New York Estate Planning & Elder Law Blog

Benefits and Programs for Elderly New Yorkers, Pt. 1

Published on: January 30, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

As an elderly resident of New York state, age sixty years or older, you have access to many programs, benefits, and community services that you might not be aware of. Different benefits throughout the state have varying requirements regarding age, finances, and other rules regarding eligibility. This article, and the local chapter of the state’s Office for Aging, is here to provide you with the information that you need to take advantage of the services that are available in the state for you.

It is important to remember that when discussing these programs, the term “resources” refers to the assets or property that you own. This includes cash, bank accounts, investments, and valuables but not a home, car, income-producing property, or personal property. In addition, “income” refers to earned and unearned income for work performed, social security benefits, pensions, retirement account withdrawals, and valuable gifts.

Social Security

A Creative Estate Planning Use for Unneeded Life Insurance

Published on: January 28, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

For people who are estate planning and have one of their goals as providing for their grandchildren’s education, training, future home, or the like there are many assets that can be suited for that goal. However, there is one asset that does not often come to mind that can cover the expenses of future generations that most elderly couples already possess: life insurance.

Whole Life Insurance

Whole life insurance is a type of insurance that is designed to protect a person over their entire lifetime. Typically, an insured person pays a fixed periodic premium on the insurance, and a death benefit is provided to a named beneficiary when the insured dies. The policy builds in value over the lifetime of the insured as premiums are paid, and if at any time the insured person wishes to terminate the policy, the cash value is surrendered to them.

Millions of UK Wills Available to Search Online

Published on: January 24, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

The United Kingdom recently announced that it had digitized its archives of over 41 million wills registered in England and Wales, dating back to 1858, that will allow people to explore the wills of some of the most influential figures of the last century and a half in addition to researching their own family history. At the click of a mouse, people will be able to find out more about their own relatives as well as the last wishes of some of the most famous figures in English history.

Will Database Project

The HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) teamed up with the storage and information management company Iron Mountain to digitize the 41 million wills and last testaments stored in the nation’s archives. The purpose of the project was to open up more public services to the common people. It also allows requests to be dealt with quickly and without people needing to visit the probate registry in person to search the archives.

Deciding if Long-Term Care Insurance is Right for You

Published on: January 23, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

According to researchers at Georgetown University and Penn State University, over seventy percent of seniors in America over the age of 65 will need some type of long-term care in their lifetime, either at an assisted living facility or nursing home. However, according to a new study only a fraction of those people should be purchasing long-term care insurance, and the authors boldly claim that “individuals should not buy insurance.” So how should an elder decide if long-term health insurance is the right course of action?

Long-Term Care Insurance Study

According to the study published by Boston College’s Center for Retirement Research, only nineteen percent of men and 31% of women should purchase long-term care insurance. The reasons for this bold statement come from a variety of factors. In addressing the discrepancy between men and women, females are statistically likely to live longer so they are also more likely to need to purchase the insurance.

A Growing Trend in Senior Housing: In-Law Apartments

Published on: January 20, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

With the number of elderly people in the United States growing at a fast rate, it is becoming common knowledge that most seniors wish to stay out of nursing homes and similar facilities as long as possible. In addition, research has shown that seniors who stay in their own homes or communities tend to stay the healthiest, physically and mentally, longer on average than those who do not. As a result, one of the hottest new trends in real estate is having the added amenity of an in-law apartment.

In-Law Apartments

For domestic and foreign buyers alike, a growing trend in real estate amenities is to have an in-law unit – an apartment carved out of an existing home or a separate dwelling built on the property meant specifically for aging parents and in-laws. The benefit is tri-fold: the adult children get the peace of mind of having their parents nearby, the elderly parents get to remain out of nursing home facilities, and the extra accommodations are adding value to the property.

Dealing with a Major Problem in Elder Hunger: Dental Needs

Published on: January 17, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

For many seniors around the country who still live at home, the biggest challenge in keeping from going hungry is not having the money to buy food or being able to prepare it, but being able to chew. The first of its kind, a pilot program is aimed at researching and helping fix seniors’ oral health. Being called “eye-opening,” the program is offering firsthand knowledge of what experts had only guessed at being elderly dental concerns.

Oral Health Study

The nonprofit food delivery service Citymeals-on-Wheels joined with the Columbia University College of Dental Medicine to conduct the study on seniors’ oral health. The pilot program has been funded by a $50,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health, and it involves both phone interviews in addition to dental house calls for low-income seniors. Many of the participants in the study have not seen a dentist in years, and some in decades.

Court Finds Estate Has Standing to Sue in Workers’ Compensation Lawsuit

Published on: January 16, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

The Supreme Court of Montana recently ruled on a case that decided whether the Workers’ Compensation Court properly held that it lacked jurisdiction to consider an estate’s petition because the personal representative of the estate lacked standing. The court reversed and remanded the lower court’s decision to dismiss the representative’s petition.

Facts of the Case

Cristita Moreau’s husband Erwin worked at the W.R. Grace mine from 1963 until 1992. He passed away in 2009 from asbestos-related lung cancer, and in 2010 Ms. Moreau filed a claim for occupational disease benefits with her husband’s workers’ compensation insurance carrier as a personal representative of his estate. The insurance company, Transportation Insurance, denied the claim.

Saving an Estate Charitable Deduction through Qualified Reformation

Published on: January 14, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

On Dec. 12, 2014 the Internal Revenue Service issued Private Letter Ruling 201450003, in which it considered whether an estate is entitled to a charitable deduction under the federal tax code Section 2055(a) if a portion of a defective charitable remainder trust (CRT) was reformed to satisfy the statutory requirements for a charitable remainder unitrust (CRUT).

IRS Determination

The IRS concluded in its Private Letter Ruling that the proposed reformation would be a “qualified reformation” within the meaning of Section 2055(e)(3) as long as the reformation is effective under local law and the CRUT, as reformed, meets the requirements under Section 664 of the code. The definitions of the CRUT are detailed in that section of the code in addition to in relevant regulations. As a result, as long as the reformation is a qualified one, an estate is entitled to a federal estate tax charitable deduction under Section 2055(a) equal to the present value of the charitable remainder interest and charitable income interest of the CRUT.

Downsizing as Seniors, One Step at a Time

Published on: January 14, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

As people age and children leave the house, many parents entering retirement age use the opportunity to downsize their home and belongings. Rather than downsizing all at once, a growing trend among seniors is to do so in steps over a period of years. In earlier generations, the elderly usually downsized all at once and only once. Now, an overwhelming number of older people are taking a more gradual approach to downsizing, choosing to reduce a house or career but not doing so all at once.

Trends in Downsizing

Rather than selling the house and moving to a warmer climate, many downsizing elders are opting to stay in the same neighborhood or at least the same town. A survey by the AARP’s Public Policy Institute found that 87% of those age 65 years old and older, and 71% of those ages 50 to 64, preferred to stay close to their longtime neighborhoods instead of making the traditional choice of packing up and moving to a resort area or assisted living facility.

When to Get Power of Attorney for a Parent

Published on: January 10, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Caregiving is about more than just tending to the physical needs of an elderly parent. If your parent is also dealing with dementia or another degenerative disease, you must also prepare to cope with effects on both the body and mind. In the event that your parent becomes incapacitated, you need to decide whether your or someone that you trust will fill the decision making role. The ability to do so comes in the form of a Power of Attorney document.

How to Make a Power of Attorney

It is vitally important that you and your parent discuss and designate a power of attorney before incapacitation occurs. A power of attorney (POA) is a formal, legally binding agreement between the person who needs it (“grantor”) and the person designated to act on the grantor’s behalf (“agent”). An experienced attorney will be able to draft a POA for you and your parent, especially if there are financial matters or assets that may complicate decision making.