Frustrated Businesswoman on the Phone

The IRA requires that a final tax return be filed after a person dies and there can be complications. When a person dies the IRS will collect any tax due from the first of the year to the date of death and that requires an income tax return be filed. US News & World Report […]

Doctor with female patient

The conversation between a doctor and his patient on end of life care should be a discussion. The Washington Post recently published an article that described a conversation between a doctor and his patient on end of life care that revealed the importance of listening. The article, “When a doctor and patient disagree about care […]

question mark

The estate of Michael Jackson and the IRS remain far from agreement on how much is owed. The IRS is going to court against the estate of Michael Jackson that could put the case in the $1 billion range according to the Hollywood Reporter in the article “Michael Jackson Estate Faces Billion-Dollar Tax Court Battle.” […]

woman looking through the window pane

Writing down the name of beneficiary is easy but there are important decisions to be made. Beneficiary designations are an important part of the inheritances for your heirs and should be carefully considered as Morningstar points out in “How to Handle Beneficiary Designations.” Naming the beneficiary on your IRA might seem like a simple process […]

senior couple standing together

The Attorney General of Minnesota warns public about living trust mills. Consumers have been warned by the Minnesota Attorney General that living trust mills are a scam designed to target residents for sales efforts on unnecessary insurance policies and annuities that can be costly. A living trust mill is a company that provides a form, […]

Senior woman contemplating

Scammers often target the elderly at tax time. As a greater percentage of Americans enter retirement financial abuse of the elderly is on the increase but it can be reduced with some careful oversight. In the weeks surrounding tax day, scammers make calls pretending to be IRS agents looking for money that is owned and […]

question mark

Planning and paying for your funeral through estate planning may be a good idea but finding out the actual cost of the funeral isn’t always easy. A survey conducted recently to learn how easy it is to find out the cost of a funeral in advance ran into some interesting information as reported in Elder […]

last will and testament

Florida law requires insurers to expand search for beneficiaries of life insurance policies. Life insurance is a key component of many estate plans and needs to be addressed quickly by the insurer as the Tampa Bay Times reports in “New Florida law requires life insurers to do more to find beneficiaries.” Life insurance payments are […]

handcuffed

U.S. and Japan both face problems in dealing with elderly guardianship systems. Japan is similar to the U.S. in the fact it is dealing with an aging population and facing a growing number of dementia cases. The impact of the implementation by Japan of a guardianship system in 2000 is discussed in the Japan Times […]

Happy old couple

Senate has passed the Older Americans Act Reauthorization Act of 2015. The Older Americans Act, which was originally passed in 1965, includes many programs to help the elderly including healthcare, elder abuse prevention and coordination of care between various levels of government. The Older Americans Act Reauthorization Act of 2015 was introduced in the Senate […]