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Medicaid Recertification: Why Legal Guidance Matters
Having an experienced elder law attorney overseeing the Medicaid application and recertification processes can better one鈥檚 chance of achieving and maintaining Medicaid eligibility.聽
Couples who are both U.S. citizens receive the benefit of the unlimited marital deduction on federal estate and gift taxes. The idea is that the surviving spouse pays any estate tax at their death. In contrast, transfers from a U.S. citizen to a noncitizen spouse do not enjoy this benefit.
Wills and revocable trusts often refer to the terms 鈥減er stirpes鈥� and 鈥減er capita鈥�. When you create a last will and testament, or a revocable trust, you choose specific beneficiaries to inherit your estate at your death.
The聽changing estate tax landscape聽makes it more important than ever for accountants and executors to file a federal estate tax return for portability when one spouse passes away.
Removing a Trustee is not easy. Removal of a Trustee takes more than a disagreement or general mistrust of the fiduciary to have him or her removed.
Grandchildren do not have automatic inheritance rights except under certain circumstances. In New York, the most common scenario where a grandchild may inherit is when a grandparent passes away without a Will and the grandchild鈥檚 parent is no longer living.
Any beneficiary of an estate is entitled to an accounting from the executor or administrator of the estate. This is true whenever assets pass through Surrogate鈥檚 Court.
鈥淟etters of Trusteeship鈥� is a court document giving the nominated trustee of a trust created under a Last Will and Testament (鈥淲ill鈥�) the power to act. Such a trust is called a testamentary trust because it is created in a Will.
A common issue that arises during the administration of an estate concerns assets that were transferred close to death. These transfers can be in the form of gifts or the creation of a joint tenancy or a beneficiary designation.
Currently, the federal estate tax exemption is $11.7 million and the New York State estate tax exemption is $5.93 million. If no further action is taken by Congress, in 2025 the federal estate tax exemption will revert to the former $5 million, indexed for inflation.
A family tree affidavit is an affidavit executed by a disinterested person to prove who a decedent鈥檚 distributees are. To be considered disinterested, the person must have no financial interest in the decedent鈥檚 estate.
