Preserving Public Benefits in a Disso for the Spouse or Adult Child with a Disability: A New Use For the Special Needs Trust The Problem: What do you do when the supported spouse, or an adult child, in a dissolution has a disability and is receiving SSI and Medi-Cal, where an award of support would Read Full Article
Articles
SNT’s Can Protect Public Benefits In Divorce. Revised
[This article originally appeared in the Legal Network News published by California Advocates For Nursing Home Reform, Fall 2017, Vol 28, No.3. It was designed for a readership of California Elder Law and Special Needs Attorneys. It has been updated and revised as of January 7, 2021.] *** As Elder Law attorneys, we are all Read Full Article
New ‘Secure Act’ Makes Big Changes To IRA’s and Other Retirement Plans
President Trump has signed a spending bill that makes major changes to retirement plans. The new law is designed to provide more incentives to save for retirement, but it may require workers to rethink some of their planning. The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act changes the law surrounding retirement plans in several ways: Read Full Article
The New CA Decanting Statute: Some Advisory Cautions *
As of January 1, 2019, California is now the 29th state to adopt a Trust Decanting statute, now codified in Probate Code §’s 19501 et. seq. and referred to as the Uniform Decanting Act (SB 909). The Act generally prescribes the scope of the decanting, based in large part upon the degree of discretion given Read Full Article
USING ‘UNAVAILABILITY’ TO REDUCE SPEND DOWN AND/OR SECURE RETROACTIVE MEDI-CAL ELIGIBILITY
Practice Note for Elder Law Attorneys: By Gene L. Osofsky, Esq .[i] For purposes of determining the countable assets available to the individual applying for Medi-Cal, an asset which is “unavailable” enjoys – for the time that it remains unavailable – the same status as an asset which is “exempt”. We often think that an Read Full Article
How Will Tax Reform Impact Seniors and Persons with Disabilities?
The Tax Cut and Jobs Act (TCJA) is now officially law. Both the House and Senate passed the new tax reform bill in December with straight party-line votes and no support from Democrats. President Trump signed it into law right before Christmas. It is the first overhaul of the tax code in more than 30 Read Full Article
GOP Tax Plan Could Deal Blow To Seniors Struggling To Pay Long Term Care Expenses
[From an article prepared by ElderLaw Answers.com and reproduced here with permission]. The tax plan put forward by the Republican-led House of Representatives would eliminate many current deductions, and getting rid of one of them in particular could deal a serious financial blow to seniors and individuals with disabilities. The plan proposes eliminating the medical Read Full Article
Senate Releases “Better Care Reconciliation Act” To Replace the Affordable Care Act (‘Obamacare’)
Senate Republicans unveiled their long-awaited health care overhaul proposal on Thursday (June 22, 2017). The Senate bill, called the “Better Care Reconciliation Act,” would repeal major parts of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare. The broad outlines of it look a lot like the House bill, the American Health Care Act, which was passed Read Full Article
The American Health Care Act (AHCA): Now Pending In U.S. Senate
Below is a summary of the key provisions of the The American Health Care Act (AHCA), narrowly passed by the House of Representatives in early May, 2017. It is now pending in the U.S. Senate: The House of Representatives narrowly passed this bill in early May, by a margin of 217 to 213, with 20 Republicans Read Full Article
Review Your Trust Now To Avoid A Tax Surprise Later
Q. Back in 2001, my husband and I created a Living Trust with provisions to avoid estate tax upon our passing. I believe it is called an A-B Trust. When my husband died two years later, my attorney helped me divide the trust assets between the A and the B portions. The problem: my CPA just Read Full Article