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NYS Estate Tax Changes: The Good News, and the Bad News

As of April 1st New York state doubled its estate tax exemption – the amount you can leave your heirs without paying state estate tax – and it is set to rise gradually through 2019 to eventually match the federal exemption, projected by then to be $5.9 million.  That will make estate tax planning much easier […]

Gov. Cuomo Proposes Changes to NYS Estate Tax

New York is one of only fourteen states that tax estates. That means in addition to the federal estate tax, a New York estate could be paying another 9% – 16% to Albany – a fact that some believe is leading to a migration from New York to other states. Governor Andrew Cuomo’s new budget […]

Health Insurance and Your Children

Extending Health Insurance for Children in New York On June 29, 2009, Governor Paterson signed legislation which allows children to remain or obtain coverage under their parents’ health insurance through age 29. Eligibility for health insurance benefits under New York’s “Age 29” law requires that the child be unmarried, not insured or eligible for health […]

Don’t look a gift Porsche in the mouth…

Some states, such as California, are “community property” states where married couples share an equal and undivided interest in almost everything they acquire during the marriage, except for gifts. This led to an interesting divorce case over who owned a sports car that a wife had arguably given her husband as a gift. While the […]

Voluntary retirement didn’t terminate alimony

If you’re thinking about retiring, don’t just assume that your alimony will end when you do so. You’ll want to discuss this with an attorney to make sure you know your rights, and obligations. The highest court in Massachusetts recently held that voluntary retirement doesn’t necessarily mean that the obligation to pay alimony ends – […]

2011 Estate and Gift Tax Update

The Tax Relief Act of 2010, passed by Congress in the waning days of the December, 2010, increased the federal estate tax exemption to $5,000,000. However, an equally significant aspect of the new law is the unification of the federal gift and estate tax exemptions. Both exemptions will now be $5,000,000 in 2011, with an […]