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Can a nursing home take my stimulus check? This is a question many seniors and their loved ones have been asking since the first round of stimulus payments. In December 2020, Congress approved a second round of stimulus checks for individuals making less than $75,000 a year. These checks are being sent to everyone who …

Can a Nursing Home Take My Stimulus Check? Read More »

Long-term care is the care you need if you can’t perform daily activities on your own for an extended period of time. There are a number of different ways that long-term care can be provided.  Most long-term care involves assisting with basic personal needs rather than providing medical care. You are usually determined to need …

What Is Long-Term Care and Who Provides It? Read More »

By: Nicole T. Livingston – Principal and Senior Estate Planning Attorney, Elville and Associates, P.C. January 8th — At the first meeting with a prospective client, I begin by asking them to tell me about their family and their assets, because that is what estate planning is all about.  We need to discuss what their …

What is a Revocable Trust? Read More »

By: Nicole T. Livingston – Principal and Senior Estate Planning Attorney – Elville and Associates, P.C. January 8th — Often when I talk to potential clients, they tell me that they do not have an estate because it sounds as if only people who are wealthy have an estate.   However, that is not true. …

Do I Have an Estate? Read More »

By: Nicole T. Livingston – Principal and Senior Estate Planning and Elder Law Attorney with Elville and Associates, P.C. January 8th — A question most often asked to an estate planning attorney is regarding gifting of assets.   There is a significant amount of confusion regarding gifting.  To begin, there is an annual gift tax …

What You Need to Know About Gifting Assets Read More »

You should consider your options before paying for a critical illness insurance plan.  While a regular health insurance plan usually offers comprehensive coverage for all types of illnesses, many plans have high deductibles and copays that require policyholders to pay a lot of money out of pocket. Critical illness insurance allows you to buy insurance …

What Is Critical Illness Insurance and Is It Worth Buying? Read More »

One of the most important decisions a special needs trust’s donor (the person who supplies the funds for the trust) makes is the choice of a trustee for the trust. A trustee typically manages the day-to-day operations of the trust, often making distributions to the trust’s beneficiary, investing the trust’s assets, and paying the trust’s …

A Trust Protector Can Look Out for a Beneficiary’s Interests Read More »

As we enter the giving season, there is an additional reason to be charitable. Congress enacted a special provision that allows more people to easily deduct up to $300 in donations to qualifying charities this year. Since the increase in the standard income tax deduction in 2018, only 11 percent of taxpayers itemize deductions, so …

Special Tax Deduction for 2020 Allows Donations of $300 to Charity Without Itemizing Read More »

Social Security disability recipients will see an increase in benefit levels for 2021, although the rise will be the smallest in years due to the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.   On October 13, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced that Social Security benefit levels will increase by just 1.3 percent in 2021, compared with 1.6 percent in 2020 and 2.8 …

Social Security Disability Benefits to Rise by Only 1.3 Percent in 2021 Read More »