When two or more people own property – whether it’s a home, a condominium, or a piece of land – the relationship between the owners is known as a “tenancy.” There are a number of different kinds of tenancy. Understanding the differences is important, because different kinds of tenancy can mean different rules for whether an interest in the property will pass at an owner’s death outside of probate and whether creditors can claim the property.

A number of changes are coming to health insurance plans that supplement Medicare’s coverage, which are commonly known as “Medigap” plans. Medicare doesn’t cover all medical expenses – even if you have Medicare, you’re still responsible for co-payments, deductibles, and items that are excluded from coverage. To supplement Medicare’s coverage, you can purchase a Medigap policy from a private insurer. There are currently 12 different Medigap plans available, identified by the letters A through L. Each

The federal estate tax expired at the end of 2009, and this has created a serious problem for many people who haven’t revised their wills in a while. The tax applied in 2009 to estates of more than $3.5 million. It is slated to come back in 2011, and apply to estates of more than $1 million. Most people expected that Congress would “fix” the estate tax before it expired, and there would be a new

As people get older, they often hire people to perform services for them, such as housekeeping, cooking, driving, paying bills and personal care. But what’s new is that a lot of seniors are hiring their own children. They’re signing contracts with the children specifying what services will be performed and how much the children will be paid.

Inflation may be low and the economy may be struggling, but the cost of elder care is continuing to increase, according to a new Metlife survey. The average cost of a private room in a nursing home rose 3.3 percent in 2009 to $79,935 a year – or $219 a day. The average cost of an assisted living facility also climbed 3.3 percent, to $37,572 a year or $3,131 a month.

The amount you can deduct on your taxes as a result of buying long-term care insurance has been increased by the IRS for 2010. Generally, you can deduct part of your premiums if the premiums, together with your other unreimbursed medical expenses, amount to more than 7.5 percent of your adjusted gross income.

Tax-free college savings plans and prepaid tuition programs – known as “529 plans” – can be used to buy computer equipment and Internet services for students during 2010. This change was part of the stimulus bill enacted by Congress last year. Many grandparents and other relatives set up 529 plans (named for section 529 of the federal tax code) to help young people with college expenses. Family members can contribute up to $13,000 a year to

Once you’ve written a will and created an estate plan, you need to figure out what to do with the will itself. Obviously, it’s very important to keep track of the location of your current will – as well as any old wills. The safest place to keep the original copy of your will is in a bank safe deposit box, but it might not always be the most practical. If the will is in a

The criminal conviction this past October of the son of New York society matron Brooke Astor on charges of taking advantage of her while she suffered from Alzheimer’s disease could lead to more prosecutions for financial abuse of the elderly…and this includes ordinary families, not just wealthy socialites. As many as a million older people are taken advantage of financially each year, according to a study by MetLife. In most cases, the culprits are family members

Sometimes a nursing home wants to get rid of a particular resident. It might think the resident (or the resident’s family) is “difficult.” The resident might require more expensive or demanding care than others. Or the resident might be a Medicaid recipient, and the nursing home could make more money by replacing him or her with a private-pay individual. The usual way that nursing homes get rid of residents is to transfer them to a hospital,