Estate Planning Archives - Page 10 of 10

2015 Medicaid Series: Beware of Transferring Too Much Too Early

Posted on January 13, 2015

My next several posts will be centered on Medicaid planning. This will cover topics affecting people who are planning for future transfers to their children, people with ailing parents, as well as those who have neither living parents nor natural beneficiaries. Let’s start from the top. People preparing precautionary Medicaid planning for themselves are typically (hopefully) planning several years in advance: They have reached their mid-late seventies and are starting to enjoy a less frenetic lifestyle, or may have long-term health concerns that are just starting to manifest. They have worked hard for their money, have a possible surplus of assets, and have no desire to use these asset to pay for what they perceive Medicaid will cover in the

2015: The Year Trusts and Estates Goes Elder

Posted on December 23, 2014

A new year is upon us, and for those of us in the estate planning world it is time to define who we are and what we shall do in the coming months. The modern concept of the American attorney who specializes in tax, trusts and estates dates back to 1913, the year the Sixteenth Amendment of our Constitution was ratified, allowing the federal government to tax people’s income. This was followed by the Revenue Act of 1916, allowing a “death tax” on people’s estates. For one hundred years the profession has concerned itself with using exemptions, loopholes and other transfer mechanisms focused primarily on maintaining intergenerational wealth by saving money on taxes. For the umpteenth year in a row

Your “Inherited IRA” is No Longer Safe

Posted on November 17, 2014

Individual Retirement Accounts are perhaps your most safeguarded and income tax-efficient asset: are deducted from your adjusted gross income for income tax purposes, principal grows tax deferred, and the account is protected from just about any creditor other than a spouse (even in bankruptcy and against lawsuits). At least that was the case until 2014. When a person passes away with an IRA, any beneficiary may take all funds out of the existing IRA as long as they do so within five years. This means all IRA assets are distributed quickly, negating long-term tax deferral and assessing income tax payments on the large distributions. And all funds are now out of the IRA, so they are no longer protected. A

“The Doctor is Out”: Medical Practices & Unexpected Death

Posted on November 17, 2014

Modern day medical doctors face a myriad of challenges: Lawsuits, hardships with creating referrals and collecting payments from third-parties (insurance companies and Medicare), onerous requirements of the Affordable Care Act and patient records, and the like. So just when we think the logical conclusion of these hardships would occur (death) we find out just how hard it truly is to be a doctor. A doctor has a requirement to maintain patient records for several years. This requirement does not end at the time of their passing. While today’s insurance environment and staff requirements have effectively made solo practitioners a dying bread, even a small group of doctors may not be prepared to process all of the records of their departed

“My Estate” is the WORST Beneficiary

Posted on September 30, 2014

Unless you own property jointly or in a trust, certain items of property have to pass through your Probate Estate (i.e. under your Will). The car or bank account solely in your name, stock certificates (an awful form of property), the family house you did not place in a Trust, your personal property, all pass under your Will. Or, if you don’t have a Will, through Administration under the “Laws of Intestacy.” However, some people make the misinformed decision to leave “operation of law” assets, such as retirement plans or life insurance, to their estate. Let me be very clear here: This is a BAD idea. The only reason someone would errantly do this is because they want court supervision of