Protecting Your Personal Assets: The Importance of Umbrella Insurance
Christen D. Santiago In today’s fast-paced world, where accidents and unexpected events can happen at any time, safeguarding your hard-earned assets is crucial. While most people are familiar with homeowners, auto and watercraft insurance that provide coverage for specific situations, like accidents at home, on the road or on the water, many people are not […]
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Questions and Concerns about New York’s New Gun Laws: New License Requirements for Semiautomatic Rifles
In a period of less than a month, New York adopted a series of new gun laws that are the most far reaching in a generation, dwarfing even the changes made by the 2013 SAFE Act. These were prompted by recent mass shooting events and the Supreme Court’s finding that New York’s Sullivan Law is […]
The No Surprises Act: What Patients and Providers Need to Know
Effective January 1, 2022, the No Surprises Act bans most unexpected medical charges from out-of-network providers. The new federal law saves patients the stress of receiving a high bill when they receive emergency care or scheduled treatment from out-of-network doctors and hospitals they did not choose. The No Surprises Act establishes federal protections for patients […]
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And Just Like That: No Estate Tax Changes for 2021 (But 2022?)
The much discussed proposed changes to federal gift and estate taxes has not materialized for 2021. Instead as the law now exists there are more planning opportunities available for 2000. For 2022 the annual gift tax exclusion amount (the amount you can gift to a person without having to utilize the unified credit) will rise […]
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Build Back Better ACT Tax Proposals: What You Need To Know
The proposed tax provisions released by the House Ways and Means Committee on September 13, include several substantial changes that would affect personal income tax and business tax planning. In addition to the reduction in the estate and gift tax exemption, and elimination of valuation discounts for interests in passive entities (as discussed in a […]
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Estate Tax Legislation – Where are we now?
In June I wrote that close attention and possibly quick action may be required for estate planning this year. My message is still the same as we continue to watch the legislative negotiations in Washington develop. On September 13 the House Ways & Means Committee released proposals for over $2 trillion dollars in net tax […]
The American Families Plan- President Biden’s Tax Proposals
On April 28, 2021, President Biden announced his American Families Plan, which outlines his agenda for raising taxes on the wealthy. Interestingly, unlike his tax proposals during his campaign, the American Families Plan does not propose reducing the Federal Estate Tax Exclusion amount (the amount before which an estate would owe Federal estate tax), which […]
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Changes to the New York State Power of Attorney Law
On December 15, 2020, Governor Cuomo signed into law changes to the New York power of attorney (“POA”) law, which will take effect on June 13, 2021. These changes will not impact the validity of an existing POA form and statutory gifts rider if it is executed in accordance with the provisions of the current […]
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Congress Passes Trademark Modernization Act
Congress Passes Trademark Modernization Act Here’s What That Means for You, Your Business and Your Business’ Trademarks At the tail-end of 2020, the Trademark Modernization Act (“TMA”) was signed into law. The TMA, which received broad bi-partisan support in Congress, was passed to curb a substantial volume of improperly registered trademark registrations from so-called “bad […]
Biden Immigration Bill
Two Key Features of President Biden’s U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021: President Biden sent a bill to Congress on his first day as President that would modernize our immigration laws. The bill creates an earned roadmap to citizenship for undocumented individuals by permitting them to apply for temporary legal status with the ability to apply […]