Will Medicaid Count Your IRA or Pension Plan Against You, if You Need Long Term Care?
In Massachusetts, the answer is probably "YES." >> See how the 50 States are all over the map on Medicaid - IRA Regulations regulations.

The Federal Estate tax is repealed, but unless Congress does something soon, the tax will return next year to the pre-2001 levels: estates worth more than $1 million pay a 55 percent tax. The Hill reports that western cattle ranchers recognize this would be a disaster for family owned farms. Senators from the ranching states are trying to motivate Congress to take up the issue this summer.

Meanwhile, Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont is proposing reinstatement of the estate tax that was in effect in 2009 – a $3.5 million per person exemption and 45% tax rate on estates – but would apply higher tax rates to estates over $10 million. >> Read the Sanders bill.
 

Until Congress takes action to resolve the current estate tax turmoil, a "carryover basis" now applies to estates for deaths occurring on or after January 1. The Wall Street Journal lists the notable people who potentially leave tax-free estates this year, and asks whether life sustaining treatment decisions will turn on estate tax indecision in Congress.

Who needs Estate Tax Planning in 2010? People who have formula clauses in wills and trusts using estate tax or Generation Skipping Tax terms such as "the applicable exclusion amount," or "the marital deduction."

If a married couple has a Marital Trust/Bypass Trust Plan (also known as an A/B plan) and the wording of the trust document leaves all the assets to the bypass trust, the surviving spouse could be cut out of the estate plan! Standard formulas written into many estate plans would leave spouses with nothing. For example, the will of the deceased spouse may allocated a maximum amount that can pass free of estate tax to a trust benefiting other family members, leaving only the residual to the surviving spouse. Because there is no estate tax during 2010, this planning defect would cause problems for the surviving spouse.

Reduce or eliminate estate and income taxes, protect the estate from creditors, and properly distribute assets to estate beneficiaries

Massachusetts and Connecticut Probate of Wills, Reformation of Trusts, Guardianship - Conservatorship, Probate Litigation.