A Wall Street Journal Online article discussing end-of-life planning through advanced directives and an increasingly powerful tool of “Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment” or POLST, that are meant to compliment advanced directives. The orders have been adopted in 14 states and similar programs are developing in another 16, and allow for greater control over decisions.
Similar to traditional elder law firms, Senior Life Care Planning helps families make immediate arrangements for long-term care in order to promote an elder's health and safety, handling all the legal work and helping families find and pay for the right care (including Medicaid, Veterans Benefits, and other public benefit qualification as needed and desired) without bankrupting the elder. But we offer so much more: First, we have care coordination and support to families whose elderly loved ones are still living at home or with family. Our on-staff care coordinators locate and coordinate needed care and community services, offer family…
A pooled trust is created by the person with special needs, a parent, grandparent, guardian, or a court. However, the trust is administered by a non-profit organization. The trust is funded by the disabled beneficiary’s assets. Each beneficiary has a separate account established, but for the purposes of investment and management of funds, the trust “pools” all these various accounts into one. However, upon the death of the disabled beneficiary, if there are funds remaining in the account, the trust pays to the State of Maryland, an amount up to the total amount of Medical Assistance provided to the beneficiary. The…
Elder Care Attorney, David Wingate, of Senior Life Care Planning, will present a free workshop on “Life Care and Medicaid Planning,” at 10.00 am on March 15 th at Senior Life Care Planning’s Frederick office, and on March 16 th at Senior Life Care Planning’s Rockville office. This workshop is designed to help seniors and their loved ones learn about protecting hard-earned assets from the staggering costs associated with long-term care, whether for assisted living, nursing home, or in-home care. The laws have changed, and attendees will discover that good planning opportunities still exist for those who plan ahead, as…
Clearly, all seniors have a common goal, the need for asset protection: keeping their assets for themselves and their families; not exposing their assets to the nursing homes, and others seeking to deprive seniors of their hard-earned assets.
If you and your small business utilize the services of the Small Business Administration, then you will want to follow President Obama’s budget proposals. The President’s 2012 budget proposal asks for $985 million for the SBA, a 45% reduction from last year’s budget, reports The Wall Street Journal. It’s not all bad news for business owners, though. Some of the savings, an estimated $20 million in fact, should come from the SBA’s efforts to streamline loan applications, re-engineering certification processes and generally making loan-management and accounting systems more efficient. It should be said, too, that the 45% reduction is not…
If you are a self-employed senior paying Medicare Part B premiums, the IRS just handed you a surprise tax break. Reversing a long-standing rule, the Service now says that self-employed people can deduct their Medicare Part B health insurance premiums – premiums which previously did not qualify for the self-employed health insurance deduction. Interestingly, there was no “official announcement, revenue ruling, notice or news release from the IRS announcing a change in position,” according to a recent article in The San Francisco Chronicle. Note that any self-employed person, regardless of age, can deduct the premiums they pay for health insurance,…
According to Forbes, the budget troubles and rising deficits hitting nearly every state are making them more aggressive about finding revenue wherever they can – including taxing your estate. Illinois recently became the latest state to impose an estate tax, making it retroactive to the beginning of the year. All told, 12 states and the District of Columbia now impose a state estate tax of some sort. Eight states enforce an inheritance tax and two states (New Jersey and Maryland) impose both an estate and an inheritance tax. “It’s a very confusing situation,” says Anita Sarafa, a managing director and…
Tax avoidance is a legitimate undertaking, no one is obliged to pay more in taxes than they legally owe. But as Al Capone discovered, the difference between tax avoidance and tax evasion is the thickness of a prison wall. Hiding assets in off-shore bank accounts in order to evade taxation is an increasingly risky business. The U.S. government is stepping up efforts to crack down on offshore accounts and tax evasion. In fact, the IRS is urging taxpayers to disclose their accounts now, before new reporting requirements for overseas banks and changes to tax treaties give the government more information…
Let me also refer you to Seven Tips for Baby Boomers Turning 65 in 2011, a recent article from US News & World Report.1. Sign up for Medicare on time. There is a seven month window surrounding your 65th birthday during which you can sign up for Medicare, and this starts three months prior to the big day. For every 12 month period during which you haven’t signed up for Medicare Part B, your premiums may go up by 10%. If you are on an employer plan, you’ll have to sign up within eight months of leaving that plan to…
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