by Scott M. Solkoff, Esq.[1] Two major pressures are moving the practices of Estate Planning and Elder Law together. The dominant pressure is one of demand. For most Americans, the greatest threat to their financial well-being is not taxes. It is the cost of incapacity and long-term care. Addressing these... Continue reading

by Vanessa L. Kanaga, Esq. A recent set of articles published in the February issue of Trusts & Estates discusses the pros and cons of using Document Assembly Systems (referred to in the articles as "DAS"). The articles are nicely presented as a Point/Counterpoint feature. In the first article (the... Continue reading

© 2019 by Jonathan G. Blattmachr & Martin M. Shenkman. All Rights Reserved. With the estate, gift and GST exemption at nearly $11.5 million and scheduled to grow until 2026 when they will be cut in half, few advisers are focusing on wealth transfer tax planning for their clients. And... Continue reading

By Michael L. Graham, Esq. Your law firm email is secure, right? If it were not, you would have issues with your state’s ethical rules requiring you to keep client confidences. As a summary and guide for the multiple state ethical rules, ABA Model Rule of Professional Conduct §1.6(a) provides:... Continue reading

The time to address digital assets as part of your client’s estate plan may have begun to run out. We’ve all heard about digital assets, cryptocurrency and occasional lawsuits by family members against social media giants like Yahoo! and Facebook. But now the topic of digital assets will necessarily have landed on your desk when you begin the estate planning process for a client. Are you fully prepared to help your clients plan for this new asset class, and to protect yourself and your practice from doing the wrong thing? Continue reading

By Vanessa L. Kanaga As any estate planner knows, the 2017 law commonly referred to as the "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act" or "TCJA" (Pub. Law 115-97) changed the landscape of estate planning, perhaps not permanently (because what tax law is ever permanent?), but for the near future. The Basic... Continue reading

By Audrey Ehrhardt, JD, CBC, Founder/CEO Practice42 Are you one of the many people who want to learn how to use Adobe, but just don’t know how? The numerous features that Adobe has makes it very appealing to the customer, but it also makes it a complicated tool to learn... Continue reading

By Betsy Ehrenberg In today’s increasingly connected world, identity theft has become a serious problem. It is estimated that 17.6 million Americans are the victims of some form of identity theft every year. Of those attacks, 2.5 million happen to someone who is deceased. This means 2,200 deceased Americans will... Continue reading

By Wendy Witt, JD With only a glance, you have instant access to your car’s dashboard, displaying exactly what you need to know to diagnose a problem and determine what action to take next: fill the gas tank, change the oil, check the engine, or adjust your speed. Your doctor... Continue reading

By Jennifer Traglia, Gerontologist It’s been two weeks since you last spoke to Jack. His mother, your client, has just fallen – again. This time it sounds serious. As far as you know, she is still in the hospital, with a long road of rehab ahead. Naturally, as a trusted... Continue reading

InterActive Legal is delighted to commemorate 15 years of dedicated service by Senior Application Developer, Deslin Simmons. A veteran member of the team, Deslin worked with InterActive Legal authors and principals, Mike Graham and Jonathan Blattmachr, on the very first version of InterActive LegalSuite, released in 2003. In her primary... Continue reading

By Elizabeth Q. Boehmcke, Esq. This is the third and final installment of a three-part series on the recently released final regulations that impact the Veterans Aid & Attendance pension benefit ("Aid & Attendance"). In the prior blog posts, I discussed the look-back period and transfer penalties that are now... Continue reading

By Elizabeth Q. Boehmcke, Esq. This is the second of a three-part series on the recently released final regulations that impact the Veterans Aid & Attendance pension benefit. In the prior blog post, I discussed the new net worth regulations, including the new bright-line test for net worth currently set... Continue reading

… for most Americans, avoiding estate tax should not and was not the main goal of planning. Rather, taking care of relatives in a thoughtful manner was the primary focus. That should continue and, even though estate tax avoidance may not be the primary consideration, tax reduction should continue to be a major part of planning even for the less than super affluent property owners. Continue reading

For professionals who work with veterans, their surviving spouses and families, the final regulations bring significant changes to the considerations that bear on their planning for such individuals. The final regulations made major changes in three areas that will impact planning for the Aid & Attendance pension benefit: the calculation of net worth, an expansion of the types of expenses which can be taken as unreimbursed medical deductions from income, and the imposition of a three-year look back period for certain transfers, and penalties for such transfers. Continue reading

By Joanne Marcus, MSW, and Karen Dunivan Konvicka, Esq., Commonwealth Community Trust This article was originally published in "NAELA News." The opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and are not to be construed as an endorsement by NAELA or InterActive Legal. When the call comes from... Continue reading

By Teresa L. Bush, Esq., Director of Education and Support Services, InterActive Legal My great-grandfather emigrated to the USA as a teenager from a country that no longer exists, and was a cobbler by trade. I treasure his two iron shoe stands passed down to me, because they are symbols... Continue reading

Megan Respol has left her role as InterActive Legal's Finance & Operations Coordinator to pursue a Master’s in Criminology at Florida State University’s College of Criminal Justice. Megan served her role well, having been baptized by hurricanes a year ago when she arrived just as the office was battening down... Continue reading

by Candace Wells, COO and Law Business Strategist, Attorney Alchemy You’ve probably heard that policies, procedures, systems, and processes will not only save your sanity, but also make you and your team more efficient. Maybe you even “get” it and want to document your processes, but don’t know where to... Continue reading

Practitioners who regularly work with special needs clients are probably aware that the Social Security Administration ("SSA") released revisions to the Program Operating Manual System ("POMS") on April 30, 2018. But since many of us are still processing the revisions, I hope to highlight some of them for those of us who are between CLE sessions. Continue reading

InterActive Legal was recently certified by Industry Era, a digital technology magazine that features enterprise solutions that can play a key part in redefining the business goals of organizations, as one of the “10 Best Technology Solution Providers of 2018”. Continue reading

You’ve spent months, years - maybe even decades - serving your clients and building your business. You’ve probably spent just as long assembling the team that helps you do it all. You brought them onboard, trained them; you know they know what they’re doing and they do a good job. You may even give your team pretty regular feedback so they continue to improve and learn how to do new things. Maybe you go a step further and conduct a formal review every year. This is probably the time that you discuss job performance and maybe dole out a raise or two. Bravo! These are all the trademarks of a good boss and you’re probably miles ahead of the curve. But, have you ever coached your team? Continue reading

Melbourne, FL - InterActive Legal, a knowledge company and software solutions provider in the legal arena of trusts and estates, elder law, and special needs planning, announced this month the promotion of its 5-year veteran Director of Content Development, Vanessa Kanaga, to the office of President effective July 1st, 2018.... Continue reading

Letha Sgritta McDowell, CELA, InterActive Legal On April 17, 2018, the acting director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued a policy clarification to all state Medicaid Directors regarding the imposition of penalty periods for individuals requesting Home and Community Based Services. The reaction to this guidance is... Continue reading

Hiring a new employee is an exciting time in your business. If it’s time to hire some help, it means you’ve met your goals and are anticipating more growth. Continue reading