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Guest Editorial: Reduce the National Debt
A Gallup survey released in February 2024 tells us a great deal about which issues are most important to American citizens heading into the 2024 presidential election. In the survey, respondents were asked to name their top issue of concern. Based on what is happening at our borders, particularly our southern border, it is no surprise that immigration was listed as the top issue of concern at 28%.
Guest Editorial: Courts Must Say "No" to No Excuse Voting
Article II, Section 2 of the State Constitution gives the state legislature the power to allow absentee voting. This provision, however, only permits the State Legislature to allow absentee voting when voters have a valid excuse, such as being out of the county on Election Day, or being permanently disabled. The early mail voting law runs afoul of this election integrity provision of the state constitution.
"Docs Equinox" on "Soils, Farms, Food"
By Karl Grossman It was fitting that Suffolk County with some of the richest soil in the world and still on the New York State's list of its top agricultural counties (Number 4 based on "farm sales") as the setting in recent days of a "Docs Equinox" series of documentaries with the theme "Cultivating Connections: Soils, Farms, Food."
National Healthcare Decisions Day
While the day was started by lawyers, advanced directives need not be signed in the presence of a doctor or a lawyer. Both of these documents must be signed in the presence of two witnesses who are over the age of 18. However, they are often signed with an attorney when completing the other parts of an estate plan.
Reasons Why We Procrastinate
Identifying what type of procrastination you are is the beginning step in changing your behavior. There are six types of procrastination based on the main perceived issue causing the behavior.
Guest Editorial: Biden is to Blame for Iran Bombing Israel
While Iran launched an attack on Israel using drones and ballistic missiles this past week, the seeds of this act of war were firmly planted by President Biden in August of 2023.
President Biden Belongs in a Nursing Home
If President Joe Biden were that crazy great uncle who at Thanksgiving is forced to sit at the kids table in another room because of his bizarre behavior and totally inappropriate comments he makes, relatives would have his head checked. Then they'd put him in a nursing home.
Tax Day is Here… What About My Medicaid Trust?
A Medicaid Asset Protection Trust ("MAPT") is a type of irrevocable trust. The purpose is to remove assets from your name so they are not counted as an asset when applying for Medicaid eligibility to assist with the costs associated with a long term stay in a nursing facility or for a caregiver in the home. Assets that are commonly placed into a MAPT include a primary residence, rental properties, shares of a LLC or corporate entity, and non-qualified investments, to name a few.
Assemblyman Thiele: Making LIPA Fully Public Utility "Uphill Fight"
This, despite the Legislative Commission on the Future of the Long Island Power Authority, a bipartisan eight-member panel that Thiele co-chairs, concluding after an extensive investigation and many public hearings, that LIPA should operate the electric system on Long Island itself and not contract it out.
Spring Cleaning for Estate Planning
When reviewing your plan, here are some things to consider: Do you remember who you named as your healthcare proxy? Is that person still the best person to serve in this role? Are successors named? Every new health care proxy supersedes the prior one. How many powers of attorney do you have? Are they all consistent? It is not uncommon for individuals to execute new powers of attorney without revoking the prior ones. This can create a huge amount of confusion amongst multiple agents. For instance, mom creates a power of attorney in 2015 naming her son as agent. A few years later, she sells her house and gives her daughter a power of attorney. Now there are two documents that are not consistent and this can be a recipe for disaster. We call this the "dueling" powers of attorney.
Self Confidence Leads to a Better You
Do you believe that you deserve the best, and do you believe that you can achieve the best? Or have you convinced yourself to believe that you're second-tier who'll be lucky to finish far back in the pack? If you want to achieve the best that life has to offer, you must put the self-fulfilling prophecy to work for you. How? By convincing yourself that you have the ability to earn the rewards you desire.
Tesla Science Center Momentum
But the project of creating the Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe very much continues—with its leadership working hard on it.
Opinion: Woke Wackos Wage War on Easter
There are many faith based greetings and statements Christians make to mark what many believe is the most sacred and holy of all holidays: the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
What You Should Know About Estate Taxes
First, any amounts to spouses or charities are tax free. Any amount under the above thresholds is also tax free. Nevertheless, for estates over the exemption amounts, either the New York or federal, additional planning is necessary. The balance of this article is for estates that exceed these threshold amounts.
My Story: How I Reached My Goals
When I was 10 years old, I had I had two careers that I believed I wanted to do when I grew up. One was working in a research laboratory and the other was a minister. My family doctor, just returning from World War II, suggested that I needed to select a field in the laboratory that was open at the time. He suggested two areas: one virus and the other parasitology (the identification of worms and bugs infecting human. But then he added that studying virus a very slow field that took days for results, whereas parasitology has instant results which was better for me.
Primaries Will Set Who Will Run in lst C.D.
It's a "swing" district, one that could go Democrat or Republican, unusual these days for a House district most of which are dominated by voters of one party due to politically manipulated reapportionment.
The Benefits of a Medicaid Asset Protection Trust
With a MAPT, you can protect your assets from the cost of long-term care. But there is a hitch: The trust must be created sixty (60) months before nursing home care is necessary. Currently, in New York, there is no lookback for transfers made before you apply for home care or Community Medicaid. However, this may change. In 2020, regulations were changed to apply a thirty (30) month lookback for Community Medicaid for any transfers made after October 1, 2020. However, the State has not imposed that lookback and have delayed applying it until at least 2025. At the writing of this article, we are unsure if this will ever be implemented. To be safe, planning early is imperative and the key to asset protection and preservation.
Diet and Exercise
The United States has the 12th highest obesity rate in the world at 36.2%. Diet is primarily to blame, with Americans receiving mixed messages about what they should be eating and how much of it. Faced with mouth-watering advertisements served alongside campaigns promoting daily activity and proper nutrition, many Americans opt for fast, cheap, and filling options such as processed packaged foods, fast food, and larger portions. This often leads to a diet rich in fat, calories, sodium, chemicals, and low in vitamins and nutrients.
The "Bail Reform" Situation
It was obvious back in the middle 1960s that if a person had the money, or property to put up as security, he or she was released on bail. If not, the person was sent to jail—to wait, sometimes for months, to be tried. More than a few defendants who ended up being judged innocent thus served jail time anyway.
Convenience Accounts or Joint Accounts; When do Joint Accounts Lead to Litigation?
When naming a child as a joint account holder on your bank account, be sure that it makes sense in the context of your estate plan. Banking Law Section 675 provides that, absent fraud or undue influence, when two or more people open a bank account and deposit cash or securities, a presumption of joint tenancy with rights of survivorship arises. For the presumption to apply, words of survivorship must appear on the signature card or ledger that creates the account.
Daily Feed
South Shore Press is Around the World: Dispatch From New Zealand
South Shore Press reporter Robert Chartuk is halfway around the world, having crossed the Equator to file this report:
Ward Melville's Athletic Trainer Wins Alumni Award
Ward Melville's Athletic Trainer and Science Teacher Claudine Weiner recently was awarded the Outstanding Alumni Award from Stony Brook University.
Coach Desi Honored
This weekend the Suffolk County Baseball Coaches Association honored legendary Coach Al Desiderio.