Category Archives: Uncategorized

Biden Signs Social Security Fairness Act: What It Means For Government Pension Families

Date
Posted by
Biden Signs Social Security Fairness Act: What It Means For Government Pension Families

On Monday, January 6, 2025, President Joe Biden signed the Social Security Fairness Act into law. The act will enhance benefits for tens of millions of government retirees and their current or former spouses.

What is the Act?

The act eliminates two longstanding provisions of Social Security law – the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset – that were intended to prevent “double dipping” where an individual or spouse worked primarily in government jobs where they paid into a government pension system instead of paying social security withholdings (the main part of FICA tax). In general, retirees who are low-wage workers receive a much larger percentage of their SS-taxed earnings back in their social security check than moderate and high-wage workers. If that person is married to a “bread-winner” spouse, they are also more likely to collect a percentage of their spouse’s benefit than a benefit based on their own earnings. The WEP and GPO laws adjusted the ability of government retirees who merely “look poor” in Social Security’s system to collect those more generous bottom-heavy checks, or to collect a full government pension and a full spousal social security check. While it will take some time for the Social Security Administration to implement these changes, those restrictions are now eliminated.

Who is effected?

Any government retiree who receives a government pension in the United States, and is old enough to collect Social Security or deemed disabled by Social Security, will benefit from these provisions. Most federal employees (including postal and railroad, not including military) are covered, and below that, most education, emergency, and transportation employees for cities and states, as well as others who have collectively bargained pensions, are also covered by the law. They can now collect their full Social Security benefit – or spousal benefit, if more – as well as their full government pension. Eligible current and former spouses can collect a spousal benefit on their government retiree spouse; while widows of government employees who receive a survivor’s pension may also claim their full survivor’s Social Security check.

The government will start by providing a lump-sum corrected benefit for the amounts held back in 2024 under the special provisions which have been lifted. To follow the status of the changes, the Social Security Administration is providing ongoing updates at https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/social-security-fairness-act.html.

Is there a downside?

Several state-run programs for seniors depend primarily on the individual or married couple’s income to determine eligibility, and those income limits will not change in response to the law. That means that it is possible this additional income will be disqualifying for those benefits. The most common of these will be home energy assistance and property tax abatement/discounts. Additionally, individuals who contribute excess income to a pooled trust account to receive in-home help under the Home Care Program, PCA Waiver, or other Medicaid waiver programs, will need to adjust their contributions. Households with government pensions typically do not qualify for Medicaid (HUSKY Health), SNAP (food stamps), or Medicare premium relief under the Medicare Savings Plan (QMB), but all of these programs are also limited by household income. If you have concerns that you or a love one may become disqualified for any benefits due to increased Social Security payments in New Haven County, contact Elder Law Attorney Scott Rosenberg at (203) 871-3830 or Scott@CTElder.com for an initial consultation.

When to Drop your Medicare Advantage Plan

Date
Posted by

An article in Forbes Magazine released last week sums it up wisely: “Older Americans say they feel trapped in Medicare Advantage Plans.” Medicare Advantage plans, also called “MA” or “Part C,” are a heavily advertised class of privatized Medicare-type insurance plans. The government pays a private insurance company a lump sum they have allocated to your care, and the insurance company provides the insurance coverage that Medicare otherwise would. That insurance company can charge additional premiums, and limit you to their provider network, but they can and normally do incorporate additional benefits, such as prescription drug coverage, dental, and vision.

Medicare Advantage plans are attractive because of their ease and similarity to employee coverage that adults are familiar with. You get once card, and you use that for everything. However, as Medicare recipients age and their medical needs grow, they are often subjected to the flip side of what seemed like a good value: Denials of expensive surgeries or treatment residents, and denial or early disapproval of rehabilitation coverage following a hospital stay or surgery. Where Medicare typically defers to medical providers and rehabilitation specialists on what procedures are needed and how long rehabilitation services continue to be appropriate, private insurance companies actively look for reasons to deny or terminate coverage of professionally recommended services. That, and specialized care (or sometimes not so specialized) can be denied in practice due to bottlenecks in any company’s approved provider network.

Continue reading

Five Things To Know About Probate…Before Probate

Date
Posted by

It has long been my practice to send executors and administrators of estates numbered letters preparing them for the different stages of the probate process. Letter 1 would be about setting up the estate, Letter 2 about documenting and caring for the estate’s assets, and so on. But I have realized over time that probate has a few quirks no reasonable person could be expected to know, and also that many mistakes are made before the probate court even opens an estate. On top of that, it can be easy to get into probate without understanding where a lawyer’s time goes, or the mindset and approach you should take to make the estate go smoothly and close on time. After all, most people know that they should tally their prescription bills and charitable donations before they see their tax preparer, if they want to be cost effective, but you’d be forgiven for not realizing that probate works the exact same way.

Continue reading

Rosenberg Firm Wins Appeal; Case Selected for Publication

Date
Posted by

We are excited to announce that Attorney Rosenberg has been selected to present a paper in the CT NAELA Practice Update based on his appeals court victory in Harborside Conn. Ltd. Partnership v. Witte earlier this year. Practice Update is the official journal for our state’s chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, the nations preeminent education and advocacy source for the practice of elder law.

In the Harborside case, the nation’s largest nursing home chain sued the widow of a former resident for her husband’s outstanding bill. Since neither of them had signed a contract, the nursing home claimed they were entitled to collect the debt directly from the widow because she had managed the family finances, paid the bills, and received insurance checks in the past. When this claim was thrown out of court without a trial, the nursing home appealed. In a split decision, the Appeals Court upheld the dismissal of the suit, siding with the brief of Attorney Rosenberg and lead appeal counsel Miguel Almodóvar. The court ruled that the nursing home only had a debt with the decedent, and could only recover it by filing a claim with his probate estate. Because this decision comes from the appellate court, other judges may now be required to throw out similar lawsuits in the future.

Ordinarily, spouses are jointly responsible for their housing and necessary medical expenses, but both state and federal laws require a spouse to volunteer through a written document in the case of nursing home care.

The published paper, Anatomy of Harborside v. Witte, may be downloaded here.

Pardon our dust….

Date
Posted by

The Estate Planning Ticker will be undergoing some upgrades in the near future.  It’s my hope to give the blog’s style a decent upgrade, then pull the rest of my website into it for a more consistent and interactive client experience.  If you happen to notice a missing heading, oddly shifted pictures or mismatched colors, it’s all part of the process.

I continue to appreciate your readership.

 

Scott

Where Should I Keep My Important Documents?

Date
Posted by

The $45 will storage solution

A common non-legal question estate planning attorneys get is where you should keep the documents we draft for them.  As is so often the case in law, the best answer is “it depends.”  For most people, I feel a lock-box inside the house is usually the best solution, but in some cases, the traditional “valuables in the safe deposit box” approach remains a better choice.  Here are some of the major considerations:

The Merits of the Fireproof Lock-Box

Most of my clients are people with spouses and children who get along well, or even if they bicker or are distant, have some modicum of respect and integrity amongst them.  The kids will know the basics of their parents’ estate plans, and anyone who is asked to be a power of attorney, healthcare representative, or trustee of a trust will get copies of the documents naming them to those positions.  You might even give the named executor a copy of your will.  In any of these cases, I’m a big proponent of fireproof lock-boxes, like the Sentry 1100 or F2300 (also waterproof, pictured above).  These and similar boxes, about the size of two small loaves of bread, can be kept in a bottom file drawer, closet, or under your bed.  They are easy to find, can hold all of your important documents, and offer a modicum of fire and water protection.  The locks are laughable – on the First Alert version it’s a plastic clasp – but this is usually a good thing:  it’s sufficient to keep prying eyes away, but can be accessed in an emergency even without the key.
Continue reading

Welcome! (and a Disclaimer)

Date
Posted by

In honor of having hung up my shingle on the Connecticut Shoreline I’ve decided to start this blog in the hopes of sharing some of my thoughts and providing various insights on the practice of law as it is and developments in the area.  While much of the focus will be on CT estate planning, I hope to delve into other relevant professional observations as well.

Please note that this blog is offered as a primer to myself and my practice only.  The colloquial terms I use here may differ from technical ones, those used by the government, or those used by other practitioners.  My statements may reflect my opinion of the law rather than legal fact.  Some posts may be in need of editing or become outdated and, of course, the law varies from one state to another.  In short, all legal decisions should be made in consultation with an experienced, licensed attorney in the area where you live, and nothing on this blog should be taken to constitute legal advice, particularly as advice to avoid or evade taxes.