Understanding Medicare's Hospice Benefit Medicare's hospice benefit covers any care that is reasonable and necessary for easing the course of a terminal illness. It is one of Medicare's most comprehensive benefits and can be extremely helpful to both the terminally ill individual and his or her family, but it is little understood and underutilized. Understanding what is offered ahead of time may help Medicare beneficiaries and their families make the difficult decision to choose hospice if the [...]

Make Sure Your Plan Beneficiary Choices Are Up to Date Many people periodically update their wills or other estate plans, but don't update who will receive distributions from their retirement plans (such as IRAs and 401(k)s) upon their deaths. Every year you should review your entire estate plan, and the review should include retirement plan "beneficiary designations" to make sure they aren't outdated. The following are some tips for naming a retirement plan beneficiary: It is important to [...]

Estate Planning for a Vacation Home If you are lucky enough to own a vacation home, then you need to figure out what will happen to it after you are gone. Many parents hope to keep vacation homes in the family, but guaranteeing that can be tricky. While meant to be fun and relaxing places to get away from everyday life, vacation houses can cause problems between siblings after their parents pass away. Some siblings may want to use the house, while others may need cash and want to sell. There [...]

5 Things to Know to Reduce Your Tax on Capital Gains Although it is often said that nothing is certain except death and taxes, the one tax you may be able to avoid or minimize most through planning is the tax on capital gains. Here's what you need to know to do such planning: What is capital gain? Capital gain is the difference between the "basis" in property -- usually real estate or stocks, but also including artwork and collectibles -- and its selling price. The basis is usually the [...]

Levene Gouldin & Thompson, LLP is pleased to announce that Alycia K. Kimmel and Jordan B. Charnetsky have become Associates of the Firm. Alycia graduated from Cornell University in 2014, and in 2018 received her J.D. from the Syracuse University College of Law. She will focus her practice in Elder Law, Trusts & Estates and Real Estate. Jordan graduated from Binghamton University in 2014, and received his J.D. from Syracuse University College of Law in 2018. He will focus his practice [...]