We are proud of our colleagues and friends in the New York State Bar Association who worked tirelessly – for five years – to negotiate changes to the Power of Attorney (POA) statute. The changes were signed into law in December 2020, and any POA executed on or after June 13, 2021, is enforceable under […]
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Whatever Happened to Decoration Day?
Some of you reading this may never have heard the phrase Decoration Day. What we now call Memorial Day began as Decoration Day, when families went to local cemeteries or traveled to military cemeteries to decorate the graves of loved ones who died during military service. The Library of Congress reports that the first national […]
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May is National Elder Law Month – What Does That Mean?
It began in 1963, when President John F. Kennedy met with the National Council of Senior Citizens and designated May as “Senior Citizens Month” to honor Americans age 65 and older with a Presidential Proclamation. Since then, May has also been designated Elder Law Month by the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA), a […]
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Here’s How Wrong the IRS Can Be: Michael Jackson’s Estate Big Tax Court Win
Seven years after it began, the estate of Michael Jackson has won big in U. S Tax Court. Following a ruling that found the singer’s name and likeness was worth far less at his time of death than what the IRS had claimed, the estate will pay far less than the $700 million initially deemed […]
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Proposed Legislation “For the 99.5% Act” Takes Direct Aim at Estate Taxes
Last week, Senator Bernie Sanders (I, VT) and Senator Shelton Whitehouse (D, RI) introduced the “For the 99.5% Act,” which includes a reduction in the estate tax exemption to $3.5 million per individual and $7 million per couple. Sanders also introduced a bill to raise the corporate tax to 35% and reduce a corporation’s ability […]
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IRS Extends Tax Deadline to May 17 – Note: New York State Deadlines Have Not Changed
The Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service announced that the federal income tax filing due date for individuals for the 2020 tax year will be automatically extended from April 15, 2021, to May 17, 2021. It is important to note that this deadline change is only for federal taxes. As of this writing, New York […]
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Guardianship Horror Story Now Trending – “I Care A Lot”
The popular Netflix movie, “I Care a Lot” begins with a scenario loosely based on a real life nightmare reported by The New Yorker several years ago. A large number of seniors were disenfranchised and abused by a guardianship system in Clark County, Nevada. Unfortunately, this is far from the only place where this elder […]
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Stephen J. Silverberg Named a Top Business Leader by Prominent Nassau Publisher
I am honored to be named to Blank Slate Media’s first Top Business Leaders of Nassau County Award and invite you to join me on Thursday, February 18, at 7 PM for a virtual awards event with Michael Dowling, CEO of Northwell Health as a fellow honoree and keynote speaker. As if being honored along […]
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Estate Planning Tells Them You Really Care
Another box of chocolates, another dozen roses, but after Valentine’s Day has been and done, and these are fleeting moments. What is not fleeting is an estate plan, which may not sound romantic until considering how much an estate plan shows your love. We’re not kidding. An estate plan includes a will. That gives your […]
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Happy Groundhog Day – Is Your Estate Plan in a Time Loop?
If you wake up every morning thinking that you need to get your estate plan updated, or worse, created, you might feel like Bill Murray in the classic movie “Groundhog Day.” Actually, a lot of days in 2020 felt like Groundhog Day: a never-ending time loop of working from home, dining at home, working out […]
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