明星黑料

Question: Several years ago, I went to a lawyer who convinced me to do a trust. Now, I am not so sure that it was the right thing for me. Am I able to revoke a trust? Should I revoke my trust?

Spousal Refusal allows the spouse living in the community to refuse to use his or her assets in calculating the eligibility of the spouse applying for Medicaid long term care. If one spouse requires nursing home care, the community spouse does not need to spend down all of his or her assets and become impoverished paying for care.

The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (鈥淪ECURE鈥�) Act became effective on January 1, 2020. While the Act was aimed at improving retirement savings, there is a negative change which effects those who inherit retirement accounts from the original participant.

Examples of Trusts Commissions

New York State has an estate tax 鈥渃liff鈥�, which means that if an estate exceeds 105% of the New York estate tax exemption then the estate will receive absolutely no exemption from New York estate taxes and the entire value of the estate is subject to New York鈥檚 estate tax.

Elder Law attorneys hear this question constantly. Typically, once people reach a certain age there is pressure to transfer assets to their children for unspecified 鈥渁sset protection鈥� reasons.

Certain Biden-Harris proposals may, if enacted, have a significant effect on your estate plan. 2020 was a monumental year with many changes and 2021 may bring changes that affect your estate plan. There was a political shift in Washington, changes to the New York State Medicaid program, a world-wide pandemic, and amendments to state and local laws.

Medicaid Asset Protection Trusts, sometimes called Irrevocable 鈥淚ncome Only鈥� Trusts or Medicaid Trusts, are used to protect assets and allow people to qualify for Medicaid long-term care. In order to protect the assets, the trust must be created 2.5 years before home care Medicaid is needed or 5 years before nursing home care is needed.

Question: I have 5 grandchildren and want to start gifting them money every year to help support their growing families. What are some gift tax consequences I need to consider? Do my grandchildren have to pay a tax on the gift? I have a relatively large estate, how will gifting affect this?

Whether a bank account must go through probate depends on how the account was held 鈥� jointly or in the decedent鈥檚 sole name. Like real property, bank accounts can be owned in many ways.