as a “POA”, is a document you sign that allows you to appoint an “Agent” with legal authority to act on your behalf. Your Agent can then step in if you become incapacitated, are away, or otherwise unavailable to take needed action.   Don’t Confuse a POA with

How to Avoid Capital Gains Income Tax

Generally, when you sell an asset, its appreciation in value from its acquisition cost are it's “capital gains” that is subject to federal and state income taxation. Conversely, if the asset’s value at the time it is sold is less than what it cost to buy, the owner realizes a “capital loss” that often

Estate Planning for Cognitive Impairment

Presently, approximately 5.8 million people in the U.S. suffer from dementia, a term used to describe a group of symptoms affecting memory, thinking and social abilities severely enough to interfere with daily life. Various conditions associated with dementia include Alzheimer’s Disease, Vascular Dementia, Lewy Body Dementia, and Frontotemporal Dementia.  Needless to say, receiving such a

Federal Gift & Estate Tax Changes in 2023

Current hyper-inflation brings a silver lining in 2023. The annual gift tax exclusion and gift & estate tax lifetime exclusion are scheduled to increase next year. These are welcome changes for those who want to engage in wealth transfer planning. Gift Tax Annual Exclusion Effective January 1, 2023, the gift tax annual exclusion will increase

Retirement Plan Required Minimum Distributions

IRA and other qualified retirement plans offer a unique opportunity for persons to amass, over their working lives, a retirement nest-egg that grows tax-deferred. But upon attaining age 72, an account holder must begin to annually take taxable required minimum distributions (RMDs).  The required beginning date is April 1 of the year after the account

What Is a Life Estate?

The phrase “life estate” often comes up in discussions of estate and Medicaid planning, but what exactly does it mean? A life estate is a form of joint ownership that allows one person to remain in a house until his or her death, when it passes to the other owner. Life estates can be used to

How Long Should I Hold on to Important Documents?

It is hard to know what documents to trash and when. Before you know it, your spare room, office, basement, or garage is overflowing with boxes of papers that all seem important. Trying to weed through the mess and figure out what to toss? Keep reading. What Should I Keep? There are some documents

Stop: Don’t Designate Your Investments As “Transferable On Death”

After his wife died Frank, a retiree, updated his estate planning. His new will passed his estate in equal shares to his three children.  Most of his assets consisted of investments managed in a brokerage account. Frank, unbeknownst to his lawyer and on the advice of his financial planner, later designated the assets in his