Learn More At Our Seminars And Lectures

The Foundation for Continuing Education – 11/12/24
Medicaid Planning Update – 2024
What’s New with Medicaid and What Needs to be ReviewedTo Register, contact Rick Solano at 978-468-6528 or click the link below.Register Now

From last minute Medicaid eligibility tips for the unplanned to drafting and taxation of irrevocable income only trusts and testamentary trusts for the advanced planner.

Description:

Last Minute Medicaid Techniques: Come Learn How:

  • To protect the primary residence for married and single folks;
  • To make countable rental property non-countable;
  • To make countable vacation property non-countable;
  • To protect life insurance policies (whole life vs term life);
  • To protect excess resources through Medicaid annuities and pooled trusts with a full discussion of the recently decided SJC decision in the Dermody case regarding annuities;
  • To differentiate countable vs non-countable assets;
  • To deal with the caretaker child exception, related rules, and recent fair hearing decisions regarding the same;
  • Medicaid liens operate and how they can actually be a good thing;
  • The five year lookback period operates and related exceptions to it vs the penalty period;
  • Special needs trusts and sole benefit trusts operate
  • To get a family worth $2 million eligible for Medicaid last minute when one spouse gets sick.

Drafting and Taxation of Irrevocable Income Only Trusts: Come Learn

  • How to draft irrevocable trusts to withstand MassHealth scrutiny;
  •  Frequent arguments made by MassHealth;
  • How the Hirvi settlement is helping to support irrevocable trusts, administrative consistency, and due process;
  • How eligibility operations memo 20-04 is helping practitioners to better draft trusts and how it operates;
  • How the Fournier v. Sudders case reads and its benefit to drafting these irrevocable trusts
  • About other recent fair hearing decisions;
  • How the limited power of appointment operates;
  • The grantor trust rules for income tax purposes;
  • How 26 U.S.C §1014(a) and step up in basis works with these trusts;
  • Gift tax consequences of these trusts 26 CFR § 25.2511(c)
  • Estate tax consequences of these trusts including drafting of the marital and remainder shares to both protect assets and shelter for estate taxes;
  • About eligibility operations memo 19-12 re-defining calculation of life estate and remainder values and the Medicaid and income tax consequences (planning pointer and operation memo is currently being drafted to fix this problem and we’ll discuss it);

Testamentary Trusts, IRAs, and Life Insurance:

  • How trust and transfer rules apply to testamentary trusts, how to draft them, and how they operate;
  • Estate tax benefits of naming estate as the designated beneficiary of an IRA coupled with a testamentary trust;
  • Income tax benefits of naming estate as the designated beneficiary of an IRA vs naming the surviving spouse
  • To calculate the RMDs after naming the estate as the designated beneficiary under the Secure Act vs surviving spouse;
  •  The Medicaid benefits and protections from naming the estate as the designated beneficiary of the IRA
  • The estate tax and Medicaid benefits of naming the estate as the designated beneficiary of a life insurance policy.

Live Conference
Date: TUESDAY, November 12, 2024
Time: 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Location: Marriott Residence Inn in Natick
Address: 1 Superior Drive Natick, MA

Speaker
Todd E. Lutsky, Esq., LL.M., Cushing & Dolan, P.C., Waltham
Thomas J. McKinnon, Esq., Cushing & Dolan, P.C., Waltham

CPE Credits: 4

 

The Foundation for Continuing Education – 12/03/24
Estate Planning Essentials: Federal & MA Issues (706, 709, & M-706 Workshop)To Register, contact Rick Solano at 978-468-6528 or click the link below.Register Now

DESCRIPTION:

It appears that the Biden Administration attempt to pass the 99.5% Act has failed. While there still may be future attempts, it appears the exemption would not fall back more than the current legislation’s 2026 level. We will explore the latest legislation known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2018 which introduced a variety of new planning opportunities – it is all about the basis. Massachusetts, however, continues to limit its exemption to $1,000,000, although there has been some legislation reintroduced to Beacon Hill to increase this exemption to $2,000,000 – stay tuned. In this program, we will guide you through the proper preparation of federal and state estate tax returns, as well as any necessary gift tax returns, including a discussion of the pros and cons of the portability election and how it works, the QTIP election for the state, and even the potential benefits of a federal QTIP election, coupled with gifting assets flush with basis by the surviving spouse to reduce the future Massachusetts estate tax. Finally, we will explore the recent Supreme Judicial Court decision in the Schaffer case showing how not making a federal QTIP election, even without gifting by the surviving spouse, could lower the estate tax of the surviving spouse.

Using a hypothetical example we will guide you through schedule by schedule the preparation of a federal and Massachusetts estate tax return along with an explanation of the different estate planning techniques you may encounter when preparing these returns as well as whether they are included in the estate or not, such as revocable trusts, irrevocable life insurance trusts, first and second to die variety, Medicaid income only trusts, limited liability companies, and much more with special attention paid to a joint trust and the application of § 1014(e) to the trust and the possible double step-up in basis through a combination of the federal QTIP election and portability. So, sharpen your pencil and come to this hypothetical-packed session ready to “do the math.”

Live Conference
Date: TUESDAY, December 3rd, 2024
Time: 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Location: Marriott Residence Inn in Natick
Address: 1 Superior Drive Natick, MA

Speaker
Todd E. Lutsky, Esq., LL.M., Cushing & Dolan, P.C., Waltham

CPE Credits: 4

 

Drafting Successful Medicaid Trusts – 12/10/24

Expert advice on withstanding MassHealth scrutiny

Creating an effective Medicaid trust requires not only a deep understanding of trust law, but also of estate and tax planning. You must know how to draft trust terms that will get approved—not always easy when it seems unclear what the state will—and will not—allow. Using the right language and key terms is vital—and more challenging than ever.

This program provides analysis of recent and current Medicaid trust cases both at the fair hearing stage and at the Superior Court and Supreme Judicial Court. The faculty include a complete review of the SJC’s decision in Fournier v. Sudders and explore the current arguments the state is making, which includes attacks on the limited power of appointment to charities or children, the argument that nominee realty trusts are revocable, the power to loan money to the donor, the power to buy life insurance, and several others. Review the Hirvi Settlement, the 130 CMR § 610.00 regulations, and the MassHealth Eligibility Operations Memo 20-04. Learn about the grantor powers that are safest to use and which ones are being challenged by the state. Hear a discussion of the income tax benefits of making the trust a grantor trust and the importance of keeping the § 121 capital gains exclusion.

Learn what paragraphs should and should not be in these irrevocable trusts, as well as how to draft around current challenges and make arguments to distinguish your trust from the Cohen, Doherty, and most recent Braiterman cases that MassHealth uses to attack Medicaid trusts. Explore the step-up basis rules and the estate and gift tax rules related to drafting these trusts, along with the tax implications of using life estates. Learn how to draft a QTIP share and remainder share into these trusts to obtain estate tax reduction and nursing home protection at the same time. Finally, learn how naming the estate the beneficiary of your IRA coupled with a testamentary trust can offer significant estate tax savings and nursing home protection without a negative income tax hit on the required minimum distributions.

Agenda

  • How to Draft and Use Medicaid Income Only Trusts in Your Practice
  • How to Make a Medicaid Trust into a Grantor Trust and Related Income Tax Benefits; When and Why It Could Make Sense to Not Make the Trust a Grantor Trust; Life Estates and How to Use Them with Medicaid Trusts in Light of Daley
  • Medicaid Trusts: Income, Estate, and Gift Tax Planning
  • Drafting Bypass Trusts and Marital Shares in Medicaid Trusts to Accomplish Estate Tax Savings at the Same Time
  • Current Fair Hearing Decisions, Superior Court Cases, and SJC Decisions, Especially the Fournier Case, Dealing with These Trusts and Related Arguments Being Made
  • Understanding How Testamentary Trusts and Naming the Estate as a Designated Beneficiary on IRAs Can Offer Both Tax and Nursing Home Protection Benefits

Faculty

Lisa M. Neeley, Esq., Rubin and Rudman LLP, Boston, Chair; Karen B. Johnson, Esq., Madge & Johnson, PC, Westford; Todd E. Lutsky, Esq., LL.M, Cushing & Dolan, PC, Waltham; Angelina Pargoff Stafford, Esq., Doherty, Wallace, Pillsbury & Murphy, PC, Springfield

Dates & Location

Register at www.mcle.org

Live Webcast

Tuesday, December 10, 2024
2:00 pm–5:00 pm
Program # 2250060WBC

Rebroadcast

Friday, December 27, 2024
9:00 am–12:00 pm
Program # 2250060RB1

Rebroadcast

Thursday, January 2, 2025
12:00 pm–3:00 pm
Program # 2250060RB2

On Demand Webcast

View after Thursday, January 2, 2025
Program # 2250060WBA

Tuition (includes written materials)

  • $245
  • $220.50 MCLE Members
  • $122.50 New Lawyers admitted to law practice within 5 years, Pending Admittees, Law Students, and Paralegals
  • FREE for MCLE OnlinePass Subscribers

To apply for a need-based scholarship, email [email protected].

Materials

  • E-materials link emailed upon registration
  • Transcript & videorecording emailed 2 weeks post-program

CLE Credits

Earn up to 3 CLE credits

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