ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: I have sole legal and primary physical custody of my daughter, her dad lives in another state. Our court order says I have the exclusive rights to file her as a dependent on my taxes, and file for her dividend every year. He knew about the court order and still claimed her on his taxes and filed for her PFD. How do I enforce the court order? ATTORNEY ANSWER BY MARGARET L. CROSS: You
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: The Nursing Home that my Deceased Dad was in after having a sudden stroke is trying to get a judgement against me stating that I was his POA & I should not have accepted yrly checks from him for my two children & myself. I did not sign any papers stating that I would be responsible. Their claims are that even though my dad was in good health taking care of his own home
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: I am sole heir in my Mothers revocable trust. She died in 2016, I sold her house in 2016. Will I have taxes to pay? ATTORNEY ANSWER BY MARGARET L. CROSS: Upon your mother’s death, the home receives a step up in basis to fair market value. By placing and selling the home on the market soon after your mother’s death, the basis will be presumed to be the selling price. You should consult
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: I heard from a neighbor but can’t confirm that Medicaid’s five year “look back” for assets that can be applied to nursing home expenses is cut back to two years if a family member lives in the house and acts as caretaker. If so, do they have to be living there for two years before the reduced look back takes effect? Or does it take effect right away? Thanks! ATTORNEY ANSWER BY MARGARET L.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Mother is in nursing home, money is running out soon. I am her daughter, but I don’t have durable power of attorney.What do I need to do,legally to sell her home, so that I can continue to pay her nursing home bill/utilities/property taxes/and medications? ATTORNEY ANSWER BY MARGARET L. CROSS: Under Medicaid, her home is a non-countable assets. Instead of trying to sell the house, you should consult with an elder law attorney about
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: What would that fee be? ATTORNEY ANSWER BY MARGARET L. CROSS: As Personal Representative, you may charge reasonable fees to the estate. You may charge differently for different tasks. For example, cleaning out the basement would be charged out at a lesser amount than the preparation of the tax return for the estate or the decedent. You will need to keep records on how long you spent on each task. Your fee will be
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: My Fiancé passed away over a year ago. I was Power of Attorney and 100 percent beneficiary of his Trust. He got too sick to transfer everything under the trust. Now I have a pour over will naming me Personal Representative. Giving me full power with no bond. The banks will not accept the will. They are telling me they need a letter stating I have legal rights to the money. I don’t know
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: How much time does Masshealth have to make such a claim? Is there a time limit? Also, it is my understanding that they can only take whatever the decedent owned at the time of death. I assume then, any insurance proceedings and lawsuits proceedings post death are not available to Masshealth right? ATTORNEY ANSWER BY MARGARET L. CROSS: The normal creditor period in Massachusetts is a year from the date of death. However, MassHealth’s
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: My grandmother currently has a family friend designated as her POA. She would now like me to be her POA. How can we make this change? ATTORNEY ANSWER BY MARGARET L. CROSS: All she has to do is execute a new power of attorney and notify the old agent that the old power of attorney was revoked. This is easily done through an attorney. The attorney will need to meet with your grandmother alone
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: In MA, if Medicaid paid for a deceased hospitalization which is now in probate, does the administrator/heirs have to wait until the Estate Recovery fund is paid back before collecting any inheritances? ATTORNEY ANSWER BY MARGARET L. CROSS: MassHealth is a creditor of the estate. MassHealth is notified when the probate documents are filed with the probate court and has by statute a right to submit a claim on the estate. Once the claim
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