Fiscal Cliff Deal Brings Changes to Estate Taxes and IRAs

'Fiscal Cliff' Deal Brings Changes to Estate Taxes and IRAs

Congress finally came to an agreement to avoid the "fiscal cliff," and the agreement includes some changes to federal estate taxes and Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). The American Taxpayer Relief Act sets a permanent estate tax rate and provides a tax break for cash donated to charities from an IRA.

The new law makes only minor changes to the federal estate tax. The amount that you can transfer tax-free either during life or at death will remain the same as it has the past two years. The law permanently sets the estate tax exemption at $5 million for an individual (now $5.12 million due to inflation) and $10 million for a couple (now $10.24 million).  (With new inflation adjustments, the exemptions are estimated to rise to about $5.2 million and $10.4 million.)  The lifetime gift tax exclusion – the amount you can give away without incurring a tax – also remains the same at $5.12 million.  But you can still give any number of other people $14,000 each per year without the gifts counting against the lifetime limit.

Under the new law, the gift and estate tax rate will increase from 35 percent to 40 percent. This means that if you transfer more than $5.12 million either during your life or upon your death, your estate will be taxed at 40 percent. The new law also makes permanent the "portability" provision currently in place. This allows a surviving spouse to add the unused portion of a deceased spouse's exclusion to his or her own. Note that portability is not automatic -- the estate must file an estate tax form when the first spouse dies even if no tax is owed.

The new estate tax rates and rules are “permanent,” but only until Congress decides to revisit them and the President agrees to the changes.  But keep in mind that the new law does not address state estate taxes, which many states have.

The fiscal cliff deal also brings back a tax provision called the IRA charitable rollover that had expired in 2011. The law extends the provision through 2013. This allows investors aged 70 ½ or older to transfer as much as $100,000 a year from an IRA directly to a charity without counting it as taxable income. Non-Roth IRA owners are required to take yearly minimum distributions from their IRAs starting at age 70 1/2, and the charitable donation can count toward the taxpayer's minimum required distribution for the year.


------------------------------------------

The Law Offices of Jeremy W. Howe, LTD. are ElderLaw attorneys in Rhode Island who specialize in wills and trusts, estate planning, guardianship, probate, and Veterans Aid and Attendance Benefits.

They also are Newport Rhode Island Divorce Lawyers, Attorneys, Mediators, and Arbitrators providing services for family law issues such as divorce, child custody and visitation, support, and military family law.

Call them today at 401-841-5700 or visit them on the web at http://www.CounselFirst.com.

What You Need to Know About Palliative Care

What You Need to Know About Palliative Care

By Philip Moeller

Even the healthiest senior may eventually face serious illness and, of course, death. Seniors know this, and so do their family members and other loved ones. Despite this certainty, we are seldom prepared for late-stage and end-of-life illnesses. And we are even less comfortable talking about them.

Done right, palliative care is an enormous game-changer. It brings openness and fresh air to these topics. It can deliver a range of medical, psychological, social-support, and even spiritual services to patients and family members. It can provide all these resources without costing more money and, in some cases, can even save money by helping people receive care in their homes and not in more costly hospitals. Ideally, it should be available for a broad range of serious but not necessarily life-threatening health conditions.

Most importantly, palliative care and hospice, for those who are near the end of life, have been proven to extend lives and improve the quality of the time remaining for patients and their families. Further, we know what works and how to provide this care. Odds are, however, you have never heard of palliative care or if you have, you aren't really sure what it means.

Jane de Lima Thomas was in that boat only 10 years ago. And she was a doctor, no less, in the process of becoming a geriatrician. Early in her career, she recalls, "I took care of a lot of patients who were in the final stages of their life. The care I was able to provide didn't feel good." Something was missing in terms of helping patients and families cope with the broad range of health, quality-of-life, communications, and other challenges.

"I didn't even know there was a field called palliative medicine," she says. "I didn't hear about it in medical school and it wasn't part of the medical-school curriculum." Thomas made it part of hers. She is now associate director of the Harvard Palliative Medicine Fellowship Program at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, and teaches palliative care at the Harvard Medical School.

Hospice is an important component of palliative care, but only part of what it does. "My job isn't just to help people facing the end of their lives," although she certainly does that, Thomas says. "I feel like my job is to help anybody who has a serious illness."

"I feel so passionately that this is something we can learn to do much better," she says, while admitting that discomfort—amongst doctors as well as consumers—poses barriers to expanding palliative care, as do culturally driven approaches to medicine and medical reimbursement rules that can discourage providing palliative-care services.

"I think in our society, we are inclined to think of issues of health as a battle and we fight for life," she says. "And when someone dies, it's often portrayed as somehow we've lost a battle."

Palliative care, by contrast, recognizes "what medicine can do for a patient and what is beyond the power of medicine to provide." It includes a team of professionals, not just a doctor. Thomas rattles off a list that includes a physician, nurse, social worker, pharmacist, chaplain, occupational therapist, musical therapist, and others.

Daniel Johnson is a palliative-care expert who wears multiple hats for Kaiser Permanente in Colorado. He also helps educate new doctors through the Life Quality Institute. Thomas and Johnson are two of five doctors recently honored for their work in palliative care by the Hastings Center, a nonprofit bioethics research institute.

Read more HERE


------------------------------------------

The Law Offices of Jeremy W. Howe, LTD. are ElderLaw attorneys in Rhode Island who specialize in wills and trusts, estate planning, guardianship, probate, and Veterans Aid and Attendance Benefits.

They also are Newport Rhode Island Divorce Lawyers, Attorneys, Mediators, and Arbitrators providing services for family law issues such as divorce, child custody and visitation, support, and military family law.

Call them today at 401-841-5700 or visit them on the web at http://www.CounselFirst.com.

Guardian Must Maintain Ward's Estate Plan

Guardian Must Maintain Ward's Estate Plan

A guardian of the estate may not change his ward's estate plan by re-titling funds formerly held in a joint account. In Re: Falucco (Super. Ct. Pa., No. 2105 WDA 2000, Jan. 4, 2002).

In 1997, Annette Fallucco placed two accounts containing certificates of deposit (CDs) totaling $139,314 in joint tenancy with her son, James. Five days later, Mrs. Fallucco executed her will, which provided specific bequests to her son and daughter, with the residuary estate to be distributed in equal shares to her grandchildren and one great-grandchild. On December 19, 1998, James withdrew the funds in the CDs and placed them in three individual accounts titled in his name only, although he did not withdraw any principal or interest from the CDs or accounts.

In 1999, Mrs. Fallucco was declared incapacitated and Thomas Dempsey was appointed guardian of her estate. After his appointment, Mr. Dempsey requested that James return to the estate the funds previously held in the joint accounts, which James did. Mr. Dempsey then placed the funds in an account titled in his own name for the benefit of Mrs. Fallucco, and did not include James as a joint tenant. Mrs. Fallucco died on June 23, 1999. Mr. Dempsey's final account of the estate included the funds previously held in the joint accounts. James filed objections to the inclusion of these assets, and on August 25, 2000, the Orphans' Court directed the executor of the estate to release the funds, plus interest, to James. Mr. Dempsey and the residuary legatees appealed.

The Superior Court of Pennsylvania affirms, concluding that Pennsylvania law forbids a guardian of the estate from changing the estate plan of the incapacitated person, except upon petition to a court. The court finds that Mrs. Fallucco intended to make a testamentary disposition of all her assets through her will and the jointly held accounts. Therefore, the court rules that the jointly held assets should not pass through her will as part of the residuary estate. Once James had returned the funds to the estate, the court holds that Mr. Dempsey should have restored the status quo and re-titled the joint accounts in the names of Mrs. Fallucco and her son.


------------------------------------------

The Law Offices of Jeremy W. Howe, LTD. are ElderLaw attorneys in Rhode Island who specialize in wills and trusts, estate planning, guardianship, probate, and Veterans Aid and Attendance Benefits.

They also are Newport Rhode Island Divorce Lawyers, Attorneys, Mediators, and Arbitrators providing services for family law issues such as divorce, child custody and visitation, support, and military family law.

Call them today at 401-841-5700 or visit them on the web at http://www.CounselFirst.com.

Law Office of Jeremy Howe Elder Law Attorney Kristy Garside to Speak at Growing Older Seminar

Elder Law Attorney Kristy Garside will speak at a free seminar entitled

"Growing Older: How Can I Pay for Healthcare and the Services I Need?"

March 14, 2013 in Newport, Rhode Island.

The free seminar is being held from 5:30PM to 7:30PM at the Blenheim Newport, 303 Valley Road, Middletown, RI. Some of the topics and questions that will be addressed include Medicare Coverage, Medicare vs. Medicaid, Homecare, Assisted Living and Veterans Benefits.

Attorney Garside commented on her involvement by stating, "Medicare does not cover expenses associated with the care that an Alzheimer’s patient will need.  It is important to know what other financial programs and services are available."

This seminar is designed for boomers, children of aging parents, and seniors; will answer your questions and educate you on programs, products, opportunities, and strategies; and all while enjoying refreshments at the beautiful Blenheim Newport in Middletown. RSVP to Lynn Squatrito @ 401-239-2509 A light dinner is served at 5:30 pm, Program starts at 6.

------------------------------------------

The Law Offices of Jeremy W. Howe, LTD. are ElderLaw attorneys in Rhode Island who specialize in wills and trusts, estate planning, guardianship, probate, and Veterans Aid and Attendance Benefits.

They also are Newport Rhode Island Divorce Lawyers, Attorneys, Mediators, and Arbitrators providing services for family law issues such as divorce, child custody and visitation, support, and military family law.

Call them today at 401-841-5700 or visit them on the web at http://www.CounselFirst.com.

Workshops Help Families Grappling With Alzheimer's Care

Workshops Help Families Grappling With Alzheimer's Home Care

by Ina Jaffe

There are more than 5 million people with Alzheimer's in the U.S., and most are cared for at home. Now, one company has begun offering training to family caregivers to help them deal with the special challenges of caring for an Alzheimer's patient.

The company, Home Instead Senior Care, is the nation's largest provider of nonmedical home care for seniors. The workshops are free and available to anyone, whether they're clients of the company or not.

A recent session in Los Angeles drew about half a dozen people on a weekday afternoon. The need that brought them there was as serious as it was undefined. Tina Stephenson put it this way: "I need help, bottom line."

She's been with her partner, Gino, for 34 years. They live in a one-room apartment, and she says that certain ordinary things, like standing in front of the sink, just freak him out. "I mean, it's so weird. He just all of a sudden resists me and pulls the other way. So I'm looking for some help with that," Stephenson says.

Leading the workshop is John Moser, the owner of the Home Instead franchise in Los Angeles. He got into the home care business after years working as an elder abuse attorney.

"I dealt with a lot of nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities," he says. "I always thought, is this really the only option for seniors?"

That led him to Home Instead. The company's employees help older adults with things like meals, grooming and transportation. "Family members would be so surprised that our caregivers were able to get mom or dad to do certain things" that family members couldn't, says Moser. "They would call the Home Instead offices and wanted to know more about this training."

The training was developed by Home Instead, but it's based on ideas accepted by many Alzheimer's experts — for example, making use of long-term memories and recognizing what triggers anxiety. The company has spent about $3 million over the past three years on developing and presenting workshops for family caregivers. Home Instead says it wants to be a community resource for families grappling with Alzheimer's. It's also a way to get more clients.

When it comes to caring for Alzheimer's patients, Moser tells the group that knowledge is power. "I always tell caregivers: Know 100 things about the person you're providing care to," says Moser. Those things are then recorded in a workbook called "Capturing Life's Journey."
More From NPR
TimeSlips is a program based on the idea that storytelling can be therapeutic for people with dementia.
Shots - Health Blog
Alzheimer's Patients Turn To Stories Instead Of Memories
Alexis McKenzie, executive director of the Methodist Home of the District of Columbia Forest Side, an Alzheimer's assisted-living facility, puts her hand on the arm of resident Catherine Peake.
Shots - Health News
Treatment For Alzheimer's Should Start Years Before Disease Sets In
Patricia Witt at home
Aging At Home: Helping Seniors Stay Put
'Villages' Help Neighbors Age At Home

"Even though short-term memory goes, a lot of people with dementia retain those long-term memories," he says.

And those long-term memories — and lifelong activities — can be rekindled and used to distract a person with Alzheimer's from behaviors that could cause them physical or emotional harm. Or the information can be used to give them a better quality of life.

Read more HERE

------------------------------------------

The Law Offices of Jeremy W. Howe, LTD. are ElderLaw attorneys in Rhode Island who specialize in wills and trusts, estate planning, guardianship, probate, and Veterans Aid and Attendance Benefits.

They also are Newport Rhode Island Divorce Lawyers, Attorneys, Mediators, and Arbitrators providing services for family law issues such as divorce, child custody and visitation, support, and military family law.

Call them today at 401-841-5700 or visit them on the web at http://www.CounselFirst.com.

Social Security Switching to All-Electronic Payment System

Social Security Switching to All-Electronic Payment System

No more paper checks in the mail. Starting March 1, nearly everyone who receives Social Security must switch to the government's new electronic payment system. Beneficiaries will be able to have their checks directly deposited into their bank account or put on to a debit card.

The government is switching to electronic payments in order to save money and to provide a more reliable method of delivering payments. The move to paperless payments will save the government close to $1 billion dollars over the next 10 years. It also eliminates the problem of checks that get lost in the mail or are delayed due bad weather.

Currently, around 93 percent of payments are made electronically, but about 5 million checks are still being mailed each month. If you are among those who haven't converted to electronic payments, the following are your options:

You can have the checks deposited directly into your bank account. This option allows flexibility with withdrawals and you will be subject to the bank fees and limits you already have in place.


If you can't afford a regular checking or savings account, you may be able to open a special low-cost bank account called an electronic transfer account (ETA). ETA fees are low and you are allowed four free withdrawals a month. However, not a lot of banks have joined the ETA program.

You can have your payment put on a Direct Express debit card. The debit card does carry some additional fees if you are planning to withdraw cash. You get one free withdrawal a month and then a $0.90 fee (or more depending on the bank) applies every time you make a subsequent withdrawal that month. You can also use the card like a MasterCard to make purchases directly without fees.

Some individuals are exempted from the requirement to switch to paperless payments. If you are over age 90, live in a remote area that doesn't have electronic payment options, or have a mental impairment that doesn't allow you to manage finances, you may not have to switch to an electronic payment system.

To make the switch, call 1-800-333-1795 or visit www.GoDirect.org.


------------------------------------------

The Law Offices of Jeremy W. Howe, LTD. are ElderLaw attorneys in Rhode Island who specialize in wills and trusts, estate planning, guardianship, probate, and Veterans Aid and Attendance Benefits.

They also are Newport Rhode Island Divorce Lawyers, Attorneys, Mediators, and Arbitrators providing services for family law issues such as divorce, child custody and visitation, support, and military family law.

Call them today at 401-841-5700 or visit them on the web at http://www.CounselFirst.com.