Hanlon Niemann Blog | A Freehold, New Jersey Law Firm

By Fredrick P. Niemann, Esq., a Monmouth, Ocean, Middlesex and Mercer County NJ Estate Planning and Administration Attorney

Earlier this year, I spoke about concern over the elimination of federal estate tax for this year.  While that sounds like a good thing, it’s not really because the law also eliminated the capital gains “step up” in basis.  So many estates which never would have been subject to estate tax (or capital gains tax) may now face capital gains tax, unless Congress decides to retroactively reinstate the old law, which it has been unable to do all year.

We are now 9+ months into the year, the first estate tax returns for those who died in 2010 are now due, and still nothing from Washington.  Many estate plans have built in flexibility in terms of placing assets into trusts to take advantage of the tax laws.  The problem is that if we don’t know what tax law is in effect how can anyone know what choices to make?

The latest word is that a reinstatement of the old law is unlikely.  Democrats want the reinstatement of a $3,500,000 exemption.  Republicans want to eliminate the tax entirely.  That would certainly be welcome news to many families.  Neither side has the votes to get what it wants, however, a compromise that is now being floated may be good news for all.

Congress may permit more modest estates to elect to benefit from the step up in basis rules that were in effect in 2009.  This would mean, for example, that if you inherited, at your dad’s death, his house or stocks that he held for many years, the basis for calculating capital gains tax is not what he paid but the value of the assets at the date of his death.  So, if you sell those assets shortly after his death you owe no capital gains tax.  This way, the 2010 law would benefit everyone, not just the wealthy.

While this makes a lot of sense, as we all know, that isn’t going to be enough to carry the day, especially in Washington.  Lawmakers will be taking their traditional summer recess in a few weeks.  It’s not clear whether anything will happen but this all should come to a head soon.  Stay tuned.

For further information and advice on any estate planning or estate administration matter, do not hesitate to contact me at 888-800-7442, or fniemann@hnlawfirm.com.

Fredrick P. Niemann, Esq., a NJ Elder Law Attorney

Medical science has made great strides in the last 30 years.  We are certainly living longer.  Illnesses and injuries that in the past resulted in death, now do not.  However, the recovery period can be a long one, especially for the elderly, whose recuperative abilities are not the same as younger patients.  As a result, patients remain hospitalized longer and bounce back and forth between nursing home and hospital, in so many cases.

That’s where the long-term acute care hospital or LTACH, comes in.  General hospitals are typically paid a standard fee for a diagnosis so they earn more for a quicker patient discharge.  At the same time, the patient may not quite be ready for a sub-acute facility in a nursing home, which focuses primarily on rehabilitation but can’t provide the medical care of a hospital.  The LTACH can bridge that gap.  Patients receive the benefit of physicians on duty around the clock as well as nurses, respiratory therapists, case managers, physical and occupational therapists, dieticians and pharmacists, all on staff.  LTACHs provide more nursing care than on a medical-surgical floor of a hospital but less than is provided in an intensive care unit.

Many LTACH patients use ventilators to breath and are recovering from multiple medical conditions such as heart failure, major surgery, etc.  They may have developed complications such as bed sores.  The specialty hospital can concentrate on weaning the patient off of the ventilator or providing wound care, for example, that can require weeks of care, that the general hospital won’t receive payment for.  For those on Medicare, LTACHs are covered under Part A.  The average stay in an LTACH is 25 days.

There are over 400 LTACHs nationwide and 8 in New Jersey.  Most are housed in general hospitals, however, some are freestanding, such as Select Specialty Hospital in Rochelle Park, New Jersey which is owned by the same company that also owns Kessler Institute, the facility that specializes in the treatment of spinal cord injuries.  The long term acute care hospital is definitely an option families should explore for their critically ill or catastrophically injured loved one.  It may very well improve the recovery process and increase the chance that a loved one can ultimately return home.

For further information and advice in any elder law matter, do not hesitate to contact me at 732-863-9900, or fniemann@hnlawfirm.com.

Fredrick P. Niemann, Esq., a NJ Elder Law Attorney

I recently read of a moving story from a widow who had served as her husband’s primary caregiver for sixteen years.  She spoke with both passion and pain, describing her caregiving as “the loneliest time of my life.”  For this reason, she wanted to speak out and be an encouragement to others who might be on the same road.

Her husband had been diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease, a long-term illness that strikes at an average age of 39.  To paraphrase her words, “My husband had the diagnosis, but the disease took him away from me.  I no longer had a lover, a soul mate, someone who could really share with me.  Our days as a couple were at an end.”  During the time of her husband’s increasing illness, he was not able to hold her, kiss her, or care for her for at least eleven of the sixteen years of his disease.

She shared that during his illness, she had to sacrifice her own feelings for the benefit of her spouse.  An area of greatest hurt was the abandonment of her husband by his own extended family.  Her burden could have been lighter if family and friends had stayed more involved.  She related that when she called her husband’s brothers and reminded them of how important it was to her husband to be able to see them from time to time, they responded with, “I just can’t stand to see him that way.”

“I was a widow with a living husband,” she stated with sadness.

It seems to me that we could all do a much better job in helping others carry the load of long term illness.  We need to be more aware of what family members are going through during what may well be the loneliest and most difficult time of their lives.  We need to come alongside them and provide sympathy and support.

On a more positive note, I learned of another man who has been diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease and whose male buddies have rallied around him.  They have intentionally gone out of their way to work together to take this man out of the house and to sporting events with them.  They have specifically set up time to talk with his wife to make sure they understand his care needs.  They work together to make it possible for him to go on their annual fishing trip.  These men are an extraordinary example of what it means to truly be a friend.

I hope that each one of us would choose to follow this model of true friendship if someone we know and love develops a long term illness.

For further information and advice in any elder law matter, do not hesitate to contact me at 732-863-9900, or fniemann@hnlawfirm.com.