Articles Posted in Elder law estate planning

The Social Security Administration recently revised its rules addressing how pandemic-related financial assistance can end up impacting a person’s eligibility for Supplemental Security Income or monthly Social Security Income benefits. The Social Security Administration once counted various types of assistance as income and resources for social security income purposes, which led to individuals having their social security income benefits reduced or suspended. Sometimes, social security benefits were outright denied. 

A Change to What the Agency Counts as Assistance

Due to the covid-19 pandemic, the Social Security Administration has decided to not count many types of pandemic-related assistance against either Supplemental Security Income eligibility or benefit amounts. Some types of assistance that are now excluded include economic impact payments, state stimulus payments, unemployment assistance, paycheck protection, and loans or grants to employers and self-employed workers.

Taxes continue even after you retire. Choosing not to pay attention to the possibility of taxes incurred during retirement could substantially lower your standard of living in retirement. To make matters even more complex, some of the common-sense strategies that people utilize to reduce taxes can lead to paying more in retirement and on inheritances. 

This article reviews just one of many strategies that can be utilized to minimize the amount of taxes that you end up paying in retirement.

# 1 – Make the Most of Timing

Following the recent documentary, Framing Britney Spears, as well as the increased media focus on the matter, Brittney Spears has become a common subject of conversations in 2021. It’s not Spears’ music this time that’s making headlines, though, it’s Spears’ conservatorship.

In 2008, Spears’ father was appointed conservator for Brittney’s financial and personal decision. Over a decade later, a professional fiduciary was appointed to assume Mr. Spears’ position due to health issues the elder Spears currently faces. 

Based on allegations, Ms. Spears’ conservatorship still exists but Ms. Spears no longer wants her father to function in such a role. Following a February 2021 hearing, a judge decided that Ms. Spears’ father as well as the professional fiduciary would share conservator roles. 

Data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that more than 16 million Americans care for someone who has been impacted by dementia. Caring for a person that you love who has dementia can require specific care techniques to make sure that the loved one functions in the best way possible. 

While it’s not a specific type of disease, dementia can impact various aspects of a person’s emotional and physical well-being. These changes can make caring for a person with dementia stressful as well as painful. 

As a care provider, it can prove helpful to understand some tips for making sure you provide your loved one afflicted with dementia with the best care possible.

Recent and substantial changes in the country’s executive and legislative branches have many people curious about how the estate and gifts tax will be impacted as well as when such changes will occur. During his campaign, President Biden pledged to cancel many tax policies implemented by President Trump. 

Most noticeably, in response to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, President Biden had promised a much more progressive approach focused on increasing the tax burden of high-income individuals. 

What Tax Changes Are Likely

In September 2020, the nursing home staff at the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke Massachusetts were indicted on criminal charges in what the Attorney General described as the first criminal case against nursing home operators in connection to the COVID-19 pandemic. Seventy-six veterans at the hospital died as a result of the outbreak. The nursing home operators were indicted on charges of being the caretakers who wantonly or recklessly commit or permit bodily injury to an elder or disabled individual. The nursing home is a state-run, fully accredited center that offers 247 long-term nursing beds and a 24-hour care center. Due to staffing shortages, the facility consolidated two dementia units into one, which led to confirmed COVID-19 patients being placed on the same unit as asymptomatic residents. The facility also placed residents who were thought to be asymptomatic on nine beds in the dining room, even though some of the residents were displaying COVID-19 symptoms. These beds were allegedly not sufficiently distanced and allowed residents to socialize despite their COVID-19 status.

These charges suggest the focus on accountability for COVID-19 exposure by both the federal and state government. The Attorney General has also begun to scrutinize other long-term facility cases. The Attorney General has also stated that it is a good idea for long term care facilities to review their policies and procedures in regards to the pandemic. If you have a loved one in a nursing home, it’s understandable to be concerned about COVID-19. As a result, this article reviews some critical steps that you should follow in such a situation.

# 1 – What To Do If A Loved One Is In A Facility With No COVID-19 Cases