The difference between the candidates on the death tax is rather stark

posted at 5:01 pm on June 14, 2016 by Jazz Shaw

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There’s been so much exciting campaign news (Trumptastic) overlapping with so much disaster (terrorism avalanche) that it’s easy to forget that we used to get together here and discuss boring things like policy and good governance. In an effort to pause from the circus, here’s a short look at what we might expect from each of the candidates on a subject which has long been near and dear to the hearts of fiscal conservatives: the Death Tax. Democrats love it and Republicans hate it. Of course, in a strange election cycle such as this one, who knows what’s coming?
The Tax Foundation has been examining the question and found that of the three theoretical remaining candidates (because Sanders hasn’t officially bowed out yet) we’re seeing pretty much the spread you would expect in a more “normal” election year.

Donald Trump proposed eliminating the estate tax, which would remove distortionary incentives from the tax code and increase economic output.
Hillary Clinton proposed reducing the estate tax’s exemption and slightly increasing its rate, from 40 percent to 45 percent, which would increase the distortionary incentives of the tax, reducing economic output, but also increase the revenues from the tax.
Bernie Sanders proposed reducing the estate tax’s exemption and substantially increasing rates, to a graduated system with a top rate of 65 percent. This would substantially increase the distortionary incentives of the tax, greatly reducing economic output.

There’s a seriously wonky analysis of the base and marginal rates at the link with an explanation of how changes to the estate tax affect both individuals at different levels of income and wealth and the economy as a whole. If you have any interest at all in this still very relevant subject, I suggest giving it a look.
But even beyond the chalkboard analysis of the underlying economics, there’s something fundamentally wrong with the entire idea of a death tax. Several things in fact. One of the biggest is the fact that, much like capital gains taxes, they wind up taxing the income of taxpayers twice, with the second bite being potentially crippling if you’ve done well for yourself. Upon your death, your money is not being “spent” to purchase something, nor being paid out in wages or as some sort of bonus. It’s the wealth you accumulated over a lifetime – and already paid taxes on – which you were gathering to assure the future welfare of your family or other assigned beneficiaries. You’ve earned the money and contributed your share to the public weal. Since the money is staying inside your castle, having Big Brother come in to scoop another large helping out before your spouse or children can ensure their own security isn’t just double taxation… it’s insulting.
The tax man also comes at precisely the wrong time. You run into enough grief and potentially expensive complications when you lose your family member. (This is particularly true if there were extensive medical costs associated at the end.) That’s exactly the wrong time for someone to come along and hand you a huge bill.
The death tax is simply wrong and it doesn’t need to be increased, kept the same or even slimmed down. It needs to be eliminated.

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Tags: Bernie Sanders, death, Donald Trump, estate tax, Hillary Clinton

Care workers jailed after patient dies in home

Lily Campbell Photo: MEN

Two care workers have been jailed after lying to police about the death of a pensioner with dementia. 89 year old Lily Campbell was left dying at the Laburnum Court care home in Salford after she developed severe intestinal problems last October.
Manchester Crown Court has heard that Abdul Khan, who is 22 and of Roland Road, Bolton, and 53 year old Pratima Munjal from Montana Square, Openshaw, failed to check on Mrs Campbell through the night. When they eventually discovered that she had died they altered records to show that they had visited her and they also changed the bedding and washed her before calling the emergency services to report her death.
Paramedics became suspicious when they discovered evidence of rigor mortis suggesting that Mrs Campbell had been dead for hours, despite Munjal's claims that she had been breathing when she checked her less than an hour before. Munjal continued to lie when interviewed by police, and a post mortem examination showed that the pensioner had been dead for hours.
Munjal has now been jailed for 10 months for her part in the deception, and Khan imprisoned for six months.

Pratima Munjal (inset Laburnum Court care home) Credit: MEN

Mrs Campbell's son and daughter, Clinton and Linda Credit: MEN

The last year has been horrific. It has devastated the entire family and only now can we have any closure. My mum was an inspirational, strong woman. For her to have died in agony in her care home bed with no one checking on her is terrible. We are angry, she didn’t deserve that. But we are happy to see both Khan and Munjal behind bars, and for the judge to say that he wanted to make an example of them. Hopefully now we can find some peace.

– Linda Campbell, Lily Campbell's daughter

Our thoughts and sympathies go out to Mrs. Campbell’s family for their loss. We deeply regret the distress that was caused to Mrs. Campbell in her final hours and to the family. Following Mrs Campbell’s death the home manager and our regional management team cooperated with the police and Salford Council’s Adult Safeguarding Team in an investigation into her care records and a call that was made to the emergency services. These investigations led to a nurse and care assistant being charged in relation to attempting to pervert the course of justice. The overwhelming majority of nursing and care staff do a difficult job extraordinarily well, day after day to make life better for the people living in care homes. It is deeply disappointing and upsetting whenever we come across the exceptions who let down their colleagues and the people in their care. What these people did was not just against all their professional training and the company policies and procedures to support the well-being of residents, it was a criminal act.

– Spokesperson for Four Seasons the company which runs Laburnum Court care home in Salford

Last updated Tue 22 Dec 2015

Guardianship Activist Latifa Ring Dead

9

Posted July 23, 2015 by Jeff Prince in Blotch

Latifa Ring (courtesy FAcebook)

Latifa Ring, a Houston woman who advocated for elderly citizens swept up in guardianship cases, has died after a lengthy illness. She was 59.
“She had more love in one little finger than some people have in their whole bodies,” said Dorothy Luck, a Fort Worth woman who, with Ring’s help, was able to battle herself out of guardianship case that had been thrust upon her by a Tarrant County probate court judge.
Ring became a guardianship activist after discovering that some probate judges in Texas and across the country abuse their powers to take over the lives of elderly people. Once under guardianship, clients are essentially powerless  to do anything as attorneys, counselors, bankers, and others starting emptying their bank accounts.
Ring spent many hours looking into Luck’s problems, making countless phone calls and even driving from Houston to Fort Worth for visits. She also flew to Washington D.C. on her own dime to advocate. Luck still isn’t sure how Ring heard about her case.

DOROTHY LUCK

“All of a sudden, like an angel, she was here,” Luck said. “She was championing [her cause] and trying to help everybody. She deserves a lot.”
Ring had read some of my previous stories and called one day to ask me to write about Luck. I was swamped with work and had already published several guardianship stories and wasn’t looking to do another anytime soon.
“We’re the Fort Worth Weekly, not the Guardianship Weekly,” I recall telling her.
Ring wouldn’t let me off the hook that easily. She kept calling, feeding me bits of information, trying to hook me. She never demanded anything, never got angry at me. She was smart, devoted to her cause, persistent, and easy to talk to. Eventually I could no longer refuse her.
I’m glad she stayed on me.
After the story on Luck was published, a probate judge removed the guardianship.
Ring mentioned her illness back then, but briefly. I’m not even sure what ailment she suffered from. She rarely discussed her problems, only those of Luck and others that she was trying to help. Ring spent most of her life helping others. She grew up in an orphanage in Morocco. Because she was older than most of the other children, she served as a de-facto caretaker.
It’s a role she never relinquished.
Family and friends will celebrate her life at 2 p.m. Saturday at Klein Funeral Home Chapel, 9719 Wortham Blvd., in Houston.

Dorothy Luck, guardianship, latifa ring

Steve Miller: "Multi-millionaire Leann Peccole Goorjian died in Feb.2008. Jared Shafer is still charging her a $50,000 per year "Administration Fee"

Steve Miller: "Multi-millionaire Leann Peccole Goorjian died in Feb.2008. Jared Shafer is still charging her a $50,000 per year "Administration Fee"

NRS 151.93: Winding up affairs
The guardian of the estate is entitled to retain possession of the ward's property already in the control of the guardian and is authorized to perform the duties of the guardian to wind up the affairs of the guardianship;
(a) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (b), 9c) or (d), for not more than 180 days, or a period that is reasonable and necessary determined by the court after the termination of the guardianship;

*******************
Clark County Family Court Guardianship Commissioner Jon Norheim who works under the supervision of Judge Charles Hoskin is allowing this violation of Nevada law to occur.

Leann is the niece of former Clark County Sheriff Ralph Lamb, and the daughter of the late William Peccole, developer of Peccole Ranch in Las Vegas. Leann has two sons, Gavin and Camden who run the family business, Peccole Nevada Corp., and believe Shafer is an "attorney" looking out for their late mother's best financial interest.

Jared Shafer is not an attorney. and I suggest that the Goorgian brothers terminate his "guardianship" immediately, and use whatever remains of her looted estate to set up a UNLV scholarship in her honor. - SM

 

See also:
Grave Robbery Under Color of Law

"We were told Mr. Shafer is an attorney and he's been looking out of Leann's son's best interest."  (Peccole family member)

"We have one really rich ward whose been dead for over five years."  (Patience Bristol)

No Police Accountability in Police Shooting of Illinois 95-Year-Old WWII Vet

Editor's note: Your ProbateShark cannot comment on this sad shameful affair!  Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com


No Police Accountability in Police Shooting of Illinois 95-Year-Old WWII Vet

By John Kass
IF you've ever heard the sound of a broom on a shop floor, sweeping up right before closing time, you would have heard it in the raspy voice of Cook County Associate Judge Luciano Panici reading his decision in the Wrana case. 

It wasn't crumbs or dust bits or sawdust from under the chopping block. Instead, he was sweeping accountability for one human life, and perhaps saving another life in the process. 

That was the effect of his decision in the case of Park Forest police Officer Craig Taylor, charged with felony reckless conduct in the July 2013 shooting of John Wrana, the 95-year-old World War II veteran who died after being shot four times at close range with beanbag rounds from a 12-gauge shotgun.

"It is a tragedy whenever there is loss of life that follows a confrontation," Panici began, reading from his papers in a South Side voice, a voice like my own, our vowels aligned by neighborhood. 

Panici had frowned from the moment he began presiding over the case. But on Wednesday he'd stopped frowning. He offered no admonition to the police officers involved.

And Taylor walked. 

"The force used by Craig Taylor was not excessive," Panici said. "There was nothing reckless. There was nothing criminal about his actions." 

There were five cops in Wrana's room at the Victory Centre assisted living facility. Wrana had a knife and a shoehorn and a cane. They had guns and a riot shield and Tasers and muscle and youth and that 12-gauge Mossberg pump-action police shotgun loaded with beanbag rounds.       

They're called "less-lethal" rounds, since the rounds aren't designed to penetrate the skin and explode, but merely to thump the body and put it down. Police in Ferguson, Mo., are experimenting with similar technology, where anger and fire and protests and looting erupted after the police killing of Michael Brown. 

But there were no protests for John Wrana, were there? World War II veterans didn't form up and scream. That's not their way. They're old and dying every day. And then there was that bit from Taylor's defense counsel, Terry Ekl, who said he was sick and tired of hearing about Wrana's war service. 

Ekl is an excellent lawyer, one of the best around, with amazing skills of argument. He's so good he could argue a 5-pound chunk of bologna right through the smallest buttonhole on your lapel, and you wouldn't even taste it.

"I've heard enough about World War II," Ekl said during the trial. "It's nothing but an attempt to create more sympathy for Mr. Wrana." 

But John Wrana didn't get any sympathy, did he? Not really.

He was old and delirious, suffering from a suspected urinary tract infection, which can lead to delusions. He didn't want to be taken to the hospital. He waved a knife and a shoehorn at cops. He swore at them. And they said they were afraid for their very lives. 

They didn't give him sympathy. They didn't give him respect. And at trial, his service to his country was deemed irrelevant. 

But they did give John Wrana something: 

They gave him four beanbag rounds to the abdomen, chest and arms at a range of 6 to 8 feet, with Taylor racking rounds and pulling the trigger, pumping and firing and pumping and firing. 

Part of the old man's intestinal wall ruptured, and he bled out. 

In his decision, it was clear Judge Panici bought into the defense's argument that Wrana prompted his own death by refusing surgery that could have repaired the rupture.

True, Wrana refused it, personally and through his stepdaughter. But focusing on that alone is dealing with only half the truth of the situation. 

Wrana had asked the doctor if he could be guaranteed he wouldn't end up on a ventilator in a vegetative state, and the stepdaughter has told me that the doctor would not make that guarantee. 

So John Wrana said to let him go. And that's what they did. They let him go. He didn't want it that way. But he didn't want to end his days with tubes down his throat. 

But in court and out of it, I got the sense from the legal experts that Wrana had killed himself. 

If only he'd obeyed officers. If only he hadn't become angry when they shot the Taser at him and failed. If only he hadn't waved that knife or the shoehorn that the terrified cops thought was the machete of a jungle ninja warrior. 

If only. If only. 

Then maybe they wouldn't have shot him down in his own room and then handcuff him to a chair and taken photos of him bleeding on the carpet. 

The problem with this case from the beginning was that Taylor was alone in court. But he wasn't alone in Wrana's room. 

They were other cops with him, formed up in "stack" formation behind the guy with the riot shield, so they could rush the old man two weeks shy of his 96th birthday, that deadly ninja who terrified them so. 

By charging only Taylor, and not his superior, the whole thing seemed unfair. 

I didn't want Taylor to go to prison. 

But I don't think he should be a police officer — any more than the commander who set up the stupid attack plan. 

A guilty verdict could have ruined Taylor's life, and those of his wife and children, and I didn't want that either. 

But there's got to be some accountability for what happened to John Wrana. 

And there is none. 

All accountability, all official shame, all official sorrow, it was all just swept away, by those broom stalks in Judge Panici's voice. And that's the tragedy.

 

Source:
No Police Accountability in Police Shooting of WWII Vet, 95

Family sues Medford nursing home, claims neglect led to patient's death

Originally published: July 18, 2014 4:55 PM
Updated: July 18, 2014 5:04 PM
By CHAU LAM  chau.lam@newsday.com

Aurelia Rios, 72, died at the Medford Multicare Center for Living Nursing home in Medford. Nine current and former employees of Medford Multicare Center for Living plead not guilty, Thursday, June 5, 2014, to charges they failed to properly care of Rios. (Credit: James Carbone)

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The family of a woman who died at a Medford nursing home has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the facility, its owners and employees alleging neglect led to her death.
Aurelio Rios, 72, a retired dental assistant from Central Islip, died Oct. 26, 2012, of a heart attack because she wasn't attached to a ventilator at night as ordered by her doctor, according to the suit.
For nearly two hours, the nursing staff at Medford Multicare Center for Living ignored audible and visual warnings indicating that Rios was in serious danger with a faint pulse and low blood-oxygen level, the suit states.

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The civil complaint was filed last month in State Supreme Court in Riverhead by Rios' daughter, Michelle Giamarino, 52, and son, Juan C. Vega, 37, both of Schuylkill Haven, Pennsylvania. The suit seeks unspecified damages.
"The owners have a history of having a disregard for life," Giamarino said Thursday. "We feel this is the only way we can hold them accountable."
Following a bout with pneumonia, Rios was admitted as a rehab patient, assigned to the facility's ventilator unit on Sept. 28, 2012, according to the suit.
Andrew Moesel, a spokesman for the nursing home, defended its reputation Thursday. "As we have said all along, we believe that Medford offers excellent care to its patients," he said.
In 2007, the state Department of Health cited Medford Multicare for "numerous" deficiencies in care and treatment of patients, according to the suit. In 2008, six employees were charged with patient neglect and falsifying records. All were convicted.
In the suit, nursing home owners Mordechai Klein, Henry Rausman, Martin Rausman, Michael Rausman and Norman Rausman, all of Monsey in Rockland County, are named as defendants, along with nine employees.
Seven of the employees were on duty the night Rios died. They are: Kethlie Joseph, 62, of Brentwood, a respiratory therapist; nurses Victoria Caldwell, 51, of Medford, Marianne Fassino, 53, of Shirley, and Kimberly Lappe, 32, of Medford; and nurse's aides Christina Corelli of East Patchogue, Patricia DiGiovanni, 63, of Port Jefferson and Leona Gordon, 35, of Medford.
Also named in the suit is David Fielding, 57, of Lido Beach, the facility's administrator, and Christine Boylan, 49, of Mastic, the respiratory therapy director. With the exception of Joseph, who was a per diem employee, all the workers are on leave.
The suit is based on information unearthed by an investigation conducted by Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman's office. Schneiderman has indicted the employees on charges that include patient neglect and abuse, and falsifying business records.
Attorneys for Fielding and Boylan said their clients were not working the night Rios' died and should not be held liable for her death.
Manhattan attorney Joseph DeMatteo, representing Fassino, said the nurse has a spotless 26-year employment record. Attorneys for other employees named in the suit did not return calls seeking comment.
The owners could not be reached.

Utah judge postpones ruling on Susan Powell estate dispute

Utah judge postpones ruling on Susan Powell estate dispute

Disappearance » Chuck Cox is “lining his own pockets,” a lawyer says.

By Nate Carlisle

| The Salt Lake Tribune

First Published Jul 08 2014 12:55 pm • Last Updated Jul 08 2014 10:34 pm

The family of Josh Powell on Tuesday again asked a 3rd District judge to reinstate them as trustees of Josh and Susan Powell’s estate.

Judge L.A. Dever said he will issue a written ruling later, but he denied a motion from the Powell family attorney to require the Coxes to post a surety bond to safeguard against mismanagement. Dever said there was no evidence Chuck Cox, Susan Powell’s father, had thus far mismanaged any holdings.

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The families of Josh Powell and his missing wife Susan are arguing over who should be the trustees and beneficiaries of two legal entities holding the couple’s assets: a conservatorship and a trust. The conservatorship is holding Susan Powell’s assets while she remains missing. The trust holds the joint assets of Josh and Susan Powell that were to be distributed in the event both of them died.

Together the trust and conservatorship hold about $2.3 million in life insurance proceeds, which are accumulating interest, as well as the Powell home in West Valley City.

Chuck Cox is the conservator for his daughter and used that authority to change the terms of the trust. Terrica and Alina Powell — Josh’s mother and sister, respectively — contend the terms of those agencies were illegally changed to remove them as trustees or beneficiaries.

Their Utah lawyer, Joshua Lee, said being conservator of Susan Powell’s estate does not give Cox all the powers that his daughter had, and only Susan Powell had the authority to amend the trust.

"A conservator can amend the trust only in the case of incapacity," Lee told Dever, citing the terms of the trust.

Lee also accused Cox of having a conflict of interest because he used his authority as conservator to make his wife and himself the lone trustees. Lee said Cox is "lining his own pockets."

But Cox’s attorney, Ted Buck, told Dever that Cox has an obligation to do what is best for his daughter, and much has changed since the trust was written in 2009.

"Do we think that Susan Powell would have those same priorities after what has happened since 2009?" Buck said. "I don’t think so."

I-Team: Families Outraged After Macabre Nursing Home Deaths

By Chris Glorioso

|  Thursday, Feb 27, 2014  |  Updated 7:20 PM EDT

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Families of two Korean War veterans say a Long Island nursing home neglected basic care and left their elderly loved ones to suffer gruesome deaths last year. The I-Team's Chris Glorioso reports.

I-Team: Families Outraged After...

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Families of two Korean War veterans say a Long Island nursing home neglected basic care and left their elderly loved ones to suffer gruesome deaths last year.

 

In one case, a former soldier died after his bedsores grew so large and deep, a human hand could fit inside some of the gaping holes in his skin. Another elderly veteran with dementia died after nursing staff lost sight of him for nearly an hour and he accidentally hanged himself while trying to wiggle out of a wheelchair restraint.

 

Thomas Bischoff lived at the Suffolk Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing for several years. By the time of his death at age 74 on March 18, 2013, pressure ulcers, better known as bedsores, covered much of his backside.

 

Medical records from Brookhaven Memorial Medical Center say Bischoff went into cardiac arrest after a septic infection attacked his respiratory system. The records also say his bedsores helped cause that septic infection.

 

“There’s no doubt in my mind that he was neglected,” his granddaughter, Alicia Zarzana, told the I-Team.

 

Richard Mollot, director of the Long Term Care Community Coalition, said such gaping sores are almost always a sign of nursing home neglect.

 

“When we see that the pressure sores are very serious – very large, there is a number of them, etcetera – that should ring everyone’s alarm that something is wrong here,” Mollot said.

 

About four months after Bischoff died, another Korean War veteran, Raymond Curiale, accidentally hanged himself. Curiale’s care plan after he was admitted in March 2013 required staff to monitor him every 15 minutes.

 

But according to a Department of Health inspection report, on July 15, he was found slumped against his wheelchair “with the seat belt around his neck and without respirations or pulse.”  The inspector went on to write that Curiale “was not supervised after 1:15pm until he was found at 2:12pm.”  It was during that 57-minute time window that he managed to choke himself.

 

“My father was off the radar of the home and he’s supposed to be on 15-minute checks,” said John Curiale. “And to die like a dog that jumped over a fence with a leash around his neck was just totally, totally unacceptable.”

 

Representatives of the Suffolk Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing declined to answer specific questions about the fatalities or safety inside the home.

 

The center said in a statement that it provides "quality care" for 120 short- and long-term residents.

 

"Our staff takes great pride in their work," the center said. "We honor the responsibility we have to our residents and their families with skilled and compassionate attention 24 hours a day, 7 days a week."

 

Last May, another questionable death occurred inside the Suffolk Center when a 56-year-old rehab patient died after overdosing three times on narcotic painkillers. An inspection report said the facility “failed to adequately monitor and supervise residents with known drug-seeking behaviors.” 

 

The report also said “staff suspected illegal narcotic exchange within the facility but no investigations, assessments or changes to the resident’s plan of care were made.” 

 

In recent years, New York state has steadily relaxed the number of penalties levied against long-term care facilities.

 

According to data compiled by the Long Term Care Community Coalition, the Health Department issued 142 enforcement actions against nursing homes in 2007. In 2011, the number was down to 81. Last year there were 27 enforcement actions against New York nursing homes totaling just over $217,000 in fines. Of those, the Suffolk Center was found responsible for just over $36,000.

 

The New York Health Department declined to share any reason for the drop in enforcement actions against nursing homes.

 

New York is also one of few states that have no law establishing a minimum number of assistants per nursing home resident. A bill in the New York legislature called the “Safe Staffing for Quality Care Act” sought to change that, but it stalled in committee last year.

 

As the Department of Health scales back penalties, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman appears to be getting tougher on nursing homes. In February his office filed criminal charges against a Bronx nursing aide who was caught on camera pushing a dementia patient. The same month, his office accused owners and employees of a Medford nursing home of providing substandard care and cheating Medicaid. Defendants in both cases pleaded not guilty.

 

When asked about possible criminal charges against the Suffolk Center, a spokesman for the attorney general's office said he could not comment on potential or ongoing investigations.