The IRS recently announced inflation-adjusted changes to the annual gift tax annual and estate tax exclusions for 2023.

Lois Curtis – known as “L.C.” in a historic disability rights case — has died. She passed away from cancer at her home in November 2022 at age 55.

Curtis, who had intellectual and psychiatric impairments, was institutionalized from her teenage years into her early 20s. She and another plaintiff, Elaine Wilson, eventually went on to fight for their right to live in their community rather than being unnecessarily institutionalized.

Southpoint Estate Planning celebrated Veterans Day this year by making care kits for those with housing insecurity. Did you know that Veterans are 50% more likely to become homeless than other Americans?

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a monthly payment issued to disabled children and adults who have income and resources that are under an amount set by the Social Security Administration (SSA). There are many important factors that determine your eligibility for SSI. SSI recipients are responsible for reporting changes to the SSA when they happen. The following are three examples of what must be reported by SSI recipients.

The Social Security Administration has announced that its beneficiaries will see a significant increase – totaling nearly 9 percent – in their monthly Social Security checks come January 2023. This cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) is the largest boost to Social Security benefits in more than 40 years. The increase for 2022 was 5.9 percent.

Supplemental Security Income (SSI), which helps support millions of limited-income people with disabilities, will provide recipients with a slightly higher payout – on average, $73 more a month for individuals and $110 more a month for couples – beginning on December 30, 2022.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has recently started to focus on finding ways to support family caregivers by assisting them with resources to maintain their health, well-being, and financial security while they act as caregivers. As part of this, it has announced the implementation of a 2022 National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers.

HHS estimates that approximately 53 million people provide a broad range of assistance to their aging, health-compromised, or disabled loved ones each year. Millions more open their homes to grandparents as well as children who cannot live with their parents.

Supported decision-making can be an alternative to unnecessary guardianships. It allows disabled people to get assistance with decisions while retaining autonomy. In supported decision-making, trusted persons can advise an individual with a disability, while the individual ultimately retains the final decision-making power about their own care and life.

November will mark National Family Caregivers month. Studies show that looking after those with special needs exacts a toll on caregivers. This Thanksgiving season, shift your focus a little and remember that you must take care of yourself if you want to continue caring for others.

As the saying goes, “you can’t pour from an empty cup.” If you have been a caregiver for a loved one with a disability or chronic illness, ensure that you are healthy physically and mentally. Here are five tips that can help you prioritize self-care.

At Southpoint Estate Planning we are dedicated to serving our community. We understand that the financial burden can oftentimes deter people from seeking the guidance they may need for some of life’s most challenging moments. We sincerely hope that our clinics can provide an opportunity for those folks to get the advice and resources to help with their circumstances.

We host quarterly pro bono clinics that cover a variety of topics such as Elder Law, Special Needs Planning, Wills and Trusts, Powers of Attorney, Health Care Powers of Attorney, and Guardianships.

A diagnosis of dementia, a category of diseases affecting memory and thinking that includes Alzheimer’s disease, can feel overwhelming and upsetting. You might worry that you will lose control over your life and ability to make your own decisions. Fortunately, receiving a diagnosis of dementia or Alzheimer’s does not mean that you cannot execute legal documents or make decisions about plans for your future finances and health care.

If you are considering saying “I do” and currently receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Medicaid, or any other disability-related benefits, getting married could impact your benefits. Unfortunately, under current Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare rules, getting married is not always financially or medically practical for their recipients. Before you walk down the aisle, here are some questions you should discuss with your special needs attorney.

Newly introduced legislation may soon alleviate a challenge families sometimes face when planning for a loved one living with disabilities. In general, any funds left to such a beneficiary should be left in a special needs trust. This can get a bit complicated when the funds to be passed on include an IRA or other form of retirement plan, especially for those families who may wish to name the charitable organization that provides services for their loved one as a second beneficiary to such a trust.

Many senior citizens may need the services of a nursing home or at-home care at some point in their life. You might assume that government assistance or health insurance will step in and cover the cost if you cannot afford these services. Unfortunately, neither health insurance nor Medicare covers long-term care. Because obtaining long-term care insurance can be very expensive, Medicaid could become your only option.

Many individuals engaging in estate planning opt to create a third-party special needs trust to provide for their loved one living with a disability. However, did you know that these trusts may have to pay taxes on any income generated from the trust assets and retained by the trust for future use? If the trust is a qualified disability trust (QDT), it can minimize unnecessary tax consequences.

Many relatives or caretakers of loved ones living with a disability may at some point need to be able to exert more control over their family member's personal affairs. For parents of children who have a disability, for instance, that time is often when the child is turning 18. However, you may face roadblocks if you have not filed paperwork that allows you to do so. Banks, agencies, and hospitals may push back on your ability to make decisions that can impact the care of your loved one, which can be very frustrating.

On July 8, 2022, the Internal Revenue Service issued new guidance that allows a deceased person’s estate to elect “portability” of their unused gift and estate tax exemption for up to five years after their death. So, if your spouse passed away less than five years ago, you may be able to file an estate tax return to transfer their unused estate tax exclusion to yourself.

Affordable, safe housing is one of the most crucial aspects of a person’s life, especially if that person has a disability. Parents and guardians must plan for this as early as possible to make sure their loved one has a secure and appropriate living situation long after they either become unable to provide care or pass away. Here are some general considerations to keep in mind when formulating a plan. The plan that works best for your family should be affordable in the long term and best suited to your loved one’s disability.

To qualify for Supplemental Security Income (SSI), a federal program that provides people with disabilities a monthly stipend, individuals must conform to very strict income and asset limits. Often, SSI beneficiaries who could hold a job opt not to because they worry about losing their benefits if they earn too much. While this is a valid concern, a program known as PASS offers these individuals the opportunity to pursue their professional ambitions while continuing to receive SSI payment.

Many individuals with disabilities want housing that offers them more integration in the community and a greater sense of independence than institutional settings. Yet they have been waiting since 2014 for federal officials to enforce the rules that such community-based housing services are supposed to meet. Early next year, the federal standards defining what qualifies as community housing will finally be imposed on states.

When a married couple applies for Medicaid, the Medicaid agency must analyze the couple’s income and assets as of a particular date to determine eligibility. The date that the agency chooses for this analysis is called the “snapshot” date and it can have a major impact on a couple’s financial future.