Irs Tax Information For Elders
For those who are simply looking for information on what types of retirement income are taxable or the eligibility requirements for certain tax deductions and credits, the IRS has your back. Visit the IRS Tax Information for Seniors & Retirees site for tax answers that apply specifically to older adults and retired individuals.
Can I Designate In Advance Who I Wish To Serve As My Guardian If A Guardianship Of My Person Or My Estate Should Become Necessary
Yes. As long as you are not incapacitated, you can execute a in the event of later incapacity or need of a guardian. You can designate a guardian of your person and of your estate in this form.
Additionally, you can disqualify a particular person or persons from serving as your guardian. The Courts are not required to appoint the guardians you prefer, but the Court may not appoint any person who you have declared that you do not want. The designation can be revoked or changed any time before you become incapacitated.
When a person is unable to provide food, clothing, or shelter for himself or herself, to care for his/her physical needs, or to manage his or her own financial affairs due to a mental or physical condition, the court may find that he or she is incapacitated and needs a guardianship. A minor, anyone under 18 years of age, is legally incapacitated.
Who Are The Trustees
You can assign anyone as a trustee as far as they are an adult and mentally competent. Typically, you will name yourself and your spouse as trustees, to keep full control over your estate and assets. However, in case you become disabled or too ill to manage your affairs, your successor trustee or co-trustee will handle the matters on your behalf while you are alive or in case of your demise.
You can name your children as successor trustees. However, if you are in doubt that your children may not be able to distribute the assets as per your instructions, you can always assign a professional fiduciary to be your successor trustee. It could be a professional trust company or an experienced legal firm with expertise in living trusts.
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Legal Issues And Assistance
Older adults may sometimes find the services of an elder law attorney particularly helpful. Elder law attorneys can help with a variety of legal issues, including wills, living wills, advance directives, guardianship, insurance, and more. For limited legal advice or referral to an elder law attorney, contact PRO Seniors, Inc. at 1-800-488-6070.
The National Council on Aging has partnered with FreeWill to provide a free, online tool to help most older Americans create a legally binding will at no cost.
Contact your area agency on aging to learn about legal help available in your community.
The Office of the State Long-term Care Ombudsman also may be able to answer fundamental questions about legal rights and services. Call that office at 1-800-282-1206.
Local And State Organizations
Depending on your place of residence, you might also find other resources locally. Be sure to contact your local Area Agencies on Aging, as they might have close contact with these types of organizations. You can also go to your state-level .gov site and see if they list any special resources or services for seniors.
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What Are Supplemental Security Income Benefits
Supplemental Security Income is a monthly cash benefit paid to elderly or disabled adults and/or to disabled children, all of whom must meet strict tests of income and assets. SSI entitles the recipient to Medicaid.
You can read more about SSI on the Supplemental Security Income Home Page on the Social Security website.
Do You Need An Attorney To Prepare Your Living Trust
YES I can tell you some horror stories which caused a lot of trouble due to a poorly drafted living trust. Therefore, avoid being your own lawyer and get help from a professional legal firm such as AttorneyFee, who are experts in the living trust-related affairs.
Beware of the online or generic living trust templates claiming to be customizable legal documents by the attorney they are not!
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Area Agencies On Aging
There are Area Agencies on Aging serving seniors in communities across the United States. AAAs offer an array of services, benefits and information to help support seniors and family caregivers. If IRS and AARP tax help appointments are limited or unavailable in your area, you may need to look into alternate sources of assistance. Try contacting your AAA to see if there are other free or low-cost tax preparation resources available in your local community.
Before showing up to any free tax preparation location, check if you need to make an appointment first. Typically, some sites offer assistance on a walk-in basis, but many are requiring pre-set appointments to ensure social distancing and other COVID-19 safety protocols are enforced. Use this handy checklist for free tax return preparation to ensure you gather and bring all necessary tax documents and information for the volunteers to help you.
What Are Personal Care Homes
Personal care homes are generally private residences where a limited number of seniors or disabled individuals reside. These facilities have 24-hour care providers who prepare meals, dispense medication, and assist the residents with bathing, dressing, personal grooming, and eating.
You should request to see the homes state license and local health and fire inspections.
Personal care homes are an alternative to nursing home placement with a less institutionalized feeling.
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What Are Medicaid And Medicare
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Medicaid provides health coverage to eligible low-income adults, children, pregnant women, and people who are older or who have disabilities. Each state has its own rules about whos eligible and what Medicaid covers. Some people qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid. To find out if you might be eligible for Medicaid in Texas, visit the Your Texas Benefits website .
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Medicare is our countrys health insurance program for people age 65 or older. People younger than age 65 with certain disabilities or permanent kidney failure can also qualify for Medicare. The program helps with the cost of health care, but it doesnt cover all medical expenses or the cost of most long-term care. To learn more about Medicare, visit the Medicare website. You can also read more about Medicare in the Elder Law Handbook, written by the Houston Bar Assocation. The Medicare section begins on page 14.
Indiana Free Legal Answers
Indiana Free Legal Answers is a web page that allows you to post a question about your non-criminal legal problem and have it answered for free by an attorney. In order to qualify, you must be unable to afford to hire an attorney. To see if you are eligible and to ask a question now, visit IN Free Legal Answers. This service only provides answers to legal questions, the attorney who answers your question will not represent you in the full case or go to court for you.
Health
ILS helps people to protect access to healthcare services, including cases involving Medicare and Medicaid.
Public Benefits
ILS help Hoosiers obtain and preserve public benefits such as social security, food stamps, unemployment, and more.
Our Low Income Taxpayer Clinic provides free help with tax issues such as IRS collection, audit, and appeals matters, as well as identity theft, tax credits, and more.
Immigration
Our Immigrantsâ& Language Rights Center and Migrant Farmworker Project help Indiana residents with a range of immigration and language-related issues.
Veterans
Through our Military Assistance Project, we provide legal assistance to low-income Hoosier military members, veterans, and their families.
LGBT Assistance
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Irs Tax Help Programs
The IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program is available to taxpayers who generally make $58,000 or less, persons with disabilities, and taxpayers who speak limited English. The IRS also offers a free Tax Counseling for the Elderly program for all taxpayers, particularly those who are age 60 and older. VITA and TCE volunteers are IRS-certified and these sites are open from February through April.
It is worth noting that there is some crossover between the TCE program and the AARP Tax-Aide program. Nonprofit organizations receive grants from the IRS to provide free tax advice to their local community members.
Since the VITA and TCE programs are provided by volunteers, availability and specific services may vary. The IRS offers many other online resources and tax help tools, including IRS Free File.
To learn more about VITA and TCE, find an open site near you, or explore other IRS tools and publications, visit the IRS website.
Legal Assistance For Older Adults
The overarching goals of the Older Americans Act are the protection and enhancement of the autonomy, dignity, financial security, health and rights of older Americans. Legal assistance is a critical service in meeting these goals. Legal issues facing older individuals in Colorado often have more serious outcomes than those same legal issues facing any other segment of the population. Vulnerable older individuals are less likely to seek the assistance of an attorney, either due to affordability or because the person does not recognize that he or she has a legal need.
Colorados Legal Assistance Program assists older people with:
- Understanding legal rights
- Benefiting from services, opportunities and entitlements
- Protecting rights promised and provided by law
- Ensuring access to the system of justice by offering advocacy, advice and representation
Based upon the needs of the community, each Area Agency on Aging establishes the types of legal services that may be provided through the Legal Assistance Program, within the legal services guidelines established by the Older Americans Act. These may include:
- Abuse and neglect
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Reference And Referral Information
- The Florida Department of Elder Affairs is the primary state agency administering human services programs to benefit Floridas elders.
- The Florida Attorney Generals Office provides information to assist elders and other persons in protecting themselves from consumer fraud. For more information, visit their website or.
- The Department of Elder Affairs Elder Helpline can help identify local sources of assistance, including social services, housing, and long-term care issues. The toll free number is 1-800-963-5337
- The Florida Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program utilizes volunteers to advocate for people who live in nursing homes, assisted living facilities and adult family care homes. For more information, visit their website or .
- The Florida Alliance for Assistive Services and Technology has an on-line library that provides self-help resource guides on a variety of disability-related laws and regulations of interest to elders, including General Resource and Self-Help Information for Older Individuals with Disabilities, Nursing Home and Health Care Resources Guide, and General Housing Resource Guide.
Self-Help Information
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Your Right To A Safe And Healthy Home
There is good news in the law for senior citizens looking to break a rental agreement on a house or apartment in order to move into a senior citizen apartment complex or other senior facility.
Senior citizens are given certain protection with respect to terminating apartment or other residential leases. Section 227-a of the Real Property Tax Law of the State of New York allows for the termination of such a lease by senior citizens providing they are moving into certain health care facilities or other specialized types of housing.
This law applies if the senior is relocating to an adult care facility, a residential health care facility , low income housing, or senior citizen housing. It protects anyone age 62 or older, or anyone who will reach that age during the term of the lease agreement. In addition, it also covers the spouse of such persons provided the two are living together.
There are some requirements concerning the lease termination. Written notice must be provided to the landlords which includes documentation of admission or pending admission to one of the covered facilities. The tenant must make the effective termination date no earlier than thirty days after the date on which the next rental payment is due and payable.
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What Deeds Can Transfer Real Property When I Die
A Transfer on Death Deed must be filed before your death to be effective. With a properly recorded Transfer on Death Deed, no probate is needed to transfer real property.
It can be set up three different ways:
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It can direct your share of the property to your spouse if he/she survives you, or to others if your spouse does not
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It can direct your share of the property to primary beneficiaries and then to alternate beneficiaries if the primary beneficiaries are no longer alive or
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It can transfer to primary beneficiaries only.
TODD transfers are specifically exempt from Medicare Estate Recovery Program .
You can also have a Ladybird Deed or Enhanced Life Estate Deed in which you retain a life estate for yourself and designate who will receive the property when you die. This type of deed also exempts your homestead from MERP.
To learn more about the TODD, visit the Transfer on Death Deeds page on TexasLawHelp.org.
Where Can Senior Citizens Get Free Rides
With more and more senior citizens staying active far into their golden years, the question of where senior citizens can get free rides is one that comes up often.
Where can senior citizens get free rides? Senior citizens can get free rides from a number of sources. Local transportation authorities in jurisdictions around the nation, app platforms like Lyft, Dial-A-Ride, and many other programs and volunteer services offer free rides for senior citizens.
Many families who work or have busy lives often wonder where senior citizens can get free rides, so the seniors in their homes who no longer drive arent forced to sit at home all day. Heres the information you need to track down where free rides are available.
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Legal Assistance Available To Seniors
Under Title III of the Older Americans Act, it is mandated that each Area Agency on Aging have a Legal Assistance Program separate and apart from other services or programs. Low-income individuals over age 60 with the greatest social or economic need receive particular attention.
Call ADRC/AAA, Aging & Disability Resource Connection/Area Agency on Aging, at 877-222-3737. To find your local ADRC/AAA office click here.
Living Trust: An Overview
The feasibility of revocable living trust for you depends on a variety of factors. Therefore, you must always consult a personal financial advisor and a qualified attorney for your estate planning related affairs.
Before we get into that, let us find out what a living trust is and how a revocable living trust can help you streamline your affairs.
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Do You Have To Put A Lot Of Money In The Living Trust
Except for a little token dollar amount, you do not have to put any funds into your living trust at the time of its creation. However, you can put anything from a dollar to all your assets in a living trust. You can also specify a clause in your living trust that your trust be funded only upon your death. There are advantages to every available option depending on your concerns and needs.
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Nursing Home Neglect Is A National Crisis
The U.S. has thousands of long-term care facilities serving millions of residents. Neglect and injuries are consistent and growing problems in Skilled Nursing Facilities , Assisted Living Facilities , and Community Integrated Living Arrangements .
If you believe a loved one is being abused or neglected in one of these facilities, report the mistreatment as soon as possible. Filing a claim helps protect your loved one and can prevent future abuse of others.
- No Fees Charged Until We Win Your Case
- 100% Confidential Review and Settlement Process
- Meet our Attorneys In Person or Over the Phone
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Tenancy And Eviction Support Services
New Yorkers who are 60 years and older and at risk of being evicted from their homes in Brooklyn and Manhattan, may be eligible for free legal representation and case assistance through DFTAs Tenancy and Eviction Support Services, formerly known as the Assigned Counsel Project.
If you are currently going through a housing court proceeding and have not retained legal counsel, make sure to ask the judge overseeing your case about DFTAs Tenancy and Eviction Support Services, email , or contact the Kings County Help Center by phone at 646-386-5556, or the New York County Help Center at 646-386-5555. You can also email both counties Help Centers at .
Tax Counseling For The Elderly Benefitsgov
You are able to use this program if you are an individual age 60 or older who is in need of either counseling or return preparation services. Check if you may
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Senior Citizen Legal Assistance can offer free or low cost legal advice, counseling and representation to older Americans. Certified elder law attorneys can be
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