Blog

23 Aug Gift of Appreciated Assets to Elderly Parent Could Save You Taxes – Gain Without Pain?

Posted at 09:45h in Beneficiary, Estate Planning, Guardianship, Inheritance, Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer, Taxes

Avoiding capital gains tax is often considered in estate planning. Now some are considering “upstream planning” when a child has highly appreciated assets and his or her elderly parent does not have a taxable estate (for estate tax purposes). Generally, if you own an asset (i.e.,...

22 Aug FDA Approves Another Drug That Slows Cognitive Decline

Posted at 09:27h in Alzheimer’s, Dementia

In July 2024, the FDA approved Kisunla (formerly called Donanemab) which is anti-amyloid clearing treatment which slows cognitive decline by 35% (up to 60% in a separate analysis). Although the FDA rejected Eli Lilly’s request for accelerated approval of the drug in January 2023 since...

29 Jul Child Promises Elderly Mom A Dream And Delivers A Nightmare Removal Of Power Of Attorney Agent

Posted at 09:38h in Power of Attorney

Sometimes abuse can come from those closest to you even if they are named to act in their capacity as a fiduciary. A person acting as a fiduciary (such as an agent under a power of attorney, a trustee of a trust, a guardian or...

26 Jul Should You Name A Trust As A Beneficiary Of Your IRA?

Posted at 09:30h in Beneficiary, Trusts

After the passage of the Secure Act a few years ago, planning by naming a trust as a beneficiary of a retirement account (that is not a ROTH IRA) had to be reconsidered. Previously a designated beneficiary (even if the trust is named as the...

25 Jul “Home” Purchased After Buyer Is Institutionalized Counts As Resource For Medicaid

Posted at 09:18h in Long Term Care, Medicare

The Texas Supreme Court has ruled that a Medicaid applicant who purchases a home or an interest in a home after admission into a skilled nursing facility is not excluded as a resource for Medicaid eligibility. On the other hand, the Court suggests if the...

24 Jul Grace For Graceland: Foreign Fraudsters Foreclosure Theft Foiled

Posted at 09:13h in Estate Planning, Lawsuits

Identity theft is real. The brazen attempt of foreign fraudsters to foreclose on Graceland, the former home of the late iconic singer, Elvis Presley, illustrates the need to be vigilant in the protection of your assets – and so should the representatives of your estate...

04 Jul Two copies of gene found to be underlying cause in Alzheimer’s Disease – are you Destiny’s Child?

Posted at 11:17h in Alzheimer’s

Researchers have found that people with 2 copies of the APOE4 gene is more than a risk factor – it is now considered an underlying cause of Alzheimer’s Disease. Prior to the research’s finding published in May, scientists knew the gene APOE4 increased risk. Although...

03 Jul Texas Long-Term Care Partnership Program

Posted at 11:14h in Long Term Care

As an incentive for Texans to get long-term care insurance (so the state through Medicaid would not have to pay as much for long-term care), Texas has a Long-Term Care Partnership Program (LTCP) which is a public-private partnership between state agencies (Texas Department of Health...

02 Jul Michael Jackson’s children tell grandmother to “beat it” in estate legal battle

Posted at 11:05h in Beneficiary, Estate Planning

The children of Michael Jackson (Paris, Prince and Bigi) are no longer talking with their grandmother, Katherine Jackson, as a result of her request for Jackson’s estate to pay her legal fees of over $500,000 when she unsuccessfully challenged the sale of the rights to...

01 Jul Conflicting testimony as to common law marriage results in child inheritance of estate

Posted at 11:02h in Estate Planning, Inheritance

If you don’t have a will or beneficiary designation of assets, inheritance is determined by state law which is called intestate succession. If the deceased was married at the time of death but has no will, then a surviving spouse will have some inheritance rights...