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My Parents Died Without A Will. But They Wrote Via Email They Wanted Me To Inherit Their Home.
Q: My parents died from the coronavirus within three weeks of each other. Their intent was to leave their house to me, and they shared this via emails and verbally to friends and [...]

Small-Business Loans Will Be Forgiven, but Don’t Ask How
Owners are flummoxed by how the loan forgiveness phase of the Paycheck Protection Program will work, as lenders await clarity and guidance. When the federal government began [...]

New Retirement Law Makes Big Changes to How You Save
Long-awaited SECURE Act contains dozens of provisions affecting 401(k)s, annuities, IRAs and taxes. Retirement planning is about to change in ways not seen since the Pension [...]

Opinion: Half Of Americans Over 55 May Retire Poor
OPINION: COVID-19 job losses, early withdrawals may decimate retirement finances How badly is COVID-19 hurting Americans on the cusp of retirement? Maybe worse than we [...]

The Battle for Picasso’s Empire
I had a papa who painted,” Maya Widmaier-Picasso once said when she exhibited some of her father’s paintings, drawings, and watercolors that she inherited after he [...]

Service Animals, Emotional Support Animals, and Individuals with Disabilities
May 2020 - Vol. 14, Issue 5 This article for The Voice was written by Richard A. Kroll, Esq. of Rochester, New York, a member of the Special Needs Alliance. An attorney with [...]

What Can You Do with Your Child’s Leftover 529 College Savings Account?
These accounts are flexible, and you have many options: Q.: We will not need all the money we have in my son’s 529 plan. What are our options with these funds? [...]

How to Use a Trust in Medicaid Planning
With careful Medicaid planning, you may be able to preserve some of your estate for your children or other heirs while meeting Medicaid's low asset limit. The problem [...]

New York Permits Remote Witnessing and Notarization of Estate Planning Documents
On April 7, Governor Cuomo issued an executive order allowing the act of witnessing estate planning document required under New York State laws to be done using audio video [...]

Estate Planning for Families with Special Needs: Top 10 Action Steps
Disabilities affect families at all income levels. Everyone knows someone who is challenged by a disabling condition–whether it is a physical, mental or intellectual [...]

Coronavirus Making People Rethink Wills, Estates and Other Legal Issues
There's nothing like a pandemic to realize your mortality. Attorneys who work on trusts and estates are reporting a surge in inquiries. If you're looking to update or [...]

DO NOT click the link! Police warn of scam COVID-19 text messages!
The latest scam plays off the notion of contact tracing. Our staff compiled the following: CURES AND VACCINES - you may receive a text message, email or phone call [...]

Warning Issued About New Social Security Scam
The Social Security Inspector General (IG) recently sounded the alarm about a new scam in which thieves are emailing fake documents purporting to come from the Social [...]

Keep Exercising: New Study Finds it’s Good for Your Brain’s Gray Matter
Cardiorespiratory exercise — walking briskly, running, biking and just about any other exercise that gets your heart pumping — is good for your body, but can it [...]

Statement RE: COVID-19 Corona Virus Issues
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Our Body Systems Age at Different Rates, Study Finds
One 50-year-old has the nimble metabolism of a teenager, while another’s is so creaky he developed type 2 diabetes — though his immune system is that of a man 25 years [...]

Medicare’s Part D Doughnut Hole Has Closed! Mostly. Sorta.
With the new decade comes this long-awaited milestone: the Medicare Part D doughnut hole has closed. Two cheers. More than 61 million Americans are Medicare beneficiaries, [...]

Americans to Inherit $764 Billion This Year, Mostly Tax-Free
One way the rich get richer is through inheritance, and they’re barely paying taxes on it. Americans are projected to inherit $764 billion this year and will [...]

Battle Over a $9 Million Will Rests on Just One Clause
Jill Morris and Joan Anderson met decades ago in New York City and were romantically involved for close to 20 years. Ms. Morris, a psychologist, died in 2016 at age 84 after [...]

Integrating your Estate Plan
Surprisingly, not all assets pass under your Will. Assets first pass by “forms of ownership.” A jointly held home, brokerage or bank account will pass to the other [...]

When To Review Your Will - 11 Guidelines
A Change In The Tax Law - Major changes in the tax law (such as occurred in 2010) can have a significant impact on your estate, and the amount of potential tax that your estate [...]

If You Rest, You Rust? Study Finds Early Retirement May Speed Up Cognitive Decline
It’s hard to think of an early retirement as anything other than a positive. Who wouldn’t want to trade in their suit and tie for a pair of beach shorts? [...]

Steps to Prevent Dementia May Mean Taking Actual Steps
To ward off age-related cognitive decline, you may be tempted to turn to brain training apps. Last year, consumers spent nearly $2 billion on them, some of [...]

Surprising Study Shows Reduced Neuronal Activity Extends Life
Say this about the kinds of molecular mayhem that we know underlie aging: Mechanisms like whether the ends of chromosomes fray (bad) and whether genes’ on-off status breaks [...]

David Koch’s Heirs Will Enjoy the Biggest Tax Loophole Nobody Talks About
David Koch died late last week, just shy of 80 years old. Whole books have been written cataloguing his legacy as an industrialist and political [...]

A 'Catastrophic' Trend in Maine: A Shortage of Caregivers
Janet Flaherty got an alarming call last October from the agency tasked with coordinating in-home care for her 82-year-old mother. It could no longer send her mom's home [...]

What to Know When Choosing Cremation
Americans are increasingly choosing cremation over burial, making it the new norm for end-of-life practices, a funeral industry report finds. Demand for cremation — [...]

Medicare Shopping Season Is Here
If you’re enrolled in Medicare but worry about the cost of health care, your chance to do something about it is here. Most people enroll in Medicare when they become [...]

Get Your Digital Accounts Ready In Case of Death
On March 7, 2019, Myrna M. DeLeon passed away, days before her 65th birthday. “Her death was completely unexpected,” said her daughter and my brother-in-law’s [...]

Why Nursing Homes Just Sued NY Over Medicaid Cuts They Say Threaten Patients
A coalition of health care trade groups has accused state officials of illegally cutting $352 million in Medicaid funding for nursing homes in New York. The groups [...]

Why You Need to Make a 'When I Die' File—Before It's Too Late
Ruth Byock, 81, was driving to her daughter Molly’s house for Thanksgiving dinner when she had a heart attack and died. Struggling to imagine a world without their mother, [...]

Beware, the IRS is Eyeing Your Inherited Money
One of the perils of being well-off is the constant risk that the federal government and/or your friendly state and local tax collectors will figure out new and different ways to [...]

What You Need to Know About Resistant Urinary Tract Infections
Urinary tract infections, or U.T.I.s, are one of the world’s most common infections. Increasingly, they also are resistant to major drug treatments. Here’s what you [...]

Urinary Tract Infections Affect Millions. The Cures Are Faltering.
For generations, urinary tract infections, one of the world’s most common ailments, have been easily and quickly cured with a simple course of antibiotics. But [...]

A Daily Dose Of Nuts Could Be Key To Staying Sharp In Old Age
Nuts have always been viewed as a healthy snack and great source of protein, but new research suggests that a steady, hardy diet of nuts can also sustain mental [...]

Live Longer By Eating Apples, Drinking Tea Every Day
An apple a day may keep the reaper away — especially when enjoyed with a cup of hot tea. A new study finds that eating foods rich in flavonoids, a compound found in high [...]

‘Dad has Dementia’: Video of Musician Remembering Song he Composed Decades ago goes Viral
Nick Harvey’s father has dementia and had been hospitalized, so he hadn’t been to his son’s house in East Sussex, England, all year. But on Sunday, Harvey [...]

Common Drugs May Raise Your Risk of Dementia
A new study in a peer-reviewed journal suggests that a type of drug commonly prescribed to treat depression, epilepsy, Parkinson's, and other ailments raises the risk of [...]

Aretha Franklin’s Sons Debate Whether New Will Is Valid
Since Aretha Franklin died in August, her family has operated with a simple understanding about her estate: Because she was believed to have had no will, [...]

Ten Ways Your Succession Planning Can Go Wrong
A generational transition is a critical point in the life cycle of a family business. All too often the senior-generation leaders believe they have a foolproof succession plan in [...]

Financial Steps to Take After the Death of a Spouse
The stress and heartache of losing a spouse can make tasks like managing financial obligations seem almost impossible. But it is also a crucial time to take hold of your financial [...]

The Funeral as we Know it is Becoming a Relic - Just in Time for Death Boom
Dayna West knows how to throw a fabulous memorial shindig. She hired Los Angeles celebration-of-life planner Alison Bossert - yes, those now exist - to create what West dubbed [...]

ABLE Accounts 2019: Top Questions
What are the ABLE savings limits for 2019? ABLE accounts are protected savings opportunities for people who have a significant disability with an onset prior to age 26. [...]

Rochester Area Community Foundation Spotlights Marcus Kroll
Professional Advisor Spotlight The Community Foundation is here to help professional advisors better serve clients who have charitable goals. The Foundation can develop [...]

How to Prepare Yourself for a Good End of Life
My parents lived good lives and expected to die good deaths. They exercised daily, ate plenty of fruits and vegetables, and kept, in their well-organized files, boilerplate [...]

Tax Collectors Chase Rich New Yorkers Moving to Low-Tax States
The cat-and-mouse game between state tax collectors and wealthy New Yorkers who are moving to Florida has reached new levels — and gone high tech. New federal tax laws [...]

The Benefits of Playing Music Help Your Brain More Than Any Other Activity
Brain training is big business. Companies like BrainHQ, Luminosity, and Cogmed are part of a multimillion-dollar business that is expected to surpass $3 billion by 2020. [...]

Wanting to Die at 'Five to Midnight' - Before Dementia Takes Over
It's not unusual for Dutch patients with dementia to request euthanasia, but in the later stages of the disease they may be incapable of reconfirming their consent - one [...]

Most of the 55-and-Older Crowd do Little Planning for End of Life
By the time you reach your mid-50s, there's a good chance you've thought about your own mortality. It appears that doesn't always translate into planning for the end [...]

Bullying and Kids with Disabilities
Bullying in its many forms is a serious, all-too-common problem, and social media has moved this abuse online. The bullying may involve insults, threats or physical violence, with [...]

8 Gift Ideas for Kids with Autism
When it comes to buying gifts for a child who has autism, it can get really challenging trying to figure out the best options. If they are obsessively interested in something , [...]

How Exercise May Help Keep Our Memory Sharp
A hormone that is released during exercise may improve brain health and lessen the damage and memory loss that occur during dementia, a new study finds. The study, which [...]

Parent’s Rights over Children in Medical Care: Myths Debunked
Being responsible for your babies often feels like a lifelong, full time job, whether they are two or thirty two. While the responsibilities tend to be obvious and overt, in some [...]

Enhanced STAR for Seniors: There is a Big Change to Know this Year
Senior citizens receiving the Enhanced STAR property-tax break will have to enroll in an income-verification program this year to ensure they get the lucrative rebate. A [...]

Tell Me One More Time What to Do About Grief
Someone is gone. Perhaps this is the first year you had to get used to it, or maybe you’ve had years of practice with how the calendar keeps going, and it’s still [...]

The Ecstasy and the Agony of Being a Grandmother
I was in the delivery room when my first grandchild was born. It was a gift from my daughter to be invited in at all — I know I can be overbearing sometimes [...]

Just 6 Months of Walking may Reverse Cognitive Decline, Study Says
Worried about your aging brain? Getting your heart pumping with something as simple as walking or cycling just three times a week seems to improve thinking skills, new research [...]

Elder Abuse: Spotting the Warning Signs and Getting Help
What is Elder Abuse? Elder abuse can happen to anyone, regardless of sex, social status or ethnic background. It wears many faces and, alarmingly, typically occurs at the [...]

New Physical Activity Guidelines Urge Americans: Move More, Sit Less
You've likely heard the idea that sitting is the new smoking. Compared with 1960, workers in the U.S. burn about 140 fewer calories, on average, per day due to our [...]

New National Guidelines Seek to Improve Access to Palliative Care for People Living with Serious Illness
New national palliative care clinical practice guidelines seek to ensure the millions of people living with serious illness, such as heart failure, lung disease and cancer, have [...]

More Americans Are Raising Their Grandkids
More than 3 million older Americans are now raising their grandchildren as their own, even as they struggle with health problems and financial stresses, a new survey [...]

Stress-Free Holidays for Kids with Special Needs
Seasonal festivities can bring stress along with the joy. Schedule upheaval, unfamiliar activities, travel and family visits can cause conflict and anxiety for anyone. For loved [...]

Self-Identity and Self-Esteem for Teenagers with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Self-identity and self-esteem for teenagers with autism spectrum disorder: what to expect Teenagers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can find it harder than typically [...]

New VA Rules Drastically Change VA Planning
On September 18, 2018, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) amended the rules regarding eligibility for VA pension. These new rules will change VA planning drastically, [...]

Social Life on the Spectrum
Everyone has some memory that continues to thrill us years later: our first real friend, the first time we went on a date, the time we received an award at work. These memories [...]

Why You Shouldn’t Wait to Sign Up for Medicare Part B
Twenty years ago, George Zeppenfeldt-Cestero left his job as a hospital administrator in New York to open a one-person health care consulting firm. Since he was losing his [...]

Every Older Patient Has a Story. Medical Students Need to Hear It.
Whatever the cluster of second-year students at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York expected to hear from an 82-year-old woman — this probably wasn’t it. At first, [...]

Freezing Credit Will Now Be Free. Here’s Why You Should Go for It.
Consumers will soon be able to freeze their credit files without charge. So if you have not yet frozen your files — a recommended step to foil identity theft — now is [...]

Preventing Muscle Loss as We Age
“Use it or lose it.” I’m sure you’re familiar with this advice. And I hope you’ve been following it. I certainly thought I was. I usually do two [...]

A Retirement Home’s Lessons in How to Keep in Touch
A couple of years ago, my parents moved into Brooksby Village, one of the largest retirement communities near Boston. The residents like to joke that it’s a cruise ship [...]

Planning Essentials for the Class of 2022
If your son or daughter is heading to college, you have undoubtedly created a long checklist of essentials to set them on the right path. From financing their education over the [...]

Should I Transfer My House To My Kids?
One of the most common questions we get from clients is whether they should transfer their house to their children. The answer to this question is almost [...]

Sniffles? Cancer? Under Medicare Plan, Payments for Office Visits Would Be Same for Both
The Trump administration is proposing huge changes in the way Medicare pays doctors for the most common of all medical services, the office visit, offering physicians basically [...]

When is that New Medicare Card Going to Get Here?
For months, Medicare has been telling beneficiaries to be on the lookout for their new cards. Unlike that proverbial check, your card soon will be in the [...]

Autism Risk Determined by Health of Mother’s Gut
The risk of developing autism-spectrum disorders is determined by the mother’s microbiome – the collection of microorganisms that naturally live inside us – [...]

Retirement Bills in Congress could Alter 401k Plans
Lawmakers are working on the biggest changes to U.S. retirement savings in more than a decade, exploring several proposals that could make it easier for small companies to offer [...]

What to Know Before Buying a Home With Your Parents
For Diana Limongi, the practical benefits of sharing a two-family house in Astoria with her parents are manifest. There is access to a car without having to own one, free Spanish [...]

How to Leave a Legacy When You Don’t Have Children
Karen Malone Wright, 62, is well aware of the existential implications of not having offspring. As founder of TheNotMom.com, a website for childless women — and an only [...]

‘It’s Almost Like a Ghost Town.’ Most Nursing Homes Overstated Staffing for Years
Most nursing homes had fewer nurses and caretaking staff than they had reported to the government for years, according to new federal data, bolstering the long-held suspicions of [...]

Breathing Tubes Fail to Save Many Older Patients
One-third of patients over age 65 die in the hospital after they are put on ventilators. Doctors are beginning to wonder if the procedure should be used so often. [...]

Medicare Allows More Benefits for Chronically Ill
WASHINGTON — Congress and the Trump administration are revamping Medicare to provide extra benefits to people with multiple chronic illnesses, a significant departure from the [...]

Planning for Mental Illness Flare-Ups
Special needs planning for a loved one with mental illness is complicated. Symptoms tend to wax and wane. This makes it difficult to balance protection and security with an [...]

Affordable and Accessible Hearing Health for Seniors
One of the most common consequences of aging is hearing loss, which represents the third most prevalent chronic medical condition among seniors. Empirical evidence links hearing [...]

Reporter Shares Life Lessons From A Year With 'The Oldest Old'
New York Times reporter John Leland followed six people above the age of 85 for one year. That series changed his understanding of old age — and inspired his [...]

Dinolfo Warns Seniors of Apparent Mail Scam
There's a serious scam targeting seniors in the Rochester area that may have already made its way to your mailbox. County Executive Cheryl Dinolfo sent out a warning about a [...]

Study: Americans are Retiring Later, Dying Sooner and Sicker In-Between
The U.S. retirement age is rising, as the government pushes it higher and workers stay in careers longer. But life spans aren't necessarily extending to offer equal time [...]

Wringing Cash From Life Insurance
“We’re going to go through a quick, ten- to 15-minute personal health assessment,” said Jay Jackson, vice president of Abacus Life Settlements in Orlando. [...]

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