The
Monthly Elder Law Planner
John
A. Scott, P.C.
1000 S.
Garfield, Suite 3, Traverse City, Michigan 49686
(231)
933-5322 Fax (231) 933-5327
October 2007
John A. Scott, P.C. – A law firm focused on estate planning, elder law, trust and probate administration, charitable foundations, and real estate. John A. Scott and Diane Kuhn Huff
This column will be dedicated to funny stories, quotes, and poems.
If you have a good one, fax
or email it to us at
dkhuff@chartermi.net so we can put it in
one of our newsletters.
Accurate Medical Records?
The following quotes were taken from actual medical records
dictated by physicians. They appeared in a column written by Richard Lederer,
Ph.D., for the Journal of Court Reporting:
By
the time he was admitted, his rapid heart had stopped, and he was feeling
better.
Patient has chest pain if she lies on her left side for over a year.
On the second day the knee was better and on the third day it had completely
disappeared.
The
patient has been depressed ever since she began seeing me in 1983.
The
patient is tearful and crying constantly. She also appears to be depressed.
Discharge status: Alive but without permission. The patient will need
disposition, and therefore we will get Dr. Blank to dispose of him.
The patient's past medical
history has been remarkably insignificant with only a 40-pound weight gain in
the past three days.
The patient left the
hospital feeling much better except for her original complaints.
Patient has left his white blood cells at another hospital.
Michigan Adopt Estate
Recovery
On September 30, 2007,
Governor Granholm signed into law the Michigan Medicaid Estate Recovery
Program. Michigan now joins the rest of the 49 states by enacting an estate
recovery program. Estate recovery was mandated by Federal Medicaid rules,
although Michigan was the last rebel to ignore the Federal mandate.
Estate recovery is a
program to allow the state to seek reimbursement of Medicaid dollars spent on a
recipient after the recipient dies. Generally, persons on Medicaid are
impoverished and have less than $2,000.00 in assets, excluding a house and a
certain amount to the spouse, if any, living at home. Estate recovery is aimed
at recovering Medicaid dollars from the equity in the home after the recipient
and spouse dies.
Michigan Medicaid Estate
Recovery Bill directs estate recovery only against the probate estate of the
recipient, and possibly, the recipient's spouse. With proper planning, a
probate estate can be avoided with beneficiary designations and "ladybird
deeds."
Exceptions to estate
recovery are also written in the Bill. The house is exempt from estate recovery
if a spouse, minor child, disabled child, "care-taker relative" or
sibling owner resides in the house. Further, homes that are less than the
average price of a home in the county are also exempt from estate recovery.
Other exceptions include situations that would cause a hardship (but there is
no indication of what constitutes a hardship) and property that is the primary
income-producing asset of the survivors, such as a family farm or business. The
estate recovery law is expected to take effect December 1, 2007. Estate recovery
will apply only to Medicaid recipients who begin receiving Medicaid benefits
after the Bill is enacted.
For more
information on estate recovery, contact Diane Kuhn Huff at the law office of
John A. Scott P.C.
Kiddie Tax Expanded
Section 7241 of the Small
Business and Work Opportunity Tax Act of 2007 (also known as H.R. 2206) amended
§1(g) of the Internal Revenue Code to expand the so-called kiddie
tax. When a child under the
age of 18 has unearned income (i.e., investment income) over a certain amount
($1,700 for 2007), and is not filing a joint return (i.e., is not married,
filing jointly), then the unearned income of that child, including unearned
income distributed from a trust for that child, is taxed at the parents'
highest tax rate (assuming the parents' tax rates are higher than the child's).
Congress has now expanded the kiddie tax so that for tax years beginning after
May 25, 2007, it applies to: (1) 18- year-olds whose earned income is not
greater than one-half of their support, and (2) full-time students over the age
of 18 but under age 24 whose earned income is not greater than one-half of
their support (not counting scholarships in the calculation).
Tax Management Estates, Gifts, and
Trusts Journal, September 13, 2007, Vol. 32, No. 5
Italian Proverb:
Buon vino fa buon sangue.
(Good wine
makes good cheer.)
John
A. Scott, P.C. would like to thank you for your continued interest in The
Monthly Elder Law Planner. Should you
no longer wish to receive our monthly newsletter or are receiving it in error,
kindly contact our office by telephone at (231) 933-5322 or email to daniellerearick@charterinternet.com