NEWS AND COMMENTARY

Published on: November 3, 2008

Medicare Annual Enrollment Period Coming Up November 15, 2008

At Law Office of Scott C. Soady, A Professional Corporation, we want to make sure our clients and other seniors in San Diego are aware of matters important to them. Medicare is the nation’s largest health care plan covering nearly 40 million Americans. From November 15 until the end of the year is the Annual Election Period (AEP). Those eligible for Medicare or those already enrolled can change their enrollment in or out of Medicare Part D and Part C.

If you currently are on Medicare you know that there are four parts. Most people with Medicare have Part A which is basically hopsital coverage and Part B which covers doctors and oher practicioners. Part C is the Medicare Advantage Plans under which Medicare pays a private insurance company to administer your Medicare benefits. Part D is the prescription drug coverage.

Many people will receive information from the Advantage companies before November 15 advising them of any intended changes to existing plans in 2009. This may be called an Annual Notice of Change. If you receive information that your plan is changing, you should review it carefully in order to make an intelligent decision on whether to enroll or remain in the Medicare Advantage Plans. At the Medicare website you can read about the various plans and the step by step process of the decision making in the Medicare Handbook for 2009. National Care Planning Council also has information on the Medicare approved advantage plans in California.

Published on: October 30, 2008

Useful Information When Traveling Abroad

by Scott C. Soady

San Diego is home to many retirees and others who love to travel. The U.S. Dept. of State has useful information about traveling abroad. At their website you can access information about passports, registering your travel abroad, taking medicines on your trip, customs and import information, and immunizations required for various areas.

You can also check the website for what travel warning and alerts are in effect for a specific country. A Travel Warning is a warning against travel to certain countries where a condition may make the country dangerous or unstable. Currently, some of the countries listed with Travel Warnings are Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Colombia, Nepal, and Somalia.

Travel Alerts are issued for usually short term conditions such as a natural disaster, a coup, or acts of terrorism. Countries under a Travel Alert at this time are Mexico, China, Comoros, and the Arabian Peninsula.

Published on: October 27, 2008

Deadline Approaches for Property Tax Relief

by Scott C. Soady

San Diego is 5th on a list of cities with the biggest decline in home values, behind Las Vegas, Miami, Phoenix, and Los Angeles. The median price of a home in San Diego this month is $380,000 down 20% from a year ago. Hit hard by the increase in foreclosures are the neighborhoods of City Heights, Chula Vista, Encanto, Oceanside, Spring Valley, and Escondido.

If you believe the value of your property has fallen below its assessed value, you can file an Application for Changed Assessment with the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors for San Diego County. There are many companies sending mailers to homeowners offering to do this for a fee, often as much as $300. You can of course use these services if you choose, but it costs nothing to do it yourself.

Download the application and file it as soon as possible but no later than December 1, 2008. You should include with the application supporting documentation such as an appraisal, comparable sales in your neighborhood, or other information to help determine the value of your property. Under California law, Prop 8 passed in 1978, a temporary reduction in asssessed value can be made whenever the market value falls below the assessed value. The assessor’s office will re-evaluate the reduction yearly.

Published on: October 23, 2008

Sarah Palin’s Son Trig Raises Public Awareness about Special Needs Children

by Scott C. Soady

Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s 5 month old son who has Down Syndrome has caused an increase in public awareness about children with special needs. Special needs children are those that need extra care whether because of a developmental disability, autism, cerebral palsy, mental retardation, or other physical or mental condition. Many parents in San Diego County have children with special needs and know all too well about the extra care they require, the government benefits they rely on, and the financial challenges they face.

Many families with special needs children need to rely on Medi-Cal or Social Security to help with the high cost of health care. This financial support can continue throughout the child’s life. Parents and grandparents of special needs children and adults may want to provide for their disabled loved ones in their will or trust but they do not want to jeopardize the individual’s eligibility for public benefits. A Supplemental Needs Trust is the answer.

A Supplemental Needs Trust (often called a Special Needs Trust) enable a person with a physical or mental disability to have assets held in a trust and those assets will not be considered countable assets for purposes of qualifying for certain government benefits. Supplemental needs that can be paid for by the trust may be such items as special medical equipment, dental needs, eyeglasses, recreation, entertainment, transporation, computer equipment, or special dietary needs.

Published on: October 17, 2008

Estate Taxes and the Presidential Election

by Scott C. Soady

When someone dies, estate taxes have to be paid if the estate is large enough. Under the current law, the federal estate tax exemption is $2 million. This means that no estate taxes will have to be paid on estates under $2 million and for couples, assets of less than $4 million would be exempt from estate taxes.

The exemption is set to increase to $3.5 million in 2009, disappear entirely in 2010, and revert back to $1 million in 2011.

Now that the Presidential candidates have been narrowed to McCain and Obama, where do they stand on this issue? John McCain is in favor of raising the exemption to $5 million. Senator Obama proposes a $3.5 million exemption. The other difference is that McCain would cut the tax rate from 45% to 15%. Obama is in favor of keeping the tax rate at 45%.

Published on: October 14, 2008

Update on the Estate of Heath Ledger

by Scott C. Soady

Nine months after the death of Heath Ledger, his

Published on: October 9, 2008

San Diego and Fire Preparedness

by Scott C. Soady

In San Diego we are familiar with Santa Ana conditions and a lengthy fire season from May through October. The communities of Rancho Bernardo, Poway, Rancho Santa Fe, Ramona, and Escondido still have not completely recovered from last year’s Witch Fire. Are you more educated now than you were a year ago about fire and fire readiness?

Here are some useful links:

1. Cal Fire (California Dept. of Forestry and Fire Prevention) has information about fire prevention and current California fires and trouble spots.

Published on: October 8, 2008

Can Children Born After Their Parent’s Death Inherit?

by Scott C. Soady

San Diego, like many other large cities is on the cutting edge of technology and has a number of sperm banks, egg banks, and cryopreservation companies for storage of reproductive material. With the advent of techniques such as invitro fertilization and cryopreservation of sperm, eggs, and embryos, children may be born many years after the death of a parent raising a variety of legal issues.

A child that is born after the death of one or both parents is referred to as a “posthumous” child. The law in California recognizes children born posthumously by specifically providing in the California Probate Code Section 248 – 249.8 that such children have the same inheritance rights as children born before the death of their parent.

The new reproductive technologies can potentially create a number of other problems. An example is whether a child born from frozen sperm or embryos can qualify for social security benefits. A U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth District has said they do get social security benefits. As modern technology evolves, the law is going to have to address these and undoubtedly other issues.

Published on: October 7, 2008

San Diego County: Bicycle Safety

by Scott C. Soady

In San Diego, the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition has many different tips and advice to help riders. There is also a You Tube website which has information from the NHTSA on bicycle safety. At our law firm of Law Office of Scott C. Soady, A Professional Corporation, LLP we advocate bicycle safety. If you are injured in a bicycle accident in San Diego County, please e mail or call our firm for a complimentary consultation.

When a car or truck has a collision with a bicycle, the bicycle rider usually loses, no matter who legally had the right of way. Bicycle riders should take extra care to obey the following safety tips:

Remember: Bikes Are Vehicles, Too

Published on: September 30, 2008

Be Careful What You Click!

by Scott C. Soady

It can happen in a second!. You click your mouse on a website and all sorts of things can happen. Because of the high tech nature of the internet, you can shop from your home computer in San Diego and purchase a product from anywhere in the U.S., China, Australia, or India any time of the day or night. Not only could you be downloading spyware and viruses into your computer, but you could be committing yourself to a legally binding contract.

A Texas online purchaser used her daughter-in-law’s credit card to order some automobile seat covers and have them delivered to the daughter-in-law in Alabama. When they were delivered, it was discovered that the covers were the wrong color. The daughter-in-law sent them back to the company and reversed the charge on her credit card. The company claimed that it never received the seat covers, and eventually sued the purchaser and the daughter-in-law for breach of contract.

The lawsuit against the customers was bad enough but adding to the problem was the fact that the action was filed in a state court in Indiana, far from either of the defendants’ homes. The defendants’ attempt to avoid having to defend the suit in Indiana failed. The “clickwrap” agreement that the customer had accepted with a click of the mouse when she purchased the items included a requirement that any legal proceeding between the purchaser and seller had to be filed in Indiana and governed by Indiana law.