Articles

As highly anticipated, the U.S. Congress passed SECURE 2.0 in late December 2022. Following is an overview of certain provisions with which retirement plan sponsors and custodians will want to become familiar. Some, if not all of these changes will call for interim plan amendments which as of now are not required until the last day of the plan year beginning on or after January 1, 2025 (or 2027 for governmental plans).

The Q3 2022 Merger & Acquisition Update prepared by Optis Partners shows 554 property and casualty related transactions in the U.S. and Canada for the first three quarters in 2022 as compared to 644 transactions in the first three quarters of 2021.

Pennsylvania Act 122 of 2022 amends Title 15 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes dealing with Corporations and Unincorporated Associations, which now requires an annual report filing for various entities organized or authorized to do business in Pennsylvania.

The road to financial freedom and peace of mind is not always smooth. The following are ten reasons to hire an experienced elder law attorney to navigate long-term care and Medicaid issues.

Because of the delay between the passage of the SECURE Act and the timing of the proposed regulations and the divergence of guidance regarding the manner in which the 10-year rule would be applied to the post-death RMDs, the IRS issued Notice 2022-53 on October 7, 2022 to provide some relief.

With the release of Notice 2022-55 the IRS has announced the cost-of-living adjustments for pension plans and other related items for the 2023 tax year.

The EEOC has just announced the release of the updated poster, “Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal.” Employers are legally required to display this poster in “a conspicuous location in the workplace where notices to applicants and employees are customarily posted” or face possible penalties.

Everyone with assets should have an estate plan. If you die without a will in Pennsylvania, there are pre-determined rules concerning what happens to your assets.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued IR-2022-162 to provide guidance addressing the improper forgiveness of a Paycheck Protection Program loan (PPP loan).

A look at women and retirement planning, including guidance from the U.S. Department of Labor.

This is a question we get often from clients: “My father [or mother] is already in a nursing home. Is it too late to protect and preserve assets?” The simple answer is “no.” Many of the clients we serve are in this situation, or about to be. We can help determine the best course of action based on your family’s specific situation.

Another technique for accelerating an applicant’s qualification for Medicaid and/or preserving family assets is to convert assets that would otherwise be counted toward the Medicaid resource eligibility limits (countable assets) into non-countable (or exempt) resources.

Qualifying for Medicaid often involves accelerating expenditures to reduce an applicant’s countable resources down to the required level. One technique for spending down assets to accelerate qualification is through the use of a Family Caregiver Contract.

It is not uncommon for U.S. tax exempt organizations to make donations to foreign charities.
The Internal Revenue Service has specific regulations governing such activities.

You would not think that it is necessary to issue this kind of update, but the IRS has issued a helpful reminder in its Tax Tip 2022-62: don’t ignore mail from the IRS.