Timins Law Group Blog

Thinking About Divorce? Sign Your Will First

Posted on May 22, 2020

Unless there is a prenuptial agreement stating your husband or wife gets nothing when you pass away, if you are married when you die your spouse often has several rights to your estate. Some states, such as New York, entitle your spouse to at least 1/3 of your gross estate even if you leave them nothing, and if you own property with them jointly they get all of that property when you die. And even worse, if you don’t do any estate planning your spouse may be the sole beneficiary of your estate. So if your marriage is failing I suggest that you fire the first shot at your partner and disinherit them before you file for divorce. For people

Top 10 Guide To Reshaping Your Finances During Turbulent Times

Posted on May 20, 2020

This webinar will cover how different age groups (young professionals, prime income earners, retirees) are approaching the post-Covid world of finances and financial planning. Panicking about the financial choices you should take in the near future? What steps should you determine whether you are financially secure? Considering your age and investment horizon, is it time to buy, sell or stay put? One shoe does not fit every foot. Learn what other people in your position are doing to maintain their financial security. The webinar’s speakers are: Matthew DelPriore, CFP® Fortis Lux Financial Director of Finance Planning Daniel Timins, Esq., CFP® Law Offices of Daniel Timins Estate and Elder Law Attorney

Life Insurance

Posted on May 6, 2020

Life Insurance and the types of policies available to accomplish your personal, business and estate planning needs. Topics of discussion will include: Types of Life Insurance available today Proper uses of each type of policy to efficiently achieve your goals Creating liquidity for family Advantages of combining life and long term care policies The webinar’s speakers are: Stephen Cohen, CFP®, JD* Fortis Lux Financial Financial Advisor Daniel Timins, Esq., CFP® Law Offices of Daniel Timins Estate and Elder Law Attorney

Medicaid & Elderly Planning After Covid19

Posted on April 29, 2020

Informational webinar regarding Medicaid and Elder Law Planning after the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020 Topics of discussion will include: Current Medicaid home care application and eligibility New changes in Community Medicaid post 10/1/2020 New penalties and what exemptions still exist If you apply post 10/1/2020, what are strategies to utilize while waiting out the 30 month penalty How planning pre and post 10/1/2020 is beneficial for both community and institutional Medicaid The webinar’s speakers are: Irina Yadgarova, Esq. Law Offices of Irina Yadgarova, PLLC Elder & Estate Associates Michael LaMagna, Esq. Riker Danzig Estate Planning & Elder Law Attorney Daniel Timins, Esq., CFP® Law Offices of Daniel Timins Estate and Elder Law Attorney

Landlords: Beware of Old, Loner Tenants

Posted on April 28, 2020

New York landlords can have a lot of problems with older tenants. Not only do older tenants often have stabilized rents which leave the landlord with a 75% haircut on the rent they collect, older tenants also tend to call in more complaints against their landlords. And just to stick it to their landlord one last time, older tenants often make it impossible for the landlord to re-lease the apartment for months after their deaths. I know, crying for landlords is like crying for the football fan at the Superbowl because he is watching from a luxury box on the 40-yard line instead of the 50 yard line. And I am probably not going to earn a lot of street

Covering Your Concerns During Covid-19

Posted on April 7, 2020

Informational webinar regarding your legal and financial rights during the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020. This ZOOM webinar is geared toward plain-English explanations of recently passed state and federal legislation. Topics of discussion will include: Business Owner and Employer relief, Employee rights and options Income Tax deadline extensions, and potential tax planning strategies “Virtual” Notarization of Wills, Deeds, and other urgent legal documents The webinar’s speakers are: Matthew Heerde, Esq. Heerde Blum LLP Business & Employment Law Attorney Joseph DeMartinis, CPA, CFP® Raich Ende Malter & Co, LLP Certified Public Accountant Daniel Timins, Esq., CFP® Law Offices of Daniel Timins Estate and Elder Law Attorney

Don’t Piss Off Your Trustee

Posted on February 3, 2020

A colleague of mine contacted me about a legal issue she was dealing with. Her client had created an irrevocable trust for tax minimization purposes, named his brother (a US citizen) and his sister-in-law (a Canadian citizen) as Co-Trustees, signed the Trust and transferred a life insurance policy to the Trust. For some reason, in the brief period between signing the trust and mailing it to the Co-Trustees, the client succeeded in royally pissing off his brother to the point of being told he would rather eat cold rice (in actuality, he was told something far less palatable) than serve as his trustee. Just to add to this problem, the client had already applied for a Tax ID Number for

Dead Before His Time: Kobe Bryant and His Possible Estate

Posted on January 27, 2020

I remember being a college student when I first saw the future phenom of the Los Angeles Lakers play for the first time. He was 16 years old, grew up in Italy, seemed like a good kid, and his relentless drive to win was only equaled by his controlled contorting drives to the basket. I lived in Southern California when Kobe, Shaquille O’Neal, and a host of great supporting players won the Threepeat NBA championships of the 2000s. It was a well-known fact that Bryant’s Give-ME-The-Ball style of play, insistence on taking impossible shots and general separation from his colleagues made him incredibly unpopular with his teammates, but he sunk the big shots and the endorsements came pouring in. Kobe

Some of the Many Reasons Estate Attorneys Should NOT Work with Citibank

Posted on January 13, 2020

While I have made sweeping generalizations that corporate trustees will take money from you faster than hitting after you draw 17 in Vegas, it’s pretty rare that I overtly criticize a particular financial institution in my blogs. But since I can’t hide my frustration anymore (and since proving libelous behavior requires a written statement to be untrue, which none of the following is) I feel it is time to send out a warning to my Estate Planning and Elder Law attorney colleagues: Do NOT work with Citibank, and tell your clients not to, for the following reasons: The Inmates Get the Keys to the Asylum: Citibank allows their desk clerks to review your legal documents and make their own assessment

When “Transfer On Death” Accounts Go Bad

Posted on January 7, 2020

If you have ever had to deal with a complicated or contested Probate over a family member’s Will, you know that a lot of your problems would have been avoided if funds had instead been held in Transfer On Death [“TOD”] accounts: While Probating a Will requires a lot of court paperwork, time, and the cost of paying an attorney to help navigate through the proceeding, TOD accounts transfer as Operation of Law assets, meaning all the beneficiary of the account has to do is show up with an original death certificate. But sometimes TOD accounts are not properly set up, cause confusion or secrecy where none was desired, or end up being transferred to people you don’t want them