Controversy has erupted in a California retirement community over a marijuana gardening club.  I never thought I would see the day. 

A recent article points out the efforts that Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann has made against funeral homes selling pre-need plans. Mr. Hosemann is to be applauded.  Far too often, these plans are under-funded and the funds or service provider are nowhere to be found when the time for final arrangements are finally needed.  […]

JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI (BNO NEWS) — A Fayette, Mississippi woman was arrested and charged on one count of felonious Medicaid Fraud, prosecutors announced on Thursday. Kristina Stampley, 28, turned herself into investigators with the Medicaid Fraud Unit of the Attorney General’s Office. The indictment alleges that, while working as a case manager at Southwest Mississippi Mental […]

A proposal is now before the Mississippi legislature to tax sodas in order to combat obesity in the fattest state in the nation, and as a way to provide additional funding for Medicaid. As I sit here sipping my caramel latte, I wonder exactly how this will work.  Will regular Coke be taxed, but Diet […]

While meeting with a client yesterday I heard a story that I thought was instructive and worth repeating.  My client's two aunts were both in the same nursing home.  One of her aunts was destitute, and her room was paid for by Medicaid.  The other had managed to save a couple of hundred thousand dollars […]

The estate tax expired on January 1, 2010. It remains to be seen whether Congress will reinstate it before it returns in 2011, but the fact that there is currently no estate tax can have unintended consequences for spouses. Standard language found in many estate plans may leave spouses with nothing. It is important to […]

The following is reprinted from the NAELA eBulletin: At first it was just a curious observation. Now it’s an undeniable conclusion, first published two years ago in a medical journal and now in a new book coming out Tuesday: “Making Rounds with Oscar: The Extraordinary Gift of an Ordinary Cat.”   Oscar is the cat. David […]

A recent case decided by Mississippi's Court of Appeals illustrates the standard of review for overturning the validity of a deed.  In that case, the elderly owner of a funeral home moved in with her daughter in 2001 after being diagnosed with dementia and other infirmities. Over the next two years, the mother showed signs […]

The following was posed in Crescendo eNotes January 18, 2010, and I though it would be of interest to readers of this blog: As the first decedents pass away in 2010, executors and their advisors are now faced with great uncertainty. IRS Form 706 Estate Tax Returns will be due in nine months, although nearly […]

The Dow Jones Newswire here is quoting Rep. Rangel, Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, as saying that he does not favor retroactive estate tax legislation. The same article quotes his Senate counterpart, Sen. Baucus, Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, saying he wants retroactivity.