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For 2024, the exemptions for estate taxes rise to 6.94 million for New York estate taxes, and to 13.61 million for Federal estate taxes. The annual gift tax exclusion rises to $18,000. If your estate is, or may become, greater than the New York threshold, early intervention can avoid the…
While studying the topic of dementia, your writer was surprised to learn that the single most effective preventative measure would be for more of the hard-of-hearing to wear hearing aids. Studies show that only one in six persons who needs a hearing aid actually uses one and the average person…
Gratitude has to do with appreciation. Appreciation means to add value to. Things that appreciate tend to grow, just as being grateful for something or someone raises its or their value in our estimation. Even though, at any given time, countless more things are going right than going wrong in…
When Husband Handled the Finances While women and men have many issues in common, some of these issues tend to affect women more deeply. For example, in the case of the death or disability of a spouse, it is more often the surviving wife who is unfamiliar with handling the…
Gifting to minors raises some unique considerations. For one, people under the age of eighteen lack the legal capacity to own assets. The Uniform Transfer to Minors Act (UTMA) was created to protect assets that are passed on to minors. This act determines when minors can receive an inheritance for…
Two overriding questions govern your choices in an elder law estate plan. First, what will happen to your assets when you pass away? Second, what will happen to your assets if you need long-term care? A comprehensive plan covers both issues. You must protect assets from going to long-term care…
An Aging Life Care Manager (ALCM) is a health and human services specialist who acts as a guide and advocate for families who are caring for older relatives or disabled adults. The expertise of ALCM’s can be summarized into these knowledge areas. Health and Disability. From physical problems to mental…
Revocable living trusts, where the grantor (creator) and the trustee (manager) are the same person, use the grantor’s social security number and are not required to file an income tax return. All income and capital gains taxes are reported on the individual’s Form 1040. Irrevocable living trusts come in two…
New York law prevents spouses from being disinherited. Instead, a spouse who is disinherited may go to court and claim their “elective share” which is the greater of fifty thousand dollars or one-third of the estate. Questions often arise as what the “estate” of the deceased spouse consists of. Naturally,…
Published this year, “The Good Life” reports on the Harvard Study of Adult Development, the longest scientific study of happiness ever done. Tracking the lives of hundreds of participants for over 80 years, the report concludes that it is the strength of our relationships with friends, relatives and co-workers that…