twrpc's blog

Congress alleviated the uncertainty surrounding the federal estate tax by fixing the federal estate tax exemption at $5,000,000.00 (at least for the next two years) with a top tax rate of 35%. The estate tax exemption was set to revert to $1,000,000.00 at the beginning of 2011. At that level, the federal estate tax would have impacted a fair percentage of the population. However, the $5,000,000.00 exemption far exceeds the value of the average estate.

Generally, if you exchange business or investment property solely for business or investment property of a like-kind, no gain or loss is recognized under Internal Revenue Code Section 1031. This can be a very powerful tax planning strategy.  Real estate, for instance, can be exchanged for other real estate, even if they are different types of real estate.  For example, a beach condo could be exchanged for timber land, farm land or an apartment building.

Mortgage rates have once again dropped to the lowest level on record for the 5th time in 6 weeks.  The substantially low rates have made home buying and refinancing the most attractive in decades for those who can qualify. 

The Workers’ Compensation Act can be difficult to understand and properly pursuing your rights requires action on your part.  To properly handle your claim at the time of injury, you should follow these basic steps:

Report the Accident Immediately:  At the time of accident, you should immediately provide notice to your Supervisor or HR Manager and request that a “First Report of Injury” be completed.

Most senior citizens are surprised to learn that Medicare does not pay for long-term care. Medicare only pays for nursing home care under certain conditions and only for a limited number of days.  Currently, Medicare will cover skilled care in a skilled nursing facility for (up to) the first 20 days, and a portion of the cost for (up to) the next 80 days if admission follows (at least) a three-day hospital stay and the individual needs skilled care.  Medicare provides no coverage for "custodial" care, either at home or in a nursing facility.

Uninsured motorist or underinsured motorist insurance (generally called "UIM" insurance) is some of the cheapest but best insurance you can buy.  Approximately 40% of the people in Alabama drive without any insurance, despite recent changes in the state laws.  Many of the remaining 60% are underinsured, because the state law requires only the minimum coverage of $25,000 of insurance per person injured in a collision and $50,000 for all people injured in the same collision (commonly referred to as "a $25,000/$50,000 policy").