Your emotional and financial security is much too important to trust to anyone but a qualified professional. The Law Office of Cynthia R. Pollock is here to help you and your loved ones through this difficult time. Ms. Pollock is a certified elder law attorney and can provide legal assistance to clients in Long Beach, CA and throughout Los Angeles County.

Long Beach elder law attorney focuses on your needs

Ms. Pollock specifically focuses her practice on elder law and laws affecting elderly persons at both the state and federal level and provides legal assistance in:

•  Conservatorships. Court appointment of a person to manage the property and financial affairs of an incapacitated person.
•  Elder guardianship. Overseeing the welfare and safety of the person under guardianship and attending to that person’s financial needs, using his or her assets prudently.
•  Elder law. That area of law covering estate planning, wills, trusts, arrangements for care, social security, and retirement benefits.
•  Elder care. That area of law which protects against elder abuse (physical, emotional and financial), and other concerns of older people.
•  Elderly and unmarried couples. Protecting the rights of unmarried elderly couples.
•  Estate planning. Planning for estate management during one’s life and the estate’s disposition upon one’s death through trusts, wills, and other legal instruments.
•  Estate planning for the disabled. Planning for health care decisions and financial management in case of incompetence or incapacity.
•  Estates. Planning, administration, and management of trusts and estates—including contested wills and trusts, and guardianships/conservatorships.
•  Inheritance. Distribution of assets after death and tax issues related to inheritance.
•  Living wills. Instructions for your Medi-Cal treatment if you become incapacitated.
•  Medi-Cal. Planning, applications, appeals, and compliance on coverage and claims.
•  Probate. The legal transfer of title of your assets to your intended beneficiaries.
•  Retirement planning. Public and private retirement benefits, survivor benefits, and pension benefits
•  Special needs trusts. Trusts that provide for disabled children/relatives upon your death.
•  Wills. Distribution of your assets, as you intended, to your desired beneficiaries.

Are you making the right financial moves?

Skilled Long Beach elder law attorneys can help you plan your estate and ensure your loved ones are taken care of after you are gone. Contact the Law Office of Cynthia R. Pollock online or call 877-849-8916 to schedule a consultation.

2011 Tax Update

Individual Tax Extenders

• Individual tax rates stay the same at: 10, 15, 25, 28, 33, and 35 percent.
• 15 percent maximum tax rate remains for qualified capital gains and dividends (zero percent for taxpayers in the 10 and 15 percent tax brackets).
• The employee-share of Social Security tax is reduced from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent for wages earned in 2011 up to $106,800. Selfemployed individuals would pay 10.4 percent.
• For gifts made in 2010, the gift tax has a 35 percent tax rate and an exclusion amount of $1 million. For gifts made after 2010, the tax rate is 35 percent and an exclusion amount of $5 million.

Business Tax Extenders

• The 50 percent bonus depreciation is increased to 100 percent for qualified investments made on or after September 9, 2010 and on or before December 31, 2011.
• The dollar and investment amounts for Section 179 expensing are increased to $500,000 and $2,000,000, respectively, for tax years beginning in 2010 and 2011. The amounts fall to $125,000 and $500,000, respectively, beginning 2012.
• The exclusion of gain from qualified small business stock is enhanced to 100 percent for stock acquired after September 27,2010 and before January 1,2011 and held for more than 5 years.

Estate Tax Compromise

•For decedents dying after December 31, 2009 the maximum rate decreased to 35% from the previous 55%. The exclusion increased from $1 million to $5 million.