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Tax Time Is Here: Is Your Accountant A Help Or A Hi
ndrance?
Our office works with a lot of
 accountants. Accountants are often on the front line of the planning issues that we handle for clients. Nine times out of ten the accountants are a tremendous help to our clients, especially to those who are business owners. However, it is always prudent to know what to expect out of your accountant to ensure that he or she is being more of a help than a hindrance to your long term planning needs.
For example, one question to ask your accountant is how money paid to your family for services rendered should be reported on your or their tax returns. If you need to qualify for Medicaid, have been paying family members, and do not have a personal services agreement, the payments could be viewed as gifts, which could result in your being disqualified from receiving Medicaid benefits. For more information on this subject, see our "Elder Law Tip Of The Quarter" in our elder law section of this newsletter.
There are many areas in which your accountant needs to be adept when it comes to the preparation of your tax return(s), like understanding the tax code and the cause and effect that your tax return has on your future estate planning, financial planning, and long-term planning issues.
Washington News published an article that states in simple terms the ten tips that the IRS has for selecting a tax preparer. The tips seem like common sense, but are still often forgotten. Read the "
Ten Tips on Tax-preparers."
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If this is the first time that you have seen this picture, then you must not be our fan on Facebook!
Although our newsletter goes out only once a quarter, we make posts to our Facebook page once a week. That means becoming our "
fan" gives you weekly access to what is going on at our firm. We post everything from pictures of staff members to articles about the latest topics in our area of law.
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2016 IRS Gift And Estate Tax Exemption Amounts
The IRS announced the inflation adjusted figures for gift and estate tax exemption amounts for 2016.
The annual exclusion amount remains at $14,000. That is the amount that can be gifted to US citizens each year without eroding the per person exemption amount.
The exemption amount for federal estate taxes increases from $5,430,000, to $5,450,000, or $10,900,000 for a married couple. Thus, with special planning, married couples with less than $10,900,000 do not pay estate tax upon their deaths on assets passing to family and friends. The $10,900,000 can also be used for lifetime gifting without incurring gift tax, which remains an advantageous strategy for affluent clients seeking to leave more to family and less to the IRS.
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Whatever you are, be a good one.
- Abe Lincoln
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In This Issue:
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Tax Time Is Here: Is Your Accountant A Help Or A Hindrance?
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Don't Get Caught With An Outdated POA
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Elder Law Update: What You Should Know About Adult Protective Services
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Goodbye, Darelene
- Always, Always Accept Your Certified Mail
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Character Really Does Count
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2016 IRS Gift And Estate Tax Exemption Amounts
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February Grief Support And Resources
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Need A Speaker For Your Next Event?
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Don't Get Caught With An Outdated POA
As many of our clients already know, a comprehensive general durable power of attorney is an effective estate planning tool to authorize another person to act on one's behalf in the event of disability or incapacity. In an effort to improve the usefulness of a power of attorney ("POA"), the laws regarding powers of attorney under the Ohio Revised Code were revised in March of 2012 in order to offer additional safeguards against abuse by the agent appointed in the POA and encourage third party acceptance.
We believe that these laws bear repeating because of the serious consequences that can occur if you don't keep your POA updated.
We wrote an in-depth
article about this topic that we encourage you to read so that you don't get caught in a situation where your agent needs to use your POA on your behalf and cannot because it is too old.
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Goodbye, Darelene
At the end of December, our dear fiduciary paralegal, Darelene Hartmier, retired after fifteen years of service to our firm. Darelene's role in our office was two-part as she prepared the probate pleadings and annual accountings for the disabled persons for whom Nancy Roberson serves as legal guardian, and paid the bills and oversaw the everyday needs of the clients for whom Nancy serves as POA agent.
Trisha Webb, our records retention manager for the past five years and new fiduciary services manager, has taken over Darelene's duties pertaining to paying bills, working with health care providers, and managing the day-to-day affairs of the clients for whom Nancy serves as legal guardian or POA agent.
Kayla Helm, our legal secretary who is about to graduate with a degree in Paralegal Studies, has taken over Darelene's duties that pertain to the preparation and filing of the court pleadings associated with being appointed a legal guardian.
We surely miss Darelene, as do the clients with whom she served, but know that she deserves to enjoy this next chapter in her life.
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Always, Always Accept Your Certified Mail
Our office sends a lot of certified mail. In fact, just about every law office sends certified mail because sending mail certified, return receipt requested, is one of the only ways to legally prove that you sent a piece of mail.
In probate cases, the court requires that certain probate pleadings be sent via certified mail. This means that timely being able to complete a decedent's estate administration is dependent on the beneficiaries accepting their certified mail. When certified mail is not accepted, a delay occurs in settling the estate, which means that beneficiaries are going to have to wait even longer to receive their inheritance. One beneficiary's refusal to accept his or her certified mail will affect when the remaining beneficiaries will get their distributions, so that is why it is imperative that certified mail be accepted or timely picked up at the post office before it is returned to the sender.
The issue of people not accepting certified mail is a sore spot for lawyers, so the Ohio State Bar Association published a list of answers to
frequently asked questions about accepting certified mail that we encourage you to read.
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Character Really Does Count!
For the past ten years, our office has subscribed to a monthly journal from the company Strata Leadership, formerly known as Character First. The journal focuses on a character quality each month, with the sole purpose of encouraging companies to build character in their organizations.
Because the legal profession is often criticized for lacking character, the employees at Roberson Law take the issue of character building very seriously.
A prior email received from Strata Leadership focused on the character quality "endurance
." We want to share this article with our newsletter subscribers because we see our clients having a difficult time exhibiting endurance due to the various trials, tribulations, and grief our clients often experience.
Robert Greenlaw writes in his
article that endurance is finding the strength to keep going and is "built on patience, hope, optimism, and faith that what you are doing is worth the effort. It is being honest about the challenges before you without getting lost in negative thought, discouragement, and despair."
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Need A Speaker For Your Next Event?
2015 was a busy year for Nancy Roberson as she gave speeches to various churches, civic organizations, and businesses on the importance of planning for death and disability, which often included her heartfelt, personal story of the tragedy in her life that propelled her to pursue her practice area of law.
Rob Moyer, the President and CEO of Rexarc where Nancy speaks to the company's employees who are entering retirement, wrote the following testimonial about Nancy's speech:
"As a committed community contributor, Nancy Roberson has spoken to the Rexarc organization to communicate the importance of thinking ahead and planning for the inevitable. Through her insightful presentations, many individuals have shared that Nancy's thoughts have stimulated their review or proactive development of their estate planning. Through the support of personal and professional development by Rexarc, driven by Nancy's presentations and encouragement, the Rexarc workforce has become more prepared through awareness of the need to have a personal estate plan."
If you would like Nancy to speak at your next event, please call 937.643.2000 or email Amy Cary at [email protected] to book your event. Nancy has an inspiring story that captivates and motivates audiences to get their personal and legal affairs in order.
As always, we do not charge a fee for our professional speaking services as long as you confirm that at least ten people will attend. If fewer than ten people attend the event, then we just request that a donation be made to the Young Widows or Widows Support Group. You may also go to our speaking engagements page on our website to read some testimonials from past attendees and to obtain more information about speaking topics.
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| All material in this newsletter is Copyright © 2016 by Nancy Roberson. All rights reserved. 937.643.2000. |
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