March 2014 Archives
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One common reason why people are ineligible for Medicaid or SSI is if their assets are over the limit. Rather than give money away to make yourself eligible, it is better to find ways either to spend the money or convert it into an exempt form. One way to do this is through funeral arrangements.
For both Medicaid and SSI, certain types of funeral arrangements - including burial funds, pre-paid funeral agreements, and burial plots - are exempt from consideration as assets. In this way, an applicant can reduce their countable assets while also ensuring that their wishes about their funeral are respected.
This memo from Selfhelp explains how these plans work.
The IRS today warned consumers to be on the lookout for a new email phishing scam. The emails appear to be from the IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service and include a bogus case number. Taxpayers who get these messages should not respond to the email or click on the links. Instead, they should forward the scam emails to the IRS at phishing@irs.gov.
Best of all no subscription or in app purchase is required. The app is $2.99 US. Ready access to the rules is a crucial part of the legal profession, so don't be caught without them and download this app today.
In addition to all local rules of every federal court in the United States, the following rules of procedure are included:
Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure;
Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure;
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure;
Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure; and
Federal Rules of Evidence.
A curious download hit Apple's app store this week: a messaging app called FireChat.
It's a new kind of app because it uses an iOS feature unavailable until version 7: the Multipeer Connectivity Framework. The app was developed by the crowdsourced connectivity provider Open Garden and this is their first iOS app.
The Multipeer Connectivity Framework enables users to flexibly use WiFi and Bluetooth peer-to-peer connections to chat and share photos even without an Internet connection. Big deal, right?
But here's the really big deal -- it can enable two users to chat not only without an Internet connection, but also when they are far beyond WiFi and Bluetooth range from each other -- connected with a chain of peer-to-peer users between one user and a far-away Internet connection.
It's called wireless mesh networking. And Apple has mainstreamed it in iOS 7. It's going to change everything. Here's why.
Read more at http://www.cultofmac.com/271225/appreciated-ios-7-feature-will-change-world/#LJFKuePvJdBYwkzp.99
State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli Thursday announced that financial information for more than 500 state and local public authorities is now available at Open Book New York,http://www.openbooknewyork.com/, a transparency website launched by DiNapoli in 2008. The database, going back to 2007, can be downloaded in an Excel, tsv or csv format.
Prior coverage:
ABAJournal.com: "Should lawyer who posted video implicating client be disciplined?"
ABAJournal.com: "Ethics Complaint Claims Lawyer Tried to Sway Potential Jurors by Posting Discovery Video on YouTube"
Sam Glover: Legal innovation is a popular topic this month, but it's worth noting that most law offices are still weighed down by obsolete technology -- or technology that ought to be obsolete, at least. Sure, we don't use quills or mimeographs anymore, but there is a pretty good chance you still have a fax machine taking up space in your office.
Here are 5 legal technologies you can -- and should -- get rid of, and what to use instead.
Since 2004, the New York State Bar Association has strongly opposed any requirement that New York lawyers report their voluntary pro bono service or contributions to public authorities. We firmly believe that requiring such reporting dilutes the voluntary nature of lawyers' pro bono service. Lawyers should provide pro bono service because they recognize the critical importance of access to justice and lawyers' unique ability to assist - not because they feel pressured into doing so.
I encourage you to write to the Chief Judge, the Chief Administrative Judge, and the Presiding Justices of the Appellate Divisions to express opposition to this requirement. We have set up a webpage with contact information, a sample letter, and a link to send an e-mail message directly to the Chief Judge to express your opposition. Go to www.nysba.org/probonoreporting.
Sincerely,
David M. Schraver, President
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Hang out with Tom Bruce, Wednesday, March 19 at 7PM (UTC -4)
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"Your Guide to an IRS Audit" takes the viewer through the steps of an audit, from notification to closing. The video series is composed of scenarios that demonstrate the stages of each type of audit; correspondence, office and field. The scenarios address issues that are common to audits of small businesses.
Learn more about medical and dental expenses by watching this new YouTube video.
Watch this and other videos on the IRS YouTube Channel.
Do You Have the Most Recent Offer-In-Compromise Form?
When submitting an Offer in Compromise for your client, use the January 2014 versions of Form 656-B, Offer in Compromise Booklet, and Form 656, Offer in Compromise. The OIC user fee has increased from $150 to $186 in January. IRS will return applications submitted on older versions of the form with the old user fee.
Click here for updated Offer in Compromise Booklet.
Applications close on April 30, 2014.
The new system -- actually a rebranding of Apple's "iOS in the Car" -- will be shown at the Geneva Motor Show, held from Mar. 6 to 16, 2014.
CarPlay will let iPhone users make calls, access messages, listen to music or use Maps in their cars using Siri-based voice control, touch controls, or standard knobs, dials and buttons in the car. Third party apps such as Spotify, Beats Radio, Stitcher and iHeartRadio are also supported.
Lots of jokes target the way we use our phones nowadays. How we ignore our date to answer a text, or keep sharing and liking and scrolling endlessly. It's true that most people play with their smart phones more and more and share content rather than to "talk on the phone." What the jokesters miss is that this is a feature not a bug!
When people are looking at their phone in public, sharing stuff, liking stuff, tweeting stuff (and looking at others' shares, likes, and tweets) they are expressing their tribal nature. They have found an outlet for the fundamental human drive to be in a tribe, to maintain a tribal presence, whether a factual or a fictional tribe, does not matter. Unlucky for us, we have such an imperfect piece of technology for doing this -- Facebook!
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We were recently introduced to a service that could fit this mold. It's called Humin and it is ramping up now. (Thanks to CMO Lane Wood for introducing us.) Humin could be much more then a new way to access our address book: Humin could be our tribal phone.
Read this thought-provoking post here.