In our ongoing efforts to maintain the highest levels of education, information, and involvement in the Elder Law and Family Law fields, we continuously update our skills and legal education through attendance and involvement in seminars and speaking engagements in New England.
Below are some of our undertakings from March and October of 2010.
March 15 and March 19, 2010
Mediation training under the supervision of Bruce Kogan, Roger Williams School of Law
guest lecturer on “Mediating pension issues”
observer and commentator on the final student mock mediation
March 25, 2010
Mediation presentation for the National Association of Social Workers “From BFF to YBS” (From “Best Friends Forever” to “You’ll Be Sorry”, HOW MEDIATION CAN HELP.
Jeremy Howe presented with Frank & Michelle Geremia and Bryna Bettigole from the Rhode Island Mediators Association
October 27, 2010
Rhode Island Association of Mediators- mediation training
Mediation of Advanced Financial Cases, “Organizing the Data
And Balancing the Power”,
Jeremy Howe presented with co-mediator Nancy Johnson Gallagher, LICSW
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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.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
GRANDPARENTS VISITATION RIGHTS
Visitation Rights for Grandparents
The relationship between a grandparent and a grandchild can be one of great joy and importance for both grandparent and youngster. But sometimes an event such as a parent's death, divorce or estrangement can tear families apart and alter or sever relationships. After such events, the child's parents or guardian may block any further contact with grandparents, who may take legal steps to maintain contact with the children they love.State legislatures have enacted "grandparent visitation" statutes to protect the visitation rights of grandparents and other caretakers.These statutes allow grandparents to ask a court to give them the legal right to maintain their relationships with their children's children.
Visitation statutes, however, do not give a grandparent an absolute right to visitation. A 2000 U.S. Supreme Court ruling gives priority to the wishes of the parents in resolving visitation disputes, and this ruling is changing state courts' interpretation of visitation statutes.
One way to avoid a court battle is to try professional mediation. In mediation, the disputing parties engage the services of a neutral third party to help them hammer out an agreement that all concerned can live with. The disputing parties have a chance to explain their perspectives and feelings. In a court of law, on the other hand, the judge will ultimately make a decision based on laws that may seem unfair to one or both sides. Call Jeremy Howe at 841-5700 to discuss Grandparents Visitation and visit ElderAnswers.com for more information.
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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.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Veterans Aid and Attendance Tax Consequences
Our office shares information with our clients regarding Veterans Aid and Attendance Benefits on a regular basis as part of our Estate Planning and long term care discussions.
I found the following article helpful from the Veterans Information Services, Inc. Monthly Newsletter, written by Dorotha M. Ocker at the Law Office of Douglas F. Ocker & Associates. www.TexasVAbenefits.com
Many estate-planning attorneys who also dabble in veterans benefits, most commonly the "Aid & Attendance" benefit, are quite knowledgeable about estate taxes and helping their clients avoid or minimize them. However, A&A planning often has an effect on a client's personal income taxes (or as I call them, "1040 taxes") of which attorneys who work with veterans benefits need to at least have a passing understanding. Most of the time, the veterans benefits outweigh the tax consequences, but the client likes to know about the consequences up front. While an attorney can always have the standard "consult a qualified tax professional" attached to every veterans benefits plan, no attorney wants to get a call in April from a client exclaiming, "You didn't tell me that I'd have to pay more in taxes!"
Here are the most common tax consequences of Aid & Attendance planning that I see in my practice:
1: Increase in Amount of Social Security Income Taxed: Income from Social Security is taxed on a sliding scale, depending on the amount of total income a client has. Often, if the client has a relatively small amount of Social Security income, he or she is paying little to no tax on it. However, if a client enters into an annuity in order to pay his or her monthly expenses, then the taxable amount of that annuity is new income. That new income increases the amount of Social Security income that is taxed. Due to this complicated sliding scale, I often make spreadsheets for my clients and run various scenarios for them.
2: Loss of Itemized Deductions Due to "Maintenance:" A common practice for Aid & Attendance planning is for an attorney to advise a client's family to pay some of the expenses for the client. This would be "maintenance" under the VA regs, thus not counting as income to the client. However, be very careful which expenses you advise a client's family to pay. A cardinal rule of tax deductions is that you only get to deduct the amount that you actually paid. A client could lose his or her tax deductions for certain expenses if the family begins to pay for them. Common tax deductions that are lost are: (1) medical expenses deduction, (2) home mortgage interest deduction, and (3) property tax deduction. I also make spreadsheets for these deductions in order to show families which bills they could pay and which bills to let the client pay.
3: Creation of Passive Losses without Enough Passive Income: Often clients rent out their houses for a while when they first move into a senior community. Rental income is passive income and must be reported to the IRS on Schedule E. Passive income rules are extremely complex. If you don't know them, don't worry - you're not alone. The main point is this: expenses relating to a rental property can only be deducted against income from the property, not against ordinary income. That means that if a client is renting out her house to her daughter for $100 a month and the property taxes, mortgage payment, maintenance, depreciation, etc. are more than $1,200 a year, the client cannot deduct those losses from her ordinary income. It's much like Point #2, where the client is no longer entitled to take a deduction for property taxes and mortgage interest. I make sure that my clients' passive income is completely canceled out by expenses so that it is not taxable income and the client hasn't "lost" a deduction.
Taxes are complicated but very important. Making sure that your client doesn't have a surprise tax increase is something that attorneys can quite easily do by including CPAs or other tax professionals in the early stages of Aid & Attendance planning.
Written by Dorotha M. Ocker at the Law Office of Douglas F. Ocker & Associates. www.TexasVAbenefits.com
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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.
I found the following article helpful from the Veterans Information Services, Inc. Monthly Newsletter, written by Dorotha M. Ocker at the Law Office of Douglas F. Ocker & Associates. www.TexasVAbenefits.com
Tax-Free Does Not Mean Tax-Consequence-Free: Common Tax Consequences of Aid & Attendance Planning
Many estate-planning attorneys who also dabble in veterans benefits, most commonly the "Aid & Attendance" benefit, are quite knowledgeable about estate taxes and helping their clients avoid or minimize them. However, A&A planning often has an effect on a client's personal income taxes (or as I call them, "1040 taxes") of which attorneys who work with veterans benefits need to at least have a passing understanding. Most of the time, the veterans benefits outweigh the tax consequences, but the client likes to know about the consequences up front. While an attorney can always have the standard "consult a qualified tax professional" attached to every veterans benefits plan, no attorney wants to get a call in April from a client exclaiming, "You didn't tell me that I'd have to pay more in taxes!"
Here are the most common tax consequences of Aid & Attendance planning that I see in my practice:
1: Increase in Amount of Social Security Income Taxed: Income from Social Security is taxed on a sliding scale, depending on the amount of total income a client has. Often, if the client has a relatively small amount of Social Security income, he or she is paying little to no tax on it. However, if a client enters into an annuity in order to pay his or her monthly expenses, then the taxable amount of that annuity is new income. That new income increases the amount of Social Security income that is taxed. Due to this complicated sliding scale, I often make spreadsheets for my clients and run various scenarios for them.
2: Loss of Itemized Deductions Due to "Maintenance:" A common practice for Aid & Attendance planning is for an attorney to advise a client's family to pay some of the expenses for the client. This would be "maintenance" under the VA regs, thus not counting as income to the client. However, be very careful which expenses you advise a client's family to pay. A cardinal rule of tax deductions is that you only get to deduct the amount that you actually paid. A client could lose his or her tax deductions for certain expenses if the family begins to pay for them. Common tax deductions that are lost are: (1) medical expenses deduction, (2) home mortgage interest deduction, and (3) property tax deduction. I also make spreadsheets for these deductions in order to show families which bills they could pay and which bills to let the client pay.
3: Creation of Passive Losses without Enough Passive Income: Often clients rent out their houses for a while when they first move into a senior community. Rental income is passive income and must be reported to the IRS on Schedule E. Passive income rules are extremely complex. If you don't know them, don't worry - you're not alone. The main point is this: expenses relating to a rental property can only be deducted against income from the property, not against ordinary income. That means that if a client is renting out her house to her daughter for $100 a month and the property taxes, mortgage payment, maintenance, depreciation, etc. are more than $1,200 a year, the client cannot deduct those losses from her ordinary income. It's much like Point #2, where the client is no longer entitled to take a deduction for property taxes and mortgage interest. I make sure that my clients' passive income is completely canceled out by expenses so that it is not taxable income and the client hasn't "lost" a deduction.
Taxes are complicated but very important. Making sure that your client doesn't have a surprise tax increase is something that attorneys can quite easily do by including CPAs or other tax professionals in the early stages of Aid & Attendance planning.
Written by Dorotha M. Ocker at the Law Office of Douglas F. Ocker & Associates. www.TexasVAbenefits.com
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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.
Friday, March 25, 2011
A Matter of Trust: Giving Away a Home
Family Value
By Anne TergesenDepressed real estate values and changes in tax rules make this a good time for older homeowners to transfer property to their children using a specialized trust designed to save on gift and estate taxes.
Known as "qualified personal residence trusts," or QPRTs, these vehicles allow a homeowner to continue to live in a house for years before transferring ownership to heirs at a discount to the current market value.
Wealth advisers say QPRTs are getting more popular as clients seek to take advantage of beaten-down property values and a temporary increase in the gift-tax exemption to $5 million from $1 million for individuals and to $10 million from $2 million for couples.
"When the gift-tax exemption was only $1 million, it was more difficult for clients to pass along their homes without gift-tax consequences," says Mike Foltz, a principal at Balasa Dinverno Foltz LLC, an Itasca, Ill., estate-planning firm. Mr. Foltz says five of his clients currently are evaluating QPRTs, up from two at this time last year.
"They can move a big asset out of their estates at a fraction of the future value," he says.
To maximize the savings - and minimize the conflict - families who use these trusts need to plan carefully. Advisers say the strategy makes the most sense for someone with a net worth above the current estate-tax exemption, which also is $5 million per person.
Below that level, transferring a residence through a QPRT still could be a smart tax move for those who might get caught if their assets appreciate or the individual estate-tax exemption drops back to $3.5 million (as the Obama administration's 2012 budget proposes) or even to $1 million (as the current law mandates for 2013).
But there are risks. Most use QPRTs for homes they expect to remain in their families after they are gone. In part, that is because when a homeowner gives away a residence in a QPRT, his or her adjusted tax basis - the original purchase price plus improvements - carries over to the heirs. As a result, if the children were to turn around and sell the home, they could owe a substantial capital-gains tax. (Still, at 15%, the capital-gains-tax rate is far below the 35% estate-tax rate.)
What's more, selling a home held in a QPRT "can get messy," says Blanche Lark Christerson, managing director at Deutshce Bank Private Wealth Management in New York. Because of restrictions on the amount of cash QPRTs can hold, a home-owner must reinvest the proceeds of a sale in another property or take back the cash directly or in a series of payments. Since withdrawing cash from a QPRT reduces the amount that will go to heirs, it defeats the purpose fo the deal, Ms. Christerson says.
Another risk: You have to give up the home when the trust ends, even if you are still alive. To prepare for that day, many homeowners craft upfront agreements that give them the right to rent the peroperty for the rest of their lives. Rental payments are an effective way to transfer more to their lives. Rental payments are an effective way to transfer more to heirs. But to pass muster with the Internal Revenue Service, you must pay a fair-market rent. And your children will owe tax on the income.
Still, the QPRT can be a powerful estate-planning tool.William Mielke, 63 years old, and his wife, Barbara, 62, are considering putting their Marco Island, Fla., oceanfront vacation condominium into a QPRT for the benefit of their 30-year-old daughter. With a QPRT, Mr. Mielke, president and chief executive of an engineering firm in Waukesha, Wis., can transfer a valuable asset without giving up his access to the home or reducing the liquid investments he may need in retirement, says his adviser, Mark Ziety at Shakespeare Wealth Management Inc. in Pewaukee, Wis.
What's more, if the market for Florida real estate rebounds (and the Mielkes outlive their trust), any appreciation the property earns will pass to Mr. Mielke's daughter gift- and estate-tax free.
When you set up a QPRT, you remain the home's owner for as long as the trust is in effect - often 10 to 20 years. During that period, you continue to live in the house and pay all the expenses, including the property taxes and insurance. When the trust expires, the home passes to your children, free of gift tax. Typically, the necessary appraisals and legal documents run $5,000 to $10,000.
Here's how it works: Suppose you set up a QPRT at age 60 when your property is worth $2.5 million. Since the home won't actually pass to your children until the trust expires, the law allows you to discount the $2.5 million you are transferring by an interest rate the Internal Revenue Service sets monthly. This tells you the current value of the gift you will be making in the future.
At today's 3% rate, the current value of a $2.5 million gift to be made in 10 years is $1.59 million, Deutsche's Ms. Christerson says.
If you don't outlive the trust, the market value of your home will be included in your estate. (While your demise would cause your heirs to miss out on any estate-tax savings, it also would nullify the upfront gift-tax consequences of the deal.)
To prevent conflict some families hash out written plans for dividing the finances and chores. For Mr. Mielke, this is easy: "She's our only daughter, so we won't have to worry about family arguments over who wants to use the house and whether to sell."
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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.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
House Sale Proceeds and Minor Children
ELDER LAW:
An elderly father and his adult son came to our office just after the mother had died. All three had been joint owners of property that was being sold and father and son had questions regarding the proceeds from the sale. Specifically, they wondered if they would be able to put all the proceeds in the son’s name. By doing so, they hoped to provide for the son since he was unemployed and enable the father to qualify for state assistance should he need future nursing home care.
We cautioned the father and son that any transfer of the father’s share of the proceeds to the son would have adverse consequences should financial assistance from the state be required before five years had passed. We also advised them that “gifting” would have tax implications. Our concern was that although the father wanted to help his son, he could be jeopardizing his own financial future.
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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.
An elderly father and his adult son came to our office just after the mother had died. All three had been joint owners of property that was being sold and father and son had questions regarding the proceeds from the sale. Specifically, they wondered if they would be able to put all the proceeds in the son’s name. By doing so, they hoped to provide for the son since he was unemployed and enable the father to qualify for state assistance should he need future nursing home care.
We cautioned the father and son that any transfer of the father’s share of the proceeds to the son would have adverse consequences should financial assistance from the state be required before five years had passed. We also advised them that “gifting” would have tax implications. Our concern was that although the father wanted to help his son, he could be jeopardizing his own financial future.
------------------------------------------
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.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Durable Powers of Attorneys Documents
THE SIMPLEST PLANNING DOCUMENT CAN BE THE MOST USEFUL DOCUMENT.
***WE MAKE ELDER LAW HOUSE CALLS IN RI***
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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.
EDUCATIONAL BREAKFAST: Durable power of Attorney: Importance, Differences, and Validity
EDUCATE YOURSELF AT ATRIA AQUIDNECK PLACE
Professionals are invited to join Atria Aquidneck Place for an educational breakfast event. Hilary Carlson, Esquire, LICSW, of the Law Offices of Jeremy W. Howe will discuss the legal and social importance of Durable Powers of Attomey.
A complimentary breakfast will be served. Don't miss this valuable opportunity to learn more.
February 22
7:30 am
RSVP by February 15
7:30 am
RSVP by February 15
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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.
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