Homestead Resource Exclusion Differences Between Medicaid and Veteran’s Benefits Public benefits (such as long-term care Medicaid and non-service-connected disability benefits for wartime veterans or his or her surviving spouse) are “means-tested”. In other words, the government looks at your resources when you apply to determine if you...
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.,...
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...
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...
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...
Although O.J. Simpson was acquitted in what may have been the murder trial of the century in connection with the death of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ronald Goldman, a California civil jury determined he was liable for $33.5 million dollars (which...
The recent Lifetime Network documentary series on the famed daytime television talk show host, Wendy Williams, has again put the spotlight on guardianship. A couple of years ago, Britney Spears conservatorship was in the limelight until she was “freed”. The cases are clearly different as...
Although planning for disability and death should always be considered in estate planning, the potential need for public benefits or loss of valuable public benefits (such as Medicaid or Veterans’ benefits) should not be overlooked. The following are a few examples of what planning options...
The Estate of George Carlin (the Estate) is suing an alleged state-of-the-art entertainment AI (artificial intelligence) company called Dudesy, LLC and its comedians, Will Sasso and Chad Kultgen, and others for the use of Carlin’s voice and sense of humor using AI without the consent...
Jay Leno has filed a petition in a California court to seek conservatorship over his wife, Mavis, who is believed to have Alzheimer’s Disease or some other form of dementia. Leno is seeking conservatorship since Mavis no longer has sufficient mental capacity to do an...
