Article Category General Articles Page 18

  Last Updated: 10/7/2008 The IRS reports that more than 5 million retirees and disabled veterans who are eligible to receive a tax rebate under the $152 billion economic stimulus package have failed to take the steps necessary to get their checks.As we have previously reported, Social Security recipients (including beneficiaries receiving Social Security Disability Read Full Article

  Last Updated: 8/5/2008 As second marriages become more and more common, beneficiary designations become more complicated. If you are remarried, choosing a beneficiary for your life insurance policy may not be simple‚ especially if you have children from a previous marriage. When it comes to life insurance, how do you make sure your spouse Read Full Article

  Last Updated: 6/25/2008   Are you having difficulty getting the pension or 401(k) plan funds you worked years to earn? Five pension counseling projects, funded through the U. S. Administration on Aging and serving plan participants and their beneficiaries in 22 states, can help! The retirement system’s complexity and unresponsiveness can overwhelm the most Read Full Article

  Last Updated: 7/31/2008 Rosemary De Cuir. Coping with Dementia: What Every Caregiver Needs to Know. Trafford Publishing. 2007. 182 pages. $16.95 from Amazon (click on book to order). Having a family member with dementia is extremely stressful and presents unique caregiving challenges. Coping with Dementia is designed to help families of individuals with dementia Read Full Article

  Last Updated: 6/26/2008 You may feel that you have given one child more during your life, so he or she should get less in your will. Or you may want to cut out an heir altogether. Whatever the reason, disinheriting a close relative–especially a spouse or a child–can be complicated. It may not be Read Full Article

  Last Updated: 6/26/2008 As ElderLawAnswers has reported, dividing up family heirlooms can be a difficult business. Wills often deal only with financial assets, not personal possessions, and infighting between family members over who gets which personal item can damage relationships for years to come. Now there is a Web site that may help families Read Full Article

  Last Updated: 6/23/2009 2:23:49 PM As people live longer, the divorce rate among seniors is growing. Older couples confront different problems than younger ones do when getting divorced, and a mediator can help sort through these issues and facilitate an amicable settlement. While divorces among younger couples usually focus on child support and visitation Read Full Article

  Last Updated: 1/5/2009 Congress has passed and President Bush has signed legislation that will temporarily suspend the penalty for seniors who fail to take the required minimum distribution from IRA and employer retirement accounts in 2009. But the penalty freeze, which is part of the Worker, Retiree, and Employer Recovery Act of 2008, does Read Full Article

  Last Updated: 2/26/2009 In the recent economic downturn, many homes have lost considerable value and stock portfolios have plummeted. If this is the case for you, do you need to change your will? What if your income and assets have increased significantly? If your finances have changed markedly since you wrote your will, you Read Full Article

  Last Updated: 12/22/2008 Hugh Delehanty and Elinor Ginzler. Caring for Your Parents: The Complete Family Guide. AARP and Sterling Publishing, New York, NY. 2008. 238 pages. $10.36 from Amazon (click on book to order) As parents age, their adult children are often forced to take on an active caregiving role, which creates a new Read Full Article