Archives for year 2008
September/October 2008 Employment Law Briefing
September, 2008
A glance of topics covered in this issue:
- Does job title exempt an employee from overtime pay?
- Sexual harassment suit hinges on physician's employment status
- Employer needn't provide Sabbath observer's preferred accommodation
- Diabetes and the ADA
Kansas Law Has Abolished Vicarious Liability for Health Care Providers
August, 2008
Three basic elements are required to prove negligence in any lawsuit, whether the claim is medical malpractice or some other tort. First, the party who is alleged to be negligent must have a duty to prevent the harm about which the injured person complains. Second, the negligent party must breach that duty. And third, the breach of the duty must have caused the injured party’s damages. In the medical malpractice context, for example, a physician is negligent if the applicable standard of care requires her to perform a procedure a certain way, she fails to do so, and the patient is injured because of her failure.
Federal Estate Tax Law
July, 2008
As we progress through this important election year and listen to all the talk and rhetoric about how the candidates will make our lives and businesses better, the clock continues to count down on the repeal of the Federal estate tax law. The current applicable exemption amount from Federal estate tax is $2,000,000 per person. This is the amount that can pass free of the Federal estate tax to a person other than a surviving spouse. This amount is currently set to increase to $3,500,000 per person on January 1, 2009. If the existing law remains unchanged, on January 1, 2010, the Federal estate tax law is repealed for one year, and then in 2011 the Federal estate tax law reverts back to the 2001 law with an exemption amount of $1,000,000. We believe it is highly unlikely that a new administration and Congress will let 2009 pass without revising the estate tax law to prevent the elimination of the estate tax in 2010. There seems to be bipartisan support for an increased exemption amount. Exemption amounts as high as $4,000,000 to $5,000,000 per person have been discussed.
While it is impossible to predict what the future estate tax law will be, it is likely that the exemption amount will remain at a level in excess of $2,000,000 per person. Increases in the exemption amount may impact your existing estate plan. If you have a current will or trust in place that provides upon the death of the first spouse that the deceased spouse’s exemption amount shall be placed in a “bypass”, “credit shelter” or “family trust”, then your plan should be reviewed in light of the increase in the exemption amount to determine if this structure is still necessary or practical. Many estate plans were implemented when the exemption level was only $600,000 per person. The increased exemption level has reduced the need for the creation of a tax shelter trust upon the death of the first spouse in estates that have a value of less than $2,000,000. It may be your desire to eliminate the creation of this tax sheltered trust upon the death of the first spouse or fund it with less than the full exemption amount.
However, to complicate matters further, the Kansas estate tax law and exemption amounts are different from the Federal law and Federal exemption amounts. Previously, the Kansas estate tax law piggy backed the Federal law in recognizing the Federal exemption amount. When the Federal exemption amount began increasing and phasing out the state death tax credit, Kansas decided to decouple from the Federal law. Currently, Kansas law recognizes an exemption amount of only $1,000,000. Therefore, an estate plan may be structured to avoid Federal estate tax, but can still result in Kansas estate tax liability.
Tax law changes along with changes in your life circumstances should cause you to review your documents and make sure they are still consistent with your wishes. If you would like to visit with us further regarding these tax law changes or to review your documents, please do not hesitate to contact us.
