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Herbert E. Nass. The 101 Biggest Estate Planning Mistakes. John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ. 2010. 279 pages. $12.21 from Amazon (click on book to order) Learning what not to do can be just as instructive as learning what to do. That is the premise of The 101 Biggest Estate Planning Mistakes, an entertaining and Read Full Article

Once someone enters a nursing home, it isn’t always easy to move out again. While some residents may prefer nursing home care to living on their own, others would rather be independent. For residents who want to move out but need some assistance to live on their own, there may be help available. A federal Read Full Article

Congress has passed and President Obama has signed into law the deal extending the Bush tax cuts that he struck with Congressional Republicans. The legislation restores the estate tax for two years at a 35 percent tax rate, with estates up to $5 million exempt from paying any tax ($10 million for couples). If Congress Read Full Article

As ElderLawAnswers warned in a previous article, the Social Security Administration has eliminated a loophole that had allowed Social Security recipients to start receiving benefits when they first became eligible without being permanently locked in to the lower benefit level. Although you can collect Social Security benefits starting at age 62, if you do, your Read Full Article

When choosing a beneficiary for a retirement plan, it is important to understand how your spouse will be treated under the plan. Surviving spouses are treated differently under 401(k)s and individual retirement accounts (IRAs). While a 401(k) provides protections for a surviving spouse, an IRA does not. Because the 401(k) is an employee-based retirement system, Read Full Article

Herbert E. Nass. The 101 Biggest Estate Planning Mistakes. John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ. 2010. 279 pages. $12.21 from Amazon (click on book to order) Learning what not to do can be just as instructive as learning what to do. That is the premise of The 101 Biggest Estate Planning Mistakes, an entertaining and Read Full Article

Once someone enters a nursing home, it isn’t always easy to move out again. While some residents may prefer nursing home care to living on their own, others would rather be independent. For residents who want to move out but need some assistance to live on their own, there may be help available. A federal Read Full Article

Congress has passed and President Obama has signed into law the deal extending the Bush tax cuts that he struck with Congressional Republicans. The legislation restores the estate tax for two years at a 35 percent tax rate, with estates up to $5 million exempt from paying any tax ($10 million for couples). If Congress Read Full Article

Social Security benefits may be stagnant, but the IRS is increasing the amount you can deduct on your 2011 taxes as a result of buying long-term care insurance. Premiums for “qualified” long-term care insurance policies (see explanation below) are tax deductible provided that they, along with other unreimbursed medical expenses, exceed 7.5 percent of the Read Full Article

In welcome news for seniors and the disabled with chronic conditions, two federal courts in the past two months have ruled that Medicare’s coverage of skilled care does not require a beneficiary to show improvement. Instead, both courts said that Medicare can pay for skilled care if it is needed simply to preserve a patient’s Read Full Article