Michael B. Cohen's Latest Blogs

Matthew Perry, well-known for his role as Chandler Bing in the popular television show “Friends”, preferred that he be remembered for helping others.  Perry, who fought his addiction to alcohol and opioids for many years prior to his death last year at age 54, may have done that in his estate planning with the establishment of the Matthew Perry Foundation. 

The IRS announced its final rule on when an inherited IRA must be distributed to a beneficiary.  If the owner of an IRA (or other retirement account) has already reached the date (the Required Beginning Date) when he or she is required to make distributions (70 ½, 72, 73 or 75, depending on date of birth) at the time of the retirement account owner’s death, the beneficiary of the inherited IRA must withdraw at least 1/10 each year beginning with the year after the year of death of the decedent (IRA owner who died) unless the beneficiary is an eligible designated beneficiary described below.  

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 are eligible for the government to help pay for care.  Usually the most valuable resource that does not “count” is your homestead.  However, the definition for a homestead to not “count” depends on the public benefit being sought. 

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).

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 there was an insufficient number of study participants who had received at least 12 months of the treatment, full approval was received 18 months later.