By Karen Mariscal 

Financial Planning for Your Special Needs Child: SSI and SSDI

Parents of children with special needs should understand the U.S. government’s two different income support programs: SSI (Supplemental Security Income) and SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance). These programs both provide cash to disabled people who cannot be gainfully employed, via monthly checks. There is a lot of confusion about the difference between the two programs. Although SSI and SSDI both provide supplemental income to disabled people, and have similar names, they are completely different programs.

By Karen Mariscal 

How can you protect the inheritance for your special needs child?  One way is through a supplemental needs trust.  A supplemental needs trust is a special type of trust that both provides management of money for the disabled beneficiary, and maintains the beneficiary’s eligibility for government services. 

By Harry S. Margolis

Several of President Donald Trump's tax plans have been described as threats to the ability of charities to raise money. While I oppose just about everything the new president stands for, there's one tax proposal I can get behind -- limiting total annual itemized deductions to $100,000 per taxpayer ($200,000 per couple).

Special Education attorney Heather Gold visited Margolis & Bloom on Monday, February 6^th, as part of our monthly First Monday Lunch for Professionals.  Heather represents parents who have children with special needs in connection with the IEP/BSEA (Board of Special Education Appeals) Hearing process.

By Harry S. Margolis

I recently conducted a webinar surveying the various techniques clients can take to protect their home from the costs of long-term care. These ranged from standing pat and doing nothing to giving their home to their kids, with life estates, irrevocable trusts and purchasing long-term care insurance as in-between strategies, each with its own pros and cons.

Afterwards, I received a number of follow-up questions. Here are some of them with my answers:

By Harry S. Margolis

While the threshold for the federal estate tax is $5.49 million this year, the Massachusetts threshold is $1 million. Fortunately, the Massachusetts rates are much lower than the federal rate, graduated from 0.8% to 16% on estates exceeding $10 million, a flat 40%. (For estates in the $1 million to $2 million range, the marginal rate is 6.4% or 7.2%.) Unfortunately, in Massachusetts if the estate exceeds that threshold, the entire estate gets taxed. The result is a much higher marginal rate.

By Harry S. Margolis

When you consult with your financial advisor or planner, does she put your interests first, or is she simply under an obligation to sell products that are "appropriate"? If you don't know, ask.

By Harry S. Margolis

MassHealth has proposed massive changes to its regulations governing long-term care, both in the community and in nursing homes. Many of these are complicated, but could adversely affect many seniors in the state. One that's not so complicated is a proposal to limit transfers to pooled disability trusts.

By Patricia C. D'Agostino, Esq.

There is now an asset limit of $120,900 for married elders seeking eligibility for the Home and Community Based Services Waiver (the “Waiver).  This will be effective for Waiver participants who enrolled in the program after January 1, 2014.  MassHealth is not reviewing the eligibility of those who enrolled before that date.

By Harry S. Margolis

Probably the biggest drawback to buying long-term care insurance is that you cannot be certain that your company will not raise its premiums. If you're paying $4,000 a year now, the company may raise this to $5,000, $6,000 or $7,000 a year in a decade or more. That may or may not be affordable when the time comes. You'll have a choice at that point to (1) pay the higher premium, (2) decrease your benefit level under the policy, or (3) drop the policy all together. This is the choice my friend, John Lippitt, and his wife are facing. Here's some of what he wrote to the Massachusetts Division of Insurance: