The Elliot Schlissel New York Law Blog

The Stock Market, in 2011, has been very volatile. Soon to be retired families are expressing concern as to what their appropriate investment strategy should be in retirement.

Thirty-year Retirement

If you’re retiring in your 60′s, it is important to plan for as long as thirty years of being retired (hopefully you have this type of longevity in your family). Financial planners discuss balancing short term and long term risks with your investments. T. Rowe Price recommends to its retired investors that they maintain 55% of their liquid assets in equities (stock), 35% of their liquid assets in bonds and the remaining 10% in cash. Putnam Institute suggests that retirees should have, at the most, a quarter of their liquid assets in stocks. Which is the correct approach?

Financial Planners

The best approach to deal with your assets when you’re either close to retirement or in retirement depends on a variety of circumstances concerning your lifestyle. The most informed method to make long term plans is to hire a financial planner. Financial planners can provide you with estimates of what your necessary income will be over time. They can also run “what if” scenarios concerning investment strategies. Investors who use financial planners are less likely to overreact to market fluctuations. Financial planners will help you develop an investment strategy dealing with issues concerning risk tolerance and financial goals. Expert advice in this situation is the way to go.

Estate Planning

Do you have a will? If you die without a will, the State of New York or the state you are living in at the time of your death will decide who inherits your assets. Since no one lives forever, estate planning is a good idea.

Issues involving wills, probate, executors, revocable trusts, irrevocable trusts and elder care concerns are the type of issues that an estate planning or elder care attorney can assist you with. The Law Office of Elliot Schlissel has been assisting its clients for more than 30 years with estate planning issues. Feel free to give us a call for a free consultation at 1-800-344-6431, 516-561-6645 or 718-350-2802.

If you have assets, young children, and/or a house you should have a will. So you have a will. That’s great! Have you updated your will within the last two decades? If your will is more than 10 years old, you should consider updating it.

Changes In Your Life

Will Evaluation

Grandchildren

Tax Issues

A Significant Other

Wills and Trusts Lawyer

Should you have questions concerning any or the aforementioned items, feel free to give us a call at 1-800-344-6431, 516-561-6645 or 718-350-2802.

Who prepares better for retirement, married couples or single individuals? The answer is married couples. More than 85% of married couples have saving plans related to their retirement. This compares with only 67% of single individuals who have established retirement savings programs.

Retirement Planning

Americans who have worked during the course of their lives are entitled to receive Social Security benefits. Social Security is an entitlement program. Another entitlement program working Americans have the benefit of is medicare. Medicare is a program that pays for a variety of medical treatments for senior citizens. It pays for hospital stays, doctors visits and prescription drugs. Medicare is not designed to pay for nursing home care. If a senior is placed in a nursing home for rehabilitation purposes, Medicare will cover up to 100 days of the expenses of the nursing home facility. However, if a senior needs to go into a nursing home because he or she just can’t take care themselves, Medicare is not designed to pay this expense. Seniors can buy catastrophic health care insurance to cover this type of expense.

Retirement Savings Plan

There are various types of retirement savings programs. Some employers have pension plans for their employees. Another type of savings program through employment is called a 401K plan. This allows the wage earner to save without paying current income taxes for a portion of his or her income. Individual retirement accounts are yet another type of retirement savings program that provides tax benefits.

How Much Is Necessary To Save For Retirement

The amount of money an individual or family needs to put aside for retirement varies with the lifestyle and cost of living of the people involved. Most financial planners suggest that retired Americans will require between 75% and 80% of the income they had during their working lives for their retirement. This is a figure that is hard for most Americans to meet. Most families and singles reduce their expenditures and live simpler lives in retirement, thereby preserving their limited assets.

Elder Care Lawyer

The Law Office of Elliot S. Schlissel provides elder care legal services to our clients. We draft wills and trusts. We probate wills. We deal with Medicaid planning issues. We assist our clients with nursing home issues. We provide all types of elder care legal representation. We also draft special needs trusts and supplemental needs trusts for our clients. Should you need a will, trust or an elder care attorney, call us at 1-800-344-6431, 516-561-6645 or 718-350-2802.

Can you receive a driving while intoxicated (DWI) criminal charge for driving a go – kart? The answer to that question is yes. Lennon Safati, age 18, has been charged with a felony for driving while intoxicated, endangering the welfare of a child and other criminal charges. Lennon violated New York’s Leandra’s Law. He was driving a go – kart while he was allegedly intoxicated, while he was carrying an underage passenger.Lennon was riding his go – kart with two minors aboard. One was holding onto his back and the other was sitting on his lap.

Leandra’s Law

Leandra’s Law, in the State of New York, makes it a felony to drive while intoxicated with a minor under the age of 18 in the vehicle. Conviction under Leandra’s Law carries a penalty of up to four years imprisonment for first time offenders.

Lennon’s blood alcohol level, as tested by a breathalyzer, was .11. This is higher than the standard of .08 necessary to be charged with driving while intoxicated in the state of New York. Lennon is currently being held on $10,000.00 bail.

Criminal Lawyers

If you are charged with crime, it is extremely important to have the best possible legal representation. Conviction of a crime can land you in jail, give you a criminal record, and create difficulties in obtaining employment for the rest of your life. At the Law Office of Elliot Schlissel, our team of dedicated, experienced criminal attorneys have been representing New Yorkers for more than 30 years on a variety of criminal charges. Our firm has extensive experience in dealing with drug offenses, assault and battery, juvenile offenses, shoplifting, burglary, driving while intoxicated (DWI), weapons possession, sex crimes, white collar crimes and all types of misdemeanors and felonies. We also have recently developed an expertise in handling computer and internet crimes. Should you, a friend or loved one be investigated or charged related to a crime, feel free to call us at 1-800-344-6431, 516-561-6645 or 718-350-2802 for a free consultation.

Adulterous relationships occur in approximately 50% of all marriages. The discovery of the adultery by the spouse can bring profound changes to the marital relationship. The betrayal causes pain and instability within the marriage. It is estimated that in less than a third of the situations involving adultery, the relationship between the couple ultimately returns to normal.

Handling Affairs

Dr. Tammy Nelson has recently written a book deals with how to successfully save relationships after the discovery of adultery. In her book, Dr. Nelson states “often affairs are like viruses, in that they’re opportunistic and they feed on a part of one’s self that is kept under ground, unknown even to one’s self.” Dr. Nelson discusses in her book reconnecting to the basic relationship between the parties.

She suggests the parties shouldn’t go into details about the facts of the affair. Instead, the couples should concentrate on re-connecting with each other. They should open up and deal with the insecurities and other problems in their relationship.

The Book: “Getting the Sex You Want”

Dr. Nelson, in her book, talks about the shame, anger and guilt experienced by couples when illicit affairs are discovered. She discusses the fact that an affair is usually an expression of sexual energy. She suggests the couple reinvent their relationship and deal with each others’ erotic needs. Forgiveness is not the answer to an affair. Re-establishing the relationship and dealing with sexual needs is more important.

This article discusses how to save a marital relationship. However, there are cases where the relationship can not be saved. In those situations, it is important to educate yourself with regard to the various issues involved in a divorce. The Law Office of Elliot

Schlissel can assist you in these matters. We have developed an expertise involving issues related to family law, child custody, separation agreements, annulments, division of property, amicable divorce, fathers’ rights, mothers’ rights and the mediation of divorces.Call us for a free consultation at 1-800-344-6431, 516-561-6645 or 718-350-2802.

Republican politicians have recently referred to Social Security as a “Ponzi scheme”.  This is an absurd misrepresentation of a program that has helped keep many of America’s senior citizens out of poverty. Rick Perry, the governor of Texas, in a recent debate, stated “it is a Ponzi scheme to tell our kids that are 25 or 30 years old today, you’re paying into a program that’s going to be there. Anybody that’s for the status quo with Social Security today is involved with a monstrous lie to our kids, and that’s not right.” What’s not right is that Governor Rick Perry is clueless as to the nature and makeup of the Social Security system!

Governor Rick Perry

The Social Security Trust Fund will have a surplus that will reach it’s peak in the year 2022. At that time, the surplus in the fund will be 3.7 trillion dollars. Social Security is a program that has worked for more than 50 years. Politicians shouldn’t mess with a system that already works well.

The investigators have accused Bronx Surrogate Judge Lee Holtzman of letting his attorney friends overcharge Bronx residents who died without wills for the handling of their estates. Judge Holtzman has been accused of letting lawyers, including his chief campaign fundraiser, responsible for client’s estates to remain with him for more than ten years without the appropriate legal action being taken.

The commission investigating Judge Holtzman has made recommendations that disciplinary action be taken against him. The disciplinary actions can result in the Judge’s removal and/or other penalties.

Cronyism in the Bronx

Judge Holtzman’s top fundraiser lawyer friend is Michael Lippman. Mr. Lippman raised $125,000 for Judge Holtzman’s 2001 judicial campaign. He was appointed as the attorney for the Public Administrator of Bronx County. His job was to oversee the estates of individuals who died without wills and closely related next of kin. The complaint by the Judicial Commission states that between the years 1995 and 2009, Judge Holtzman approved legal fees for Michael Lippman without appropriate documentation that Attorney Lippman had completed the necessary legal work to earn these legal fees. Mr. Lippman was allowed to collect advances on his legal fees at a time when he was in financial difficulty. His financial difficulties included over a $1,000,000 in gambling debts and owing more than $400,000 on a mortgage.

Michael Lippman, Esq. Arrested

Michael Lippman was arrested in 2010. He was charged with billing $300,000 for legal work he didn’t perform. He pled not guilty and the case is still pending in the courts.

The complaint against Surrogate Judge Holtzman stated that he had “allowed a social political… relationship to influence his judicial conduct.” The commission, in its investigation, found Judge Holtzman ignored the fact Michael Lippman was inappropriately billing estates for legal services. Judge Holtzman, through his attorney, David Godosky, claimed the commission’s allegations were untrue, and Judge Holtzman was deceived by Michael Lippman.

Wills, Trusts and Estates Law Firm

Elliot Schlissel, Esq. has used his expertise, experience and knowledge of the courts to handle probate and will contest matters before the Surrogate’s Court for more than three decades. In addition, he handles estate planning, elder care matters, Medicaid planning issues, special needs trusts and all other issues involving executors and the beneficiaries of estates. Feel free to call our office for a free consultation at 516-561-6645, 1-800-344- 6431 or 718-350-2802.

Pat Robinson has suggested that a man whose wife has Alzheimer’s disease should obtain a divorce. He takes the position that divorcing a wife with Alzheimer’s is a better solution than committing adultery with a new companion. Pat made these comments in response to a question submitted to him on his television program, “The 700 Club.” He had taken a call from a man who asked a question regarding a friend of his.  The friend’s wife had a serious case of dementia and no longer knew who he was. Pat stated, “I hate Alzheimer’s. It is one of the most awful things, because here’s the loved one – this is the woman or man that you have loved for 20, 30, 40 years and suddenly that person is gone.”

Pat suggested he should divorce his wife and start all over again. He also suggested that even after divorcing his wife, he should make sure she has the appropriate medical support necessary to deal with her condition.

Criticism of Pat Robinson’s Position

Pat Robinson has received a lot of criticism for his position on this issue. There are those who believe life long traditional marriage is what keeps our society together, and it is each spouse’s obligation to stay true to his or her marriage and help their spouse in times of illness.

Beth Kallmyer, a senior director of the Constituent Services at the Alzheimer’s Association, stated, referring the Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia, that “this is a challenging, devastating and eventually fatal illness and it affects everybody differently.” The most important thing is for families to get help. She further stated that it was rare for couples to get divorced because one of them has come down with a severe case of Alzheimer’s disease. She did point out that Alzheimer’s disease can go on for many years or even decades. This can put enormous stress on family life.

New York Divorce Lawyers

For more than thirty three years, the law office of Elliot S. Schlissel has litigated all aspects of divorce, including child custody, visitation, child support, spousal maintenance (alimony)and equitable distribution of property. We also represent fathers with regard to proceedings in family court. We litigate issues involving paternity, downward modifications of child support, relocation problems, parental alienation cases and issues involving parental alienation syndrome. We also negotiate separation agreements for our clients. Feel free to call us for a free consultation.