If you’ve just inherited an IRA, annuity, stocks, bonds, or other assets from your parents, minimizing your tax obligation is paramount. What do you need to know to keep Uncle Sam from taking more than his share when you file your tax return? In this three-part series, Attorney Franklin Drazen covers a few of the...

If you’ve just inherited an IRA, annuity, stocks, bonds, or other assets from your parents, minimizing your tax obligation is critical. What do you need to know to keep Uncle Sam from taking more than his share when you file your tax return? In this three-part series, Attorney Franklin Drazen covers a few of the...

If you’ve just inherited an IRA, annuity, stocks, bonds, or other assets from your parents, minimizing your tax obligation needs to be addressed. What do you need to know to keep Uncle Sam from taking more than his share when you file your tax return? In this three-part series, Attorney Franklin Drazen covers a few...

Every once in a while, someone will ask me how I got in to elder law. Like many things in life, it wasn’t planned. It was more like a fortunate wandering into a wonderful career. I didn’t set out to become a lawyer. After college, the plan was for me to work in the family...

I’ve worked with a lot of family caregivers over the years. Most burn the candle at both ends to take care of their elderly loved ones while tending to families and careers of their own. In many cases, family caregivers become so focused on the tasks at hand that they don’t even know they need...

I’m often asked whether a person who inherits property has to pay income taxes on that property. In most cases, the answer is no. However, there is one exception: Income in respect of a decedent, also known as IRD. All income the decedent would have received had death not occurred that was not properly includible...

Do trusts pay taxes? It depends.  Generally speaking, the IRS divides trusts in two broad categories when it comes to the issue of taxation: In a grantor trust, the owner (the “grantor” in tax lingo) is treated as an individual taxpayer. All income generated by the grantor trust is reported by the trust owner’s on …

If you or a loved one has recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, you are undoubtedly going through an emotionally-draining and tumultuous time. One thing that could help you is to plan ahead and develop your own care team. This is a group of support people that will help you through the different stages of...

The death of a loved one is one of the most difficult experiences to deal with in life. What makes the situation even harder is the financial aspect that accompanies funeral and burial expenses. Money is often the last thing grieving families want to think about but, unfortunately, expenses related to death must be paid...

Many people are familiar with this common horror story: a parent remarries later in life to a person with a family of his or her own. When the parent passes away, their estate goes entirely to their new spouse through the laws of intestacy. When the new spouse then dies, the cumulative estate goes to …

Irrevocable Trusts are an integral part of most asset protection planning strategies. They are used to protect property and assets from nursing homes and other predators and, depending on your individual situation, can end up saving you thousands of dollars. Milford Trusts attorneys have put together some of the basics to give you everything you...

Estate planning lawyers in Milford are typically tasked with the job of helping clients determine what to do with their assets after death.  There are other important aspects to estate planning, and one that can be overlooked is the need for disability insurance.  Those who are in good health and looking forward to retirement in...

Identity theft is the fastest rising crime in America today. Criminal syndicates located overseas are gaining access to your personal information through a variety of tactics and using that information to open credit cards and bank accounts to buy products that they are then selling for profit. Due to complex international laws most of these...

Elder lawyers in Milford are well-versed on the ins-and-outs of nursing home expenses and they continually work with seniors to determine how best to lower costs and protect assets.  One recommendation that does not always get enough attention is to spend a little on remodeling your home to save big on nursing home costs down...

It’s a common question, especially for people caring for a loved one with a disability. Attorney Steven L. Rubin with Drazen Law Group answers the most commonly-asked questions about pooled trusts. What is a “Pooled Trust”? A pooled trust is a creature of federal disability law, authorized by Congress under 42 U.S.C. section 1396p(d)(4)(C). Before...

Do your summer vacation plans involve including an elderly relative in your trip to the shore, mountains or summer home? These tips will help things go more smoothly. Parking. If you will be parking in a location that requires any amount of walking, bring your handicapped parking sticker. Get the sticker if you don’t already...

If all the creative power used to develop scams was directed toward solving problems like curing cancer or ending world hunger, we would be living in a utopian world by now. But no. Scammers keep thinking up new schemes to separate seniors from their hard-earned money. What are the latest scams targeting seniors in Connecticut?...

Long-term care is one of the most expensive cost people will face and a danger to the life savings of senior citizens. The fear of losing control, the loss of assets, possessions, and homes drives people to search out ways to protect themselves from the enormous costs associated with long-term care. Many seniors turn to...

Many people are using the legal system to deprive others of their life’s work. Millions and millions of new lawsuits are filed every year. As you can imagine, many are frivolous or settled for large amounts of money. Business owners, property owners, and professionals such as accountants, lawyers, dentists, and doctors are often a target....

As a love one’s health changes, some of the most difficult decisions for caregivers involve residential care transitions. Families are often surprised when elderly loved ones end up on wait lists after applying for residence in long-term care facilities. What are these wait lists? How do they work in Connecticut? What do families need to...

When parents have always been passionate about exercising their right to vote, adult children don’t think twice about helping them get to the polls. But when advancing dementia diminishes mental capacity, should seniors continue to vote? Who decides if people with dementia have the capacity to vote? How is that assessment made? And where is...

What happens when elderly parents tell one child that they want their end of life to be handled one way, yet a sibling wants to do something else? What happens in blended family situations when there is a second (or third) spouse and kids from one or more previous marriages involved? I once had two...

If you’re an older adult with a chronic or terminal illness, it is vitally important to tell your children or other loved ones what decisions you would want them to make about your care if you can’t make those decisions yourself. It’s also important to document those decisions in the form of a living will....

The right to love is considered to be an essential human right. But does that right apply to Alzheimer’s patients? Consider the questions: Can people with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, people who are often unable to recognize their own children, give their sound consent to sexual activity? If staff members in a long-term care facility …

As we age, our lives change and it’s impossible to know how these changes will affect us until they happen to us (or to the elderly loved ones in our care). Take sex, for instance. In our youth-worshiping culture, older people aren’t seen as sexual beings, yet research shows that many seniors enjoy physical relationships...