New York Estate Planning & Elder Law Blog

On Disability and Facebook: Uncle Sam Wants to Friend You

Published on: March 29, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

The White House is working on a proposal to have Uncle Sam browse social media websites, like Twitter and Instagram, to help identify individuals who claim Social Security disability benefits without actually being disabled. They would like to browse your social media presence and determine if you are participating in activities you claim you can no longer do because of your disability.

An example is an individual who claims a back injury prevents him from working. In his trip to Hawaii photos, there is one posted where he is surfing during the period of disability. The government would like to use that evidence to deny the application or stop disability payments of someone already approved and receiving benefits.

Online investigations of people seeking government benefits is not a new practice. Such investigations are routinely conducted when the government conducts a marriage-based immigration petition investigation, for example, as part of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigrations Services review to confer lawful permanent residence status on a spouse of a U.S. citizen.

Estate Planning with Digital Assets

Published on: March 27, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Owning digital property has become increasingly common in today’s society. If you are one of the many people who owns digital assets, it is critical to understand that estate planning should be performed for these valuables in the same way that it would for tangible items.

Obstacles involved with Estate Planning

Even though digital property is similar to other types of property, there are some unique challenges involving digital property when estate planning is involved. Some of the most common issues involved with obtaining access to these assets include the following:

Meet Alexa’s Cousin, Aiva in Hospitals

Published on: March 26, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Anyone who has ever been hospitalized remembers times when assistance was needed and despite using the call button to request help had to wait a long time for assistance. On one particular hospitalization I remember the nurse telling me that I had to call her in order to use the bathroom. I was taking a diuretic and I had to go dozens of times. Each time I called for the nurse however, I had to wait and wait and wait. Her suggestion, that I keep a bed pan was unacceptable.

Virtual assistants have the potential to dramatically change this common hospitalization annoyance. Introducing Aiva, Alexa’s cousin. Alexa is like Apple’s Siri. Siri, Apple’s voice-controlled virtual assistant was born with the iPhone 4S. She can be found on all Apple devices – phones, televisions, iPads, laptops, and desktop computers. All the other tech players quickly followed with their own voice-controlled virtual assistants. Microsoft has Cortana, Amazon has Alexa, and Google has Google Assistant.

Essentially, all these systems function the same. A voice request is made by the user and the virtual assistant fulfills the request by providing the requested information. The assistant is accessed through a device. For Apple it can be the iPhone; for Alexa it is the Amazon Echo or Dot. Information provided can be playing music, reading a book, controlling the smart home features of your house, or reading a recipe. The information provided by these virtual assistants is endless. Top news, the days weather report, and setting reminders, alarms, and timers are some additional features.

Why Estate Planning is Critical Even If You Don’t Have Children

Published on: March 25, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Estate planning involves a number of personal decisions. The best estate plans are personalized to the individual that writes them. This is why online, one size fits it all estate planning documents are often not the best idea. This is also why some people struggle to complete their estate planning goals. Even if you do not have children, it is still absolutely vital to create an estate plan because it can help achieve a number of other goals, which are discussed in this article.

# 1 – Incapacity Issues

Every adult should have an advance healthcare directive as well as a power of attorney regarding financial and legal decisions. These documents help to make sure that a person is taken care of in case they become incapacitated and can no longer care for themself. If you become incapacitated without having any estate planning documents in lace, your loved one will be required to make decisions that they think are in your best interests. Ideally, the person that is named to act in this role should be someone that you trust to make sure your wishes are fully carried out as well as an individual who is capable of weather even the most difficult decisions.

Aging and the Environment

Published on: March 22, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Environmental problems disproportionately impact young children and the elderly. Older people are affected because their mobility is reduced as they age, they suffer from medical conditions that are exacerbated by the weather, and they lack the resources to move or obtain help that can alleviate some of the worst climate change consequences.

Natural disasters hit the airwaves every couple of months. Whether the disaster is a tornado, hurricane, fire, or flood, some of the earliest casualties are seniors. The news reports almost always report that that deceased person lived alone. One wonders if they received the warnings in a timely manner, or worse, they were aware of the warnings but were unable to seek shelter or obtain assistance in time. Heat and air-pollution can kill people ahead of time.

The Union for Concerned Scientists released a list of global warming impacts and warn that rising temperatures will lead to increased air pollution, a longer and more intense allergy season, the spread of insect-borne diseases, heavier rainstorms and floods. All of these climate issues will impact the health of the people affected.

People with Few Assets May Still Benefit From a Trust

Published on: March 21, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

It is never easy to estate plan. For one, estate planning involves uncomfortable decisions about how your assets will be divided following your death. Estate planning, however, is critical because it avoids a number of serious obstacles including family disputes, additional taxes, and the probate process. Despite the potential to solve the numerous problems that would otherwise, some people still believe that estate planning should only be performed by the extremely wealthy. Instead, estate planning tools including trusts can be a particularly valuable tool for individuals. As a result, this article examines some of the advantages that people frequently realize by creating trusts.

# 1 – Trusts Help Outline How Assets Are Received

One of the primary benefits of creating trusts is that they allow individuals to exercise control over how their assets are divided following their death. By spelling out exactly how assets should be divided, a person can avoid any unnecessary disputes that might later arise among family members. When younger children are involved, trusts are capable of outlining the age and condition that children must be to receive assets.

Long-term Care Planning for Older Americans

Published on: March 19, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

The best time to plan for long-term care is when you are mentally and physically well. While it is a task often avoided, thinking about how you wish to be cared for when you become older or are suffering from an illness or incapacitation is important for you and your loved ones. The only way to ensure that your wishes are followed is to write them down and communicate them to others.

People live longer these days even with serious illnesses and various stages of incapacity. There are steps you should take to plan for any potential future period of incapacitation to protect your finances and the ability for your family or loved ones to afford to care for you as you get older and in need of assistance to care for yourself. A catastrophic accident or medical emergency may alter the course of your life forever. Once these acts occur, you may or may not be in the position to make decisions for yourself. Having a plan will help your family and you focus on healing and living again.

To guide your thoughts, begin by thinking about the answers to the following questions:

Reminders: Reasons to Create an Estate Plan

Published on: March 18, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

While some people think that only the wealthiest people require estate plans, this is simply not true. Everyone can benefit from an estate plan. Despite this, the American Association of Retired Persons reports that over half of adult individuals in the United States lack estate planning documents. There are a number of reasons why people delay estate planning including that if people feel in good health and young there often does not appear to be a need for an estate plan. This article a number of other reasons why a person should make sure to create an estate plan.

# 1 – To Create a Plan to Pass on Assets

A will is the most fundamental estate planning tool and involves the appointment of a third party who is responsible for administering an estate after an individual’s death. If you have minor children, it is also possible in a will to nominate a guardian for your children in case you die before the children reach the age of eighteen. For specific types of assets like retirement accounts or life insurance, however, it is often critical to make sure that beneficiaries are appropriately named in a will.

Preventing the Claw Back of Gift Transfers Under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

Published on: March 17, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

The popular adage that the only two things that are certain in life are death and taxes is a good starting point as we begin our discussions on the topic of the possibility of the claw back of gift transfers under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), an estate tax is a tax on an individual’s right to transfer property (cash, real estate interests, or other holdings) at his or her death. An accounting of everything owned on the date of death is made and a tax is levied. This tax can greatly reduce the value of the overall estate, cutting the value of the gifts bequeathed in the will, because the tax must be paid before the gifts made in the will can be disposed.

A method people use to reduce the imposition of the estate tax is to make a gift of money or property to someone during an individual’s lifetime. This gift however may subject the person giving the gift called a donor to federal gift tax. Each year, donors are permitted to make gift transfers that are tax free if they are made under the threshold limit. For example, in 2019, the gift tax exemption amount is $11.4 million. By making a transfer by gift under the threshold limit, the donor and estate avoid paying taxes on that portion of the estate.

Tips on Picking a Personal Representative

Published on: March 15, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

A personal representative named in a Last Testament is allowed to be an out of state resident only if that individual is a blood relative or a relative through an existing marriage. If a representative does not satisfy this criteria, a person is still able to use an alternative to estate administration in the form of a trust. There are several important things that a person should consider when determining who should act as their personal representative.

Tip # 1 – Trust the Person that Is Chosen

The person that is selected to act as a personal representative must have the ability to complete a task accurately and efficiently. This element is important because personal representatives are given the duty of financial responsibility over a person’s estate. As a result, the person chosen to act as personal representative should have displayed the ability to be trustworthy through other examples in their life.