New York Estate Planning & Elder Law Blog

Elderly Citizens Force Cities to Reevaluate Structure

Published on: May 22, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Most people consider elderly issues as problems with nursing homes, Medicaid, Medicare or Social Security. While these are important problems that need to be addressed with our nation’s seniors, the number of elderly residents in cities is forcing them to rethink everything about their infrastructure.

Growing Number of Elderly in Cities

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has released a new report detailing the growing number of seniors in our country’s largest cities. According to their report, between 2001 and 2011 the number of elderly ages 65 years and older living in well-developed cities has jumped by 24%. This is more than three times the rate of growth for these cities overall. By 2050, the report estimates that over one-quarter of these cities’ populations will consist of elderly people, and the fastest growing population is seniors ages eighty years old and older.

Estate Tax Planning Avoids Liquidation of Estate

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

The House of Representatives recently passed a bill that would eliminate the federal estate tax. The bill is expected to pass in the Senate but be vetoed by the President, thus most likely preventing it from becoming law. However, the bill does bring up an interesting aspect of the federal estate tax, namely, how small businesses and family farms need to estate plan in order to protect their assets.

Federal and State Estate Taxes

Currently, the federal estate tax applies to any estate that is over $5.43 million, and any assets over that amount in the estate can be taxed up to forty percent. State estate and inheritance taxes vary and must be checked on a state by state basis; however, some states can take a significant portion of the estate’s worth if the assets are not properly shielded by an estate plan. For example, Ohio repealed its estate tax in 2013, but Maryland has both estate and inheritance taxes up to sixteen percent on estates worth more than $1 million.

Nursing Homes Can File for Guardianship to Collect Debts

Published on: May 19, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Few people realize that nursing homes can file for guardianship over their elderly or disabled residents in order to collect on unpaid debts. Even fewer experts have done research on how often nursing homes initiate proceedings or track their progress through the courts. However, what research has been completed on nursing home guardianships show that not only does the practice happen often, but it seems to be increasing in use.

Nursing Home Guardianship Statistics

The Brookdale Center of Healthy Aging and Longevity has been researching how often these types of cases occur in the state of New York. While it has not released its full report, the Center has stated that its research found that between the years 2002 and 2012, nursing homes accounted for over twelve percent of all guardianship cases in Manhattan. Outside of the city, guardianship petitions by nursing homes over their residents are also a significant percentage of the court requests. Overall, estimates show that as many as two-thirds of all guardianship proceedings across the country are petitioned by an institution or government entity.

Estate Planning Basics – Planning for Incapacity

Published on: May 18, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

While the main purpose of an estate plan is to distribute assets to your loved ones after you are gone, it can also serve an important purpose while you are alive – planning for your potential incapacity. An estate plan can provide instructions for the management of your assets, payment of expenses, and personal instructions for your care if you become unable to communicate those decisions on your own.

Importance of Planning for Incapacity

Planning for incapacity is important for everyone, but it is especially important for unmarried partners. Typically, the spouse of an incapacitated person is named as the administrator for financial, legal, and medical needs. However, unmarried partners are not always named as the administrator, and a blood relative may be named instead.

Deciding if Family Should Run the Family Business

Published on: May 15, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Small, family-owned businesses make up the crux of our nation’s economy. In 2011, there were 28.2 million small businesses in the United States and they make up 99.7% of U.S. employer firms. Many small business owners hope to create a legacy where their family will take over operations once they decide to retire, but it does not always happen. Business succession planning is crucial to determining whether your family should inherit the business or if you should look to other options when you decide that you no longer wish to run the company.

Early Planning is Important

The earlier that you begin succession planning for the next generation, the better off your business will be. To start, have a conversation with the next generation about whether they see themselves running the business when you are gone. It can take over a year to develop a succession plan and between three to five years to implement.

Estate Planning: Who Gets the Vacation Home?

Published on: May 13, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Many families purchase vacation homes that they and other generations in their family can all enjoy together. However, vacation homes can also lead to some serious family feuds when it comes to estate planning. One of the biggest mistakes in estate planning when a vacation home is involved is to leave the question of ownership, sharing, and other issues without a detailed succession plan. If a plan cannot be agreed upon with you and your loved ones, you may want to consider selling the home before any fights begin.

Selling the Vacation Home

Sometimes selling the vacation home makes more sense than leaving it to loved ones. Your children or grandchildren may not be able to afford the taxes, upkeep, maintenance, and travel to the home. In addition, the recovering real estate market means that your family could make some money selling the home that could be added to their inheritance. The money from the sale of the vacation home could also go to your long-term care or that of your spouse.

Financial Skills Often Slip With Cognition

Published on: May 12, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

In cases of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and other issues with cognition, studies have shown that the ability to perform simple math problems and handling financial matters are often the first skills that slip away. Equally important is the research that shows that as people age, even elders that do not have issues with cognition may reach the point where making financial decisions can become incredibly challenging.

Seniors and Financial Skills

The issue of seniors handling their own financial affairs is significant in this day and age. Currently, there are 44.7 million people in the United States that are 65 years old or older, and they account for fourteen percent of the overall population. In a mere ten years, that number will skyrocket to around 66 million people, and this age group has trillions of dollars in wealth. Unfortunately, many seniors are left to manage their financial affairs on their own, despite losing the ability to do so.

Who Owns the Art?

Published on: May 11, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

A lawsuit recently filed in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Texas has challenged the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) assessment that a family owes the government millions in taxes for artwork that they claim is actually owned by a company. The estate of Joe Allbritton and his widow, Barbara Allbritton, are disputing the $40.7 million tax assessment on an alleged distribution of around $140 million worth of company-owned art to the Allbritton family.

Facts of the Case

The complaint was filed by the Allbritton family on January 30, 2015 which states that the art in question is owned by Perpetual Corporation (the Company), a corporation that is owned by the Allbritton family that held their art, real estate, and other assets on behalf of the family. The Company has been investing on behalf of the Allbritton family for over fifty years and in 1999 it was the sole owner of 26 pieces of artwork. It also owned another six pieces with a 95% interest, the other five percent belongings to Joe Allbritton.

Online Tools to Help the Executor of an Estate

Published on: May 9, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

The responsibilities of being named as the executor of an estate can be overwhelming, especially when you are still grieving over the loss of a loved one. Becoming the executor of an estate comes with a multitude of administrative tasks, and getting something wrong could make you liable for damages. One software executive saw the need for some help and has designed online tools to make the executor’s role in estate planning easier.

Role as Executor

Executors are required to perform many tasks when settling the estate of someone that they know. The executor is in charge of paying the taxes on the estate in addition to any unpaid creditors. The executor must find and document all assets of the estate as well as settling all of the deceased’s affairs. Finally, executors must distribute assets and personal items to the heirs of the estate.

Being Fair in Estate Planning is Not Always Equal

Published on: May 7, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

The common thought when estate planning is to split the inheritance equally among your children. The main goal of the distribution is to be fair to each child, but that is not always the case. Sometimes there are special considerations that need to be made for one or more children that result in unequal distribution of the estate.

Circumstances for Unequal Distribution

Splitting an estate equally amongst your children may seem like it makes the most sense, but sometimes circumstances arise that make the situation more complicated. Like many families, oftentimes one child does better financially than the others, or one may be struggling through difficult financial times. In addition, if one of your children has special needs it will require additional planning and resources from your estate to care for them for the rest of their life.