QUESTION: I have a question regarding my mom’s irrevocable trust created on 3/5/16 at your firm. Mom is in an assisted living facility and I take care of her expenses. So far I have not touched any of the monies in the Trust but probably by the end of next …

Question: Is it true that once you place your home into an irrevocable trust you cannot refinance the mortgage? My Response: The short answer is that it is NOT TRUE! A trustee can absolutely get a mortgage (or re-mortgage) on a house held in an irrevocable trust. But I didn’t say it …

QUESTION:  I have a family irrevocable trust created by your firm 3 years ago. My primary residence is included in the trust. My question is, should the trust and the trustees be insured on the homeowner’s insurance policy? Thank you for your emails they have been very informative. MY RESPONSE: …

There are other annual adjustments to Medicaid that you should know about. How much money (or other assets) can you keep in your name and still be eligible for Medicaid? The answer is now $15,900. How much money can be kept by the spouse of a person in a nursing …

NEW REGIONAL RATES As we welcome in 2021, I want to thank all of you for helping me get through 2020 and all its pandemic fears and isolation. Beyond my personal family and friends, staying connected with you, our literally thousands upon thousands of clients and friends of Davidow, Davidow, …

GOOD NEWS! In six months’ time, New York will have a new power of attorney form. The old form was a pain in the >>>>>>, well you get the idea.  Why they are waiting six months to make the change seems ridiculous but ….whatever.  Please note that all of the powers of attorney …

CLIENT’S QUESTION: Since you are talking about Roth IRAs, are they treated the same by Medicaid as traditional IRA’s? In other words, if I go on Medicaid because I end up in a nursing home they will only be able to take my RMD distributions from the traditional IRAs. But what about …

LISTEN TO LAWRENCE Dear clients and friends, Here is another one of your questions: CLIENT QUESTION My husband and I have a question for Lawrence. We established an irrevocable Medicaid trust with you over 5 years ago. We put our real estate only in the trust. At this time we …

LISTEN TO LAWRENCE I came across this fascinating article and wanted to share it with all of you. Bob Dylan’s creative estate plan really pays off in this particular situation. Take a peek at the details below. IRA guru Ed Slott just wrote a funny and insightful article on the …

LISTEN TO LAWRENCE Dear clients and friends, Here is another one of your questions: QUESTION: Is there any tax applied to move a revocable trust to an irrevocable trust? MY RESPONSE: It is often the case that my clients’ estate planning needs change over time.  When people are younger, the main …

LISTEN TO LAWRENCE As you all may or may not know, I am a founding member of the Special Needs Alliance, which is a National Alliance of Disability Lawyers. Their mission is to maintain a professional organization of attorneys skilled in the complex areas of public entitlements, estate, trust and tax planning, …

LISTEN TO LAWRENCE Dear clients and friends, Here are two questions from one of my readers: QUESTION ONE We have an Irrevocable Medicaid Asset Protection Trust with your firm. First question is concerning interest income from a trust savings account, would Medicaid be able to take the interest (if applying …

LISTEN TO LAWRENCE Dear clients and friends, Here is another one of your questions and my response: QUESTION Since we’re discussing joint accounts, a comment came up in a tax group to which I belong. It was said that if you make a joint account with say, your child, either a …

LISTEN TO LAWRENCE Dear clients and friends, Here is another one of your questions and my response: QUESTION If the beneficiaries differ in your will versus what is listed on banking, savings and investment accounts, which takes final priority? MY RESPONSE The quick answer is the latter. The way I like …

LISTEN TO LAWRENCE Dear clients and friends, Here is another one of your questions and my response: QUESTION If you have an irrevocable trust, can Medicaid claw back money from your estate after you die? MY RESPONSE The answer is no! Medicaid will absolutely have no claim to your trust assets after …

LISTEN TO LAWRENCE Dear clients and friends, One of the privileges of being an elder law attorney is that I get to hear the life stories of my clients.  A general theme of these stories is their war experience and I encourage them to tell me all they can (even when …

LISTEN TO LAWRENCE Dear clients and friends, Here is another one of your questions and my response: CLIENT QUESTION Here is my question for Listen to Lawrence: We are in our late sixties. My husband has a term life insurance policy (a ten-year renewable) which he purchased recently so that — should …

LISTEN TO LAWRENCE Dear clients and friends, In my last email, I discussed the taxation of life insurance proceeds and that only those with taxable estates (over $5.85 million in New York) need be concerned. My message today is that less affluent people…working and middle class people…may not have a …

LISTEN TO LAWRENCE Dear clients and friends, Here is another one of your questions and my response: CLIENT QUESTION Is my life insurance taxable? MY RESPONSE People often overlook their life insurance when they do their estate planning…..but this could be a big mistake. While life insurance proceeds are generally …

Dear clients and friends, Here is another one of your questions and my response: QUESTION I was thinking of finally getting around to putting my house into an irrevocable trust to protect it from Medicaid. A friend of mine told me that if I do that, the bank could call in …