It’s always difficult to lose a loved one, particularly a parent, spouse, or child. But the difficulty of the loss can be magnified if one believes that the lost family member left behind a will that should not be honored for some reason. The decision to challenge, or contest, a loved one’s will, should not […]
Stuck in the Middle: Planning Challenges for the Sandwich Generation If you have parents and children alive at the same time, you are part of the Sandwich Generation. This term describes the phenomenon of being “sandwiched” between elderly parents and dependent children. A 2012 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center found that 47% of […]
Post-DOMA Planning: IRS To Recognize Same-Sex Marriages For All Federal Tax Purposes Since the Supreme Court struck down Section 3 of the federal Defense of Marriage Act in June, federal agencies have begun updating regulations to conform to the decision. On August 29, the IRS and the Treasury Department issued Revenue Ruling 2013-17. This is […]
NEW LAW IN CONNECTICUT Transfers (Gifts) Can Lead to Being Sued by Nursing Homes The Connecticut legislature recently passed a new law concerning Medicaid eligibility which allows nursing homes an additional basis to sue to recover lost revenue because a resident, or their spouse or agent under a power of attorney, transferred his or her […]
Can Community Spouses ‘Just Say No:’? Connecticut Doctrine of Spousal Refusal Narrowed by U.S. District Court Often, a Medicaid applicant needing nursing home care will have a spouse who is able to continue living at home in the community (“Community Spouse”). There are strict income and asset guidelines regarding Medicaid eligibility when there is a […]
What is a Will Registry? What’s worse than dying without an estate plan? Having one, but your survivors are unable to locate it, or don’t even know to look for it. In such a case, your estate would be distributed under intestacy laws, the state laws that dictate the division of property of people who […]
In recent decades, an increasing number of people have built their families using assisted reproductive technology (ART), the best known example of which is in-vitro fertilization (IVF). With advances in technology, ART has become more and more successful at helping couples not only conceive, bring home healthy babies, and often . If your family has […]
Post-DOMA Planning: A Look at the Landscape and What May Come Next Since the recent landmark Supreme Court decisions, some issues have been made clear regarding the rights of same-sex couples, but many more issues are still to be resolved. Although the Court’s decision in U.S. v. Windsor gave Federal recognition to same-sex marriages, states are still […]
It’s among the most difficult conversations parents and their adult children ever have: what plans have Mom and Dad made in the event of their death or incapacity? Yet as difficult as the conversation can be, having it can ward off a world of trouble. Not knowing an aging parent’s wishes for their care, or […]
Identifying Estate Planning Techniques No Longer Available and Updating Estate Plans to Reflect New Benefits Our last article discussed some significant benefits that will now be available to married same-sex couples as well as identifying one estate planning technique that no longer applied to these couples. In this article, we will expand on some other […]