Lancaster Law Blog : Lancaster PA Lawyer & Attorney : Russell Krafft & Gruber Law Firm : Pennsylvania : Lancaster's Legal Link

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Who makes your medical decisions for you if you are unable? The answer to this question is even more difficult if the decision involves the removal of ventilators, feeding and water tubes. In these situations, friends and family of the patient have become engaged in bitter disputes over (1) who gets to make those decisions and (2) what your wishes regarding treatment would have been? 

A valid Living Will answers both of those questions. Living Wills are governed by Act 169 of 2006 (the "Act"), where they generally become effective when the subject of the living will is deemed to be in an "End-Stage Medical Condition". The Act goes on to describe such a condition as an ". . . incurable and irreversible medical condition . . . that will . . . in the opinion of the attending physician to a reasonable degree of medical certainty result in death, despite the introduction or continuation of medical treatment." Examples include brain-death, irreversible comas or other vegetative states where there are no curative treatments to make you better, but only palliative treatments (such as ventilators and feeding tubes) that prolong the process of dying but have no curative properties. With a valid Living Will, you have already declared what your wishes are regarding treatment and named who should carry out your wishes.

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In a previous post, the 2009 Homebuyer Credit Extension and Related Divorce Issues, and in a more recent post, I discussed a possible extension of the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit, which was applicable only to home purchases completed on or before November 30, 2009. Well, congress has indeed extended the credit into next year and also made it available to certain taxpayers who already own a home.

For first time homebuyers, the credit is now applicable if the sales contract is fully executed by April 30, 2010 and the closing occurs by June 30, 2010. Moreover those dates are extended to April 30, 2011 and June 30, 2011 respectively for qualifying members of the military serving extended duty outside of the country. You are generally a qualified first-time homebuyer if you have not owned and used another personal residence at any time during the three years prior to the date of the new purchase.

The credit remains to be valued at the lesser of 10% of the purchase price or $8,000 and can be part of your refund if you owe less than $8000 in taxes. There are also phase-outs of the credit for taxpayers with certain adjusted gross incomes (over $125,000 for singles and $225,000 for married couples), but those are significant increases of the original income caps. Further, the credit is not available when a home purchase price exceeds $800,000. For more information on the mechanics of the original credit, please refer to this previous post and the other posts mentioned above.

A reduced amount of the credit (up to $6,500) is also now available to certain existing homeowners who have lived in their current home for five out of the last eight years. The same deadlines, income caps and purchase price limitations discussed above apply. Moreover, although your new home must be your principal residence, there is nothing in the new legislation requiring you to sell your existing home.

Thus, if you are even thinking of purchasing a new home, it may be a good idea to check out your local market because April will be here before you know it.

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We have posted on the 65% COBRA subsidy several times since the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was enacted.  ARRA provided for a premium subsidy for COBRA continuation health benefits to "assistance eligible individuals."  Those individuals are defined as an employee or member of his/her family who is eligible for COBRA continuation coverage:

1)      at any time between September 1, 2008 and December 31, 2009

2)      elects COBRA coverage, and

3)      is eligible for COBRA as a result of an involuntary termination between September 1, 2008 and December 31, 2009. 

Some changes may be effected if the Extended COBRA Continuation Protection Act of 2009, H.R. 3930, introduced in the House of Representatives on October 26, 2009 and referred to Committees on Education and Labor, Energy and Commerce, and Ways and Means, is enacted.   

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CNN is reporting that the Senate will likely extend the credit through April of 2010.  In addition, they are also planning on adding a $6,500 credit for current homeowners who have lived in their current residence for at least five continuous years.  If you are interested in learning more about the  first time home-buyer tax credit refer to my previous blog posts 2009 First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit and 2009 Home Buyer Credit Extension and Related Divorce Issues.