What’s So Good About Eliminating Federal Estate Tax?
Many of us didn’t think we’d see 2010 but I guess we were wrong. I’m not talking about any apocalyptic predictions of the end of the world but, rather, about the elimination of federal estate tax under the 2001 tax bill that President Bush signed into law. Elimination
Retirement Accounts – More Than the Minimum Required Distributions?
The fact that we are living longer than our parents and grandparents is changing so many aspects of our lives. One area that will be impacted by this longevity is retirement accounts. So many of our clients have it ingrained in their minds that they must not touch their retirement
How We Recovered $240,000
Jane called because she was flat out of money and desperate. Dad had been in a nursing facility for almost 4 years now. He had spent down his money and Jane had paid the $11,000 per month expense after that, until she was tapped out of her home equity line
How $250,000 Went Up in Smoke
Mary’s husband Joe, passed away several years ago but she continued to live in the home where they had raised their family. Mary was now struggling with the effects of dementia. But she wouldn’t hear of it when her children talked about moving her to a safer environment. So they
Is Long Term Care More Important to Women Than Men?
I could hear the panic in Mary’s voice. Her husband Joe’s health had been steadily declining for years and Mary has been his primary caregiver. But last week he fell at home, breaking his hip, and now he’s in a subacute facility. The recovery process hasn’t gone well, in part because of Joe’s age and partly because of the toll that Alzheimer’s has taken on his mind. Mary is now facing the prospect of either long term care at a cost of $11,000 per month or, in an effort to keep the cost down, trying to bring him home and provide much of the care herself, supplementing it with a few hours of home aide assistance. “Joe never wanted to talk about long term care and so we never did plan for this,” she tells me. It’s a classic scenario and one that, so often, is more damaging to the wife than the husband. How so?
Mary’s situation is a typical one. At 72, she’s 6 years younger than Joe. Add the fact that women have a longer life expectancy than men and chances are that the husband will need long term care first. And if the couple haven’t planned for it, they’ll likely spend most of their savings on his care. Mary and Joe have $400,000 of assets plus their house. Without any guidance Mary could be left with as little as $109,000 and the house before the State will help pay for Joe’s care.
Elder Law Today Podcast Show #15 – You Have Spent Down all Your Money and Still Can Not Get Medicaid How Could This Happen?
You've spent down the remaining assets on Mom's care and have no more money left. You apply for Medicaid but are told, "Sorry, Mom is not eligible for another 8 months." How could this happen? What can you do to avoid this horrific outcome? In Show 15 of his
Elder Law Today Podcast Show #12 The Talk – How to Communicate with your Parents about Aging and Long Term Care
In show number 12 Yale Hauptman, a practicing elder law attorney sits down with Barbara Salvador of Nannymama.com and Barbara Friesner of Agewiseliving.com, a generational coach and author of âThe Ultimate Caregiverâs Guideâ to discuss how to have âthe talkâ with aging parents. Generational differences and lack of communication pose some real
Elder Law Today Show #10 The Ins and Outs of FDIC Insurance
In show number 10 of his podcast, Elder Law Today, practicing elder law attorney, Yale Hauptman interviews Anthony Aiello, a compliance officer at Commerce TD Bank on the hot topic of FDIC insurance. For many Americans, the collapse of financial giants such as Lehman Brothers, AIG, Merrill Lynch
Elder Law Today Podcast Show #8 Medicaid Horror Stories
In show number 8 of his podcast, Elder Law Today, practicing elder law attorney, Yale Hauptman, discusses some real life case studies to illustrate how the Medicaid laws can trip people up and cause much stress and financial loss for the unprepared and unwary. Yale first discusses the case of the
Elder Law Podcast Show #7 Seniors and their Home
In the seventh installment of his podcast, Elder Law Today, Yale Hauptman focuses on seniors and their home. Sometimes the senior canât stay at home any longer. Yale discusses with Dan Yanofski, the owner of Elite Realtors of New Jersey, some of the challenges he faces in helping seniors sell their