Do You Employ Someone in Your Home?

Posted by Karen Mariscal on May 15, 2015

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By Karen B. Mariscal

On April 1, 2015, the Massachusetts Domestic Workers Bill of Rights went into effect.  Massachusetts is the fourth state in the nation to enact such a law. The bill guarantees certain protections for home workers, including 24 hours off per 7-day calendar week; meal and rest breaks; limited vacation and sick days; parental leave; legal protections (from discrimination, sexual harassment, illegal charges for food and lodging, and eviction without notice); and notice of termination. The bill does not pertain to casual babysitters.  Here are some of the key provisions:

1. If an employee works 40 or more hours per week, she must have at least 24 consecutive hours off. If the employee agrees to work on her day of rest, she must be paid overtime for all hours worked in accordance with federal overtime law.
2. Employers are required to keep written pay records required under existing minimum wage law.
3. Employees are allowed to take up to eight weeks of unpaid maternity leave if they have worked full-time for the previous three months. The family must hold the employee's job if she decides to return to work
4. If the worker is a live-in employee and the family terminates employment without cause, the family must give written notice and either; 1) Continue letting the employee live in their home for at least 30 days, 2) Pay for comparable off-site housing, or 3) Give two weeks of severance pay to the employee. If the employee is let go for cause, the family has no housing or severance obligations.
5. An employment contract is required if the worker works more than 16 hours a week.  

Employers were already required to pay Social Security and FICA taxes for domestic workers who made at least $1900 per year, and unemployment insurance for workers making at least $1000 per quarter.  (This adds about 10% to the cost of the employee’s salary.)

Term Insurance for your whole life

See my linked in article

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140701172935-3907356-term-insurance-forever

A great site for understanding trusts

www.ultratrust.com

We don't recommend using these people as we don't know them but the information is great.

Medicaid Planning

Most people do not have put away enough liquid assets to pay for an average stay in a nursing home that can run upwards of 150,000 or more per year.
Long term care insurance if purchased can pay all or most of the bills.
but what if there is a modest amount of cash and no long term care insurance.

Many people will go to an attorney have some planning done to maintain some assets to the family and be eligible for medicaid.
There are many strategies that are employed. We can refer you to a good elder planning lawyer for long term planning or emergencies.
Just call us at
617-964-4849

Visit our long term care planning page at www.planningltc.com

                                          Kidney Transplant

My Good friend and client,Jeffrey Borenstein has kidney failure and needs a kidney transplant.
He is searching through all channels for a kidney.
Right now he is on dialysis and otherwise is in good health.

This is the link to a recent article written about him in the local newspapers.
If you can help in any way, let me know or contact Jeffrey directly.

http://brookline.wickedlocal.com/article/20141120/News/141129694

Guaranteed issue life insurance

There is a type of of permanent life insurance that does not require any medical evidence. It is usually issued between ages 50 and 80. The full death benefit is not payable usually till the third year, but the the rates are guaranteed,
Many people buy this insurance without realizing that they could qualify for a much better plan.
The guaranteed issue plans are designed for uninsurable people.
If one is insurable,there are much better plans available.
How can you know what type of plan to buy.
The first thing to do is is find a knowledgeable insurance agent that is familiar with dealing with older people.
Many times an informal application can be submitted where the insurance company will obtain the medical file and then decide what rate to offer.
Many times,it will be a much better program than the guaranteed issue plan.
It can also show that the applicant was uninsurable and guaranteed issue is the best option.
We can help evaluate your situation and decide what type of life insurance is best for you.

As posted on Linked in

                                             Massachusetts Estate Tax

The  Mass estate tax is quite complicated and can be very costly.
Even though the tax does not start Till the estate exceeds 1,000,000, once it does the tax is effective for amounts less than 1,000,000.
Here are some examples of the estate tax that starts at .8% and tops out at 16%.

Size of the taxable estate           Estimated tax
400,000.                                     10,000
800,000.                                      25,000
1,000,000.                                   35,000
1,500000.                                    70,000
2,000,000.                                   100,000

Even though the federal estate tax this year(2014) exempts 5,340,000
.from tax,the Massachusetts tax can be very significant.
We have several techniques to minimize this tax.
We would be happy to review your situation and work with you on reducing or eliminating this tax.