not in SE CT. It's business as usual.

It's CT. They don't prosecute most crimes, so you should be fine.

Chris Rock was right!

By all means, raise their wages so we can tip less.

I'd like to see a minimum guaranteed payment for servers. If wage plus tip income is less than minimum wage, the business makes up the difference. In addition to providing some assurance to servers, this would maintain an incentive for servers to go above and beyond.

But no more tips

Safe to say you likely don't own a business.

> Every time I go to a restaurant now the service is so slow

Yet we're still expected to tip

Do away with them altogether.

Can you give me the name of a good estate planning and trust attorney?

Dont do this, in seattle they get paid like $17-20 an hour and sometimes more and pass the cost onto the consumer making you pay 20% tips. I have stopped going out entirely, tips will not go down. Sometimes i wonder if companies just pocket this tip money or increased wage costs

Once I see a tick on my dog, I put on a dose of Frontline and mow my lawn.

That's a nice quip and all, but its been functioning just fine for generations now.

Servers get paid WAYYYYY more than whatever wage you think would be good for them under the current system.

Love that plan! People can be very hesitant to talk about their death and incapacity, especially once they’re older and set in their ways. It’s good if you to bring it up, and double good of you to be available to care for them! Keeping them in home and independent should always be goal #1.

No. Ohio can keep Ohio, thanks.

This will put restaurants in a position to raise the cost of their goods. The only people who will benefit will be the servers as they will get minimum wage, and expect at least 20% on now a more expensive check average.

Thanks. They do have long term care insurance (a very old plan- I’ve heard the newer ones are mostly useless.) I’m hoping to get them in with an attorney soon, as my years of nagging them to do so has finally worn them down and I am slowly taking over their healthcare needs so POA etc. shouldn’t be an issue.

My main goal is to help them age in place as long as they’re able (their preference) so even if one passes long before the other they’d be able to be supported in their home.

They did.

Your parents certainly should have an estate plan (at least wills, POAs, and healthcare documents) and their planning may or may not involve a trust depending on what they’re trying to accomplish. Many folks use revocable trusts to help avoid the probate process, but in the context of Medicaid planning it works a little differently.

The idea with Medicaid preplanning is to not have any assets available to spend on your nursing home stay. If you have no money, the state’s Medicaid program (Husky C) will pay your nursing home bill for you. When you apply, the state will look back 5 years to see what type of transfers you made, and if you made an uncompensated transfer or gift within 5 years you’re penalized for the value of that gift.

Long term care insurance is an option, but the premiums are very high. I, as an attorney, would be looking at getting assets out of your parents’ names now while they’re healthy so that hopefully at least 5 years goes by before they need to go into a nursing home.

“But Ed, I don’t want to give everything away!” I agree! That’s why we’d create a Medicaid Trust to hold your assets. It’s an IRREVOCABLE trust, but you still set the rules of the trust. You can be the trustee (the person who manages and distributes assets), be able to live in and use real estate for your life, and even change the beneficiaries of the trust…but not to yourself. That cash and future real estate belonging to the trust is being managed for the beneficiaries, like your children, and not yourself, so any distributions you make must first go to the children. They of course are free to do whatever they want with it, but the state can’t make them use it on your care as long as the 5 years has gone by.

As a result, you get to keep assets in the family, still manage those assets, live in and use your real estate, and still control who ultimately gets everything while also starting the 5 year process!

Your parents should at least have a consultation with an estate planning attorney to see what’s right for them. Some of what I described here may be what they’re looking for, or it might be completely inappropriate for them. Everyone needs something, but it’s impossible to tell without having a heart-to-heart with that much admired and trusted family advisor: the estate planning attorney.

I see my fair share of stupid stuff. But most days commuting are uneventful. I think the ones who have constant problems either can't drive defensively or think that only cars doing 80+mph are entitled to the passing lane and rage over it.

Yes, I've seen some older insurance maps that showed the Connecticut River Valley stretched all the way to Newport News, VA.

Thank you. This clarifies what my mom went through. Fortunately, seeing her go through that has prepared us somewhat. All accounts and/or property are jointly owned to mitigate our current exposure. We may have more accounts than normal because of some things my mom went through though.

For example, credit card where dad was the primary and mom was the joint was cancelled on his passing. Mom was allowed to apply and get credit for account history so account age remained the same but her credit limit was cut in half despite her income being relatively unchanged (larger estate, comfortably living off of interest). You can have joint accounts, just make sure that each partner has accounts where their name is the primary to prevent unnecessary disruption.

Thanks again for the trust info though. We have a meeting scheduled with my mom's attorney later this year (after tax time) to get things set up and this will help me understand what he's likely to propose.

Most of the time either it gets cancelled the day before and it counts as "served" or you get to the room and they settle before it goes to court so same deal. Also, you'll be fine anyway. Have gotten the letter 3 times, and only once have I've seen the judge's face and I was dismissed as it was for a long eminent domain trial I couldn't be present for.

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Pay more and get rid of tipping. Tipping jumped the shark when tip jars were first place at counters for walk in.