Nursing home and assisted living costs increased much faster than the rate of inflation from 2009 to 2010, according to a survey by MetLife. The average cost of a private room in a nursing home rose 4.6 percent to $83,585 a year – or $229 a day. The average cost of an assisted living facility climbed 5.2 percent, to $39,516 a year or $3,293 a month. The average charges for home health care aides and adult
The federal estate tax is back in effect as of January 1, 2011. Originally, the tax was to apply to all estates over $1 million, at a rate of 55%. The exact details have been in flux. By the time you read this, there might be a deal in Congress that would raise the limit and lower the rate. However, any such deal is likely to be temporary – which means that the $1 million limit
A growing number of Medicare beneficiaries who are transferred from a hospital to a nursing home are discovering that Medicare won’t pay for the first 20 days of their nursing home stay. Ordinarily, Medicare covers nursing home stays entirely for the first 20 days as long as the patient was first admitted to a hospital as an inpatient for at least three days. But here’s the problem: A lot of people are discovering that there were
Here’s a real estate owner’s nightmare: After a couple built a brand new sixth floor atop their five-story townhouse, the city ordered them to remove the whole thing. The building, on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, was within a “landmark” district. The city’s Landmark Preservation Commission decided that the addition didn’t comply with the city’s landmark rules, and ordered it removed. The addition included a kitchen, dining room and terrace, and was designed to turn the fifth-floor
When two or more people own real estate, the relationship between the owners is known as a “tenancy.” There are a number of different kinds of tenancy. Understanding the differences is important, because different kinds of tenancy can mean different rules for whether an interest in the property can be inherited outside of probate and whether creditors can claim the property.Tenancy comes in three main forms: tenancy in common, joint tenancy, and tenancy by the entirety.
Sweeping changes to the way home mortgages are structured and approved have been passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama. The changes are included in the recent financial regulatory reform law. Although the main goal of the law is to change the way Wall Street banks are regulated, a large section of it is aimed at mortgage reform. Here’s a brief summary of the most important changes: One of the key goals is
A new idea for people who set up long-term trusts is that of the “trust protector.” A trust protector is different from a trustee. A trustee’s job is to administer the trust on a day-to-day basis according to how it is written. A trust protector’s job is to “protect” the trust by making very occasional changes to its rules as needed to further its goals. The idea is to keep a long-term trust serving the purposes
Clarence Smith Sr., a Florida resident, decided he no longer wanted to have to manage his finances. He signed a power of attorney document authorizing his son to handle his affairs. Clarence owned a bank account jointly with a female friend from his retirement community. His son became suspicious about some withdrawals from the account and contacted the bank. He asked the bank to transfer $64,000 from the joint account into an account owned solely by
If you or an elderly relative is hiring someone to provide care in their home, you should be aware that the “nanny tax” may apply. Generally, the tax applies if you hire someone and pay them $1,700 or more a year. Here’s what’s involved: You must pay the employer’s share of Social Security and Medicare taxes for the employee. That’s 6.2% of wages for Social Security and 1.45% for Medicare.
Here’s something you probably never thought about: Just because someone leaves you money or other assets in a will, that doesn’t mean you have to take it. You can also just say, “No, thanks.” (Actually, you have to do more than that. You have to sign an official document called a “disclaimer.”) Why on earth would someone turn down a bequest? Well, it turns out that in some cases, doing so can save a family money
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