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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Even if you've created an estate plan, are you sure you included everything you need to? There are certain provisions that people often forget to put in a will or estate plan that can have a big impact on a family. Alternate Beneficiaries One of the most important things your estate plan should include is at
On July 8, 2022, the Internal Revenue Service issued new guidance that allows a deceased person’s estate to elect “portability” of their unused gift and estate tax exemption for up to five years after their death. So, if your spouse passed away less than five years ago, you may be able to file an estate
Do you have a friend or loved one who receives Social Security and is unable to manage her payments? If so, you can request that the Social Security Administration (SSA), the government agency that disburses Social Security, name you as the representative payee for that person. Being a representative payee gives you the power and
