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LAW ALERT: The Fiscal Cliff's Effect on Estate Planning
With the prospect of the Federal estate and gift tax rate going from 35% to 55% at the beginning of this month, estate planning attorneys were very busy in the fourth quarter of 2012 doing end-of-year planning for people who were at risk of being subject to this enormous tax increase. The Federal estate tax exclusion amount was scheduled to drop on January 1, 2013, from $5 million per individual to a mere $1 million per individual. Such a decrease would have exposed even middle class families to the Federal estate tax considering that life insurance proceeds are included in the Federal estate tax base.
In the end, for the most part, the Federal estate tax rate remained unchanged, which came as a shock due to the tremendous deficit under which the Federal government is currently operating.
Following is a brief summary of the new Federal estate and gift tax law:
- The $5 million dollar per person Federal estate tax exclusion amount was retained and indexed for inflation; however, the tax rate was increased to 40%.
- The Federal estate and gift taxes remains unified, which means that the $5 million exclusion amount stays in place for gift tax purposes as well.
The Dayton Foundation published a great summary of the new laws as they relate to estate and charitable gift planning.
On the home front, Ohio estate taxes were repealed effective January 1, 2013, so no Ohio estate taxes will be imposed upon the estates of Ohio residents who die on or after January 1, 2013.
As always, please feel free to give us a call for additional information about how the new tax laws affect your estate plan.
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Getting Hitched? 
If you are getting married, ask us about whether you should do a Premarital Agreement ("Prenup").
Our office has experienced an influx of requests for Prenups, mostly from people who are remarrying later in life. The motivation for obtaining a Prenup is not because the marriage may not last.
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Who doesn't love a free dinner on the town?
At the end of January, we will randomly select one lucky person who "likes" Roberson Law on Facebook to win a $50.00 gift card to a restaurant of choice. "Like" us now and don't miss this easy chance to win!
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Elder Law Update
More and more, baby boomers are having to figure out how to provide care for aging parents who can no longer live at home alone without assistance. Read an informative article published in USA Today titled, "Medicare Settlement Would Expand At-Home Care" that addresses this topic.
Did you know that we have a department dedicated to senior services?
- Preserve your savings from nursing home costs
- Keep your home in the family
- Know when to apply for Medicaid
- Receive help finding the right nursing home
Check out our blog and our web page on Elder Law!
Click here to view our website and video on YouTube!
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Need a Speaker For Your Next Event?
 We are grateful for all of the opportunities that Nancy Roberson was given to speak at special events around the state of Ohio. This past year, Nancy spoke a total of twenty different times to various civic organizations, non-profit groups, and churches about her personal story and the importance of planning for death and disability. There are too many organizations to name, but thank you to all of you who invited Nancy to speak for your special events!
If you would like Nancy to speak at your next event, please call 937.643.2000 or email Amy Cary at [email protected] to book your event. Nancy has an inspiring story that captivates and motivates audiences to get their affairs in order.
As always, we never charge a fee for our professional speaking services, and we require a minimum of only ten people to attend in order to book an event. You may also go to our speaking engagements page on our website to read some testimonials from past attendees and to obtain more information about speaking engagement opportunities.
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Our mission is to provide excellent, compassionate legal services to help people plan for the unexpected and prepare for the inevitable.
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News You Can Use
In This Issue: - LAW ALERT: The Fiscal Cliff's Effect on Estate Planning
- 8 Estate Planning Things That You Should Do NOW
- Getting Hitched?
- Blog on Special Needs Children Turning 18
- 2012 Year in Review for the Staff at Roberson Law
- Elder Law Update: Medicare Settlement Would Expand At-Home Care
- Nancy Roberson Receives Two Prestigious Awards
- Need a Speaker For Your Next Event?
- Widows' Support Groups
- Fun Facts and Inspiring Thoughts
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8 Estate Planning Things That You Should Do NOW! 
Have you heard the saying that planning for death is about one notch above getting a colonoscopy on a person's "to do list?" Because death and disability planning is our firm's niche, we can understand the difficulty of convincing people that estate planning is necessary.
Most people who call our office for estate planning advice assume that getting a Will is the most important activity when doing estate planning. However, based on over 30 years of practice in this specific area of law, we know that the prior assumption is not the always the case.
Robert Deschene, an estate planning attorney in Massachusetts wrote a blog entry titled, "8 Estate Planning Things To Do Before You Travel" that advises his clients about the legal matters that should be done before traveling. Our firm believes, however, that the article really addresses estate planning things that need to be done right now, regardless of whether or not you are going to be traveling. Reviewing your Will is a good start, but not the only order of business when doing disability and death planning.
Read here to obtain the full list of the estate planning things that you should do now (or before you travel).
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2012 Year in Review for the Staff at Roberson Law
What an eventful year! The staff at Roberson Law had a busy year and many reasons to celebrate. Our office was constantly buzzing with excitement. Many of you who receive our annual Christmas letter already learned about many of the exciting happenings in our firm during 2012. For those of you who do not receive our Christmas letter, below is a list of events in order of occurrence.
May 2012:
-Kim Estess (Cullman) marries Adam Estess at Incarnation Church in Centerville. Kim and Adam honeymoon in St. Lucia. 
June 2012:
-Kristina Rainer marries Joe Womeldorff at St. Boniface Church in Cincinnati. Kristina and Joe honeymoon in Toronto. 
-Nancy Roberson finishes her 2011/2012 term as Chairperson of the Dayton Bar Association's Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law Committee.
July 2012:
-Kim Estess takes the Ohio State Bar Exam.
August 2012:
 -Amanda White travels with her husband David, a pastor at Emmanuel Lutheran Church, to Mongu, Zambia, to serve the children in the village and to love on about 200 orphans.
October 2012:
-Nancy Roberson is honored as a 2012 Five Star Wealth Manager by Cincinnati Magazine.
-Kim Estess learns that she passed the Ohio Bar Exam!
-Amy Cary and Bob and Nancy Roberson travel to Colorado Springs, Colorado for the National Christian Legal Society Conference. 
-Amy Cary, Kim Estess, Kristina Rainer, Trisha Webb, and Amanda White participate in a 5K Run supporting brain tumor research benefiting the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
November 2012:
- Kim Estess gets sworn in at the Ohio Supreme Court and obtains her license to practice law.
-Nancy Roberson is honored with the Access to Justice Lloyd O'Hara Public Interest Law Award.
December 2012:
-Nancy Roberson is honored by Cox Media and Dayton Daily News as one of the Ten Top Women for 2012.
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Special Needs Children Turning 18 
Due to the strict privacy laws, physicians have been refusing to release medical information to the parents of adult special-needs children without the parents' ability to produce a health care power of attorney for the adult child. Read an important article about why parents of special-needs children should be especially be concerned about obtaining estate planning documents for their children. Read the full article here.
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Nancy Roberson Receives Two Prestigious Awards
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November and December 2012 were exciting months for Roberson Law when Nancy Roberson being honored with two
 prestigious awards. The first award that Nancy received was the Access to Justice Lloyd O'Hara Public Interest Law Award given by Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, Legal Aid of Western Ohio, and the Greater Dayton Volunteer Lawyers Project. Nancy was honored with this award as an attorney who exemplifies service to the poor, disabled, and underprivileged. The ceremony was a grand occasion held at the Schuster Center with hundreds of Ohio judges, attorneys, and state officials attending the event. The President of the Ohio State Bar Association presented Nancy with the award. The second honor that Nancy received was given by Cox Media and the Dayton Daily News. Nancy was recognized as one of the "Ten Top Women for 2012" at the annual event. Channel 7 News Anchor Cheryl McHenry introduced Nancy, and Nancy gave a very inspiring acceptance speech to the 500 + people who attended the event at Sinclair's Ponitz Center about the journey that Nancy has taken to get where she is today. One of Nancy's lines from her speech was, "All of us, whether young or old, have times of uncertainty when we don't know what to do or understand why something happened to us. I am living proof of a life blessed by trusting God and doing the next thing." If you are a "fan" of our firm's Facebook page, you have seen all of the wonderful comments that people made about Nancy when the press released to the public the news about the awards that Nancy received. Nancy sends sincere thanks to each and every person who posted on Facebook, sent a card, or sent flowers for the awards Nancy received. Nancy is humbled by your kindness and generosity. |
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Fun Facts and Inspiring Thoughts 
Forbes online magazine just published the list of the happiest cities in which to work. The list compiled by the online career site CareerBliss.com was based on analysis of more than 36,000 independent employee reviews between November 2011 and November 2012. According to the results of the poll, the #1 happiest place to work is....Dayton, Ohio! The article states that "Bigger is not always better when it comes to finding happiness," according to Heidi Golledge, chief executive and co-founder of CareerBliss. Golledge goes on to say, "As you can see, cities such as Dayton, Honolulu and Memphis reveal that even mid-size cities can provide rewarding and positive work environments for people." Read the entire article here.
Because lawyers are some of the most disliked professionals in the workforce, our office has words of inspiration hanging all over the walls to keep reminding us of why we do what we do. We wanted to share one little bit of wisdom that is posted in our office so that you might also be able to find some inspiration today.  |
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Widows' Support Groups
This is a reminder that two widows' support groups are now serving the Miami Valley.
The Young Widows' Support Group (under age 50) meets on the first Thursday of each month from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at Normandy United Methodist Church, located at 450 West Alex-Bell Road, Centerville, Ohio. The Widows' Support Group (over age 50) meets on the first Friday of each month from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at Normandy United Methodist Church, located at 450 West Alex-Bell Road, Centerville, Ohio.
For more information about the Young Widows' Support Group, visit the website, call Pam Walker at 937.434.7981, or email [email protected]. For further information about the Widows' Support Group, call or email Sherry Matsel at 937.878.9707 or [email protected]. |
| All material in this newsletter is Copyright � 2013 by Nancy A. Roberson. All rights reserved. |
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