If you’re currently enrolled in Medicare, you’ve probably begun receiving information about your coverage. That’s because the annual enrollment period for Medicare runs from Oct. 15 through Dec. 7.
During this period, you can make changes to your Medicare coverage that will be effective on Jan. 1, 2014. If you’re satisfied with your current coverage you don’t need to make changes, but you should review your options before you decide to stay with your current plan.
Your Medicare plan sends you two important documents every year that you should review. The first, called the Evidence of Coverage, gives you information about what your plan covers, and its cost.
An elective share is the statutory right of a surviving spouse to receive a specified share of his or her deceased spouse’s estate instead of accepting the provisions in the spouse’s will. The elective share protects a surviving spouse from being disinherited by his or her spouse.
Example(s): Bob dies and leaves his wife, Ann, $10,000 in his will. Bob’s total estate is worth $500,000. The state in which Bob and Ann lived provides that a surviving spouse is entitled to one-half of the decedent’s estate. Ann elects to take against the will and receives $250,000.
The elective share is determined under state law and varies from state to state. In some states, a surviving spouse might receive one-third or one-half of the deceased spouse’s estate. In other states, the percentage a surviving spouse receives depends on the length of the marriage. For example, the spousal elective share might increase with each year of marriage, up to a maximum of 50 percent.
A disclaimer is an estate planning tool that allows you to redistribute transfers of property free from transfer taxes. A disclaimer is your refusal to accept a gift, bequest, or other form of property transfer.
Once disclaimed, the property is then distributed to the next recipient. As a disclaimant, you are not regarded as having received the property, or having transferred the property. As a result, no gift, estate, or generation-skipping transfer tax is imposed on your disclaimer of the property.
After you receive a gift or bequest, you generally have up to nine months to decide whether to disclaim the property. (State law can provide a shorter period.) During that period, you may not accept any of the benefits of the property if you ultimately decide to disclaim the property.
