8/14/2019 Good New Year Resolutions

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Here are some plan-

ning moves to consideras we turn the page onanother new year.

Roth IRAs are nowavailable to those earn-ing over $100,000 peryear.

If you have an exist-ing conventional re-tirement plan l ike a401K or a 403B, youmay want to investi-gate whether the Rothis right for you. A Rothdoes not have required distributions,

and is funded with after-tax dollars,so it can continue to grow tax freefor your own use, and for whom-ever you leave it to. If you convertyour traditional plan to a Roth, youwill have to pay taxes on the trans-ferred monies, of course.

The period that Medicaid can lookback for asset transfers will increase

in 2010.Thus, if you expect that a long-

term nursing home stay is in the cardsfor you or a loved one, do not delayyour planning. Despite the morestringent requirements, there are stillplenty of planning strategies that canallow you to preserve a significant

portion of your assets.Have your family circumstanceschanged?

Are those people youve selectedas your agents under your power ofattorney, your personal representa-tive, your health care surrogate,still able and willing to fulfill these

responsibilities? One

situation I frequentlyencounter is someonewhose spouse is agent,e v e n t h o u g h t h a tspouse has become toocognitively or physical-ly impaired to do the

job. If there has been a

change, you need to re-vise your documents.

Do you need to incor-porate tax planning inyour estate planning?

The estate tax situa-tion remains unresolved for 2010 and

beyond. At this writing, Congress hasfailed to prevent the estate tax fromexpiring in 2010. If after returningfrom recess Congress reinstates thetax, it could be made retroactive toJan. 1, 2010. In 2011, the tax wasslated to return with an exclusion of

$1 million, but that too re-mains up in the air. Given thisconfusing situation, anyonewith significant assets i swell-advised to consult withtheir estate planning/elderlaw attorney.

Wishing my readers prosperityand peace for the New Year!

Joseph S. Karp is a nationally certi-fied and Florida Bar-certified elder lawattorney (C.E.L.A.) specializing in thepractice of Trusts, Estates and Elder Law.

His offices are located at 2500Quantum Lakes Drive, Boynton Beach;2875 PGA Blvd., Palm Beach Gardens;and 1100 SW St. Lucie W. Blvd., PortSt. Lucie.

Call him at561-752-4550 (Boynton);561-625-1100 (Palm Beach Gardens);o r 7 7 2 - 3 4 3 - 8 4 1 1 ( P o r t S t . L u c i e ) .Toll-free from anywhere: 800-893-9911.E-mail: KLF@Karplaw.com or websitewww.karplaw.com .

Read The Florida Elder Law and Es-tate Planning Blog at

www.karplaw.blogspot.com.

Joseph S. Karp,C.E.L.A.

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Listen to Joe Karp withAnita Finley on Saturday,

February 6 from 7:30-8:00 AMon WSBR 740AM and on the

Internet at www.wsbrradio.com.

For A Smarter Tomorrow,Make Your New Years Plans Now