28 THE QUEENS COURIER • QUEENS BUSINESS • MAY 13, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
queens business
Far Rockaway women’s health center to be named after Margaret Carpenter
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Margaret Carpenter, a longtime
Lawrence, N.Y., resident, volunteer and
member of the Episcopal Health Services
Inc. board of trustees, will be honored
with her name attached to St. John’s
Medical Group’s fi rst women’s health center
opening in Far Rockaway in winter
2022.
Th e Margaret O. Carpenter Women’s
Health Center, located at 105-38
Rockaway Beach Blvd., will be the fi rst
health center of its kind on the peninsula.
Carpenter is the second vice chair of
the board of trustees and has been instrumental
in the health system’s development
over the past four decades.
Carpenter has been an active volunteer
across many organizations in the communities
of the Rockaways and Five Towns,
but her connection to Episcopal Health
Services Inc. — the corporate entity of
St. John’s Episcopal Hospital — began
in the late 1970s, when she would bring
her father to St. John’s Episcopal Hospital
while he was battling emphysema.
At that time, she witnessed the important
role the hospital played in the lives
of many people in the community. While
the doctors, nurses and other staff at the
hospital were caring and attentive to her
father, it was clear to Carpenter that she
could be helpful to the hospital. Back
then, the emergency department’s reception
area was in a makeshift location in
part of the hospital’s boardroom, and
the hospital was in need of equipment
in order to be the caring and responsive
resource the community needed.
“It dawned on me that we must build the
hospital into something better, because
when people in the area call 911, this is
where they are going to come,” Carpenter
said. “Th at’s when I really began in earnest
to try to help the hospital.”
While Carpenter is proud of the hospital’s
growth, she credits that growth to the
work of many others.
“It’s not my style to have my name
on anything. What I
like to do is to help
people, and that
in itself makes
me happy,”
Carpenter said.
“Throughout
the years, the
c ommu n i -
ty and hospital
personnel
all worked
together to
raise funds
for critical care. It has been joy to do — to
see equipment come in and see the hospital
thriving. It makes me really happy.”
Carpenter is also pleased to see the
hospital continue to play a strong role in
the community, continuing its mission of
delivering high-quality, value-based services
with cultural sensitivity to the faiths
and traditions of those the hospital serves.
“I’m very proud of this hospital because
it is faith based, and takes care of anyone
who needs help, regardless of insurance
and their ability to pay,” Carpenter
said. “We are all children of God.
And, we are all family caring for
one another.”
St. John’s Episcopal Hospital
is the only hospital providing
emergency and ambulatory care
to the densely populated, culturally
and economically diverse, and
medically underserved populations
of the Rockaways and Five Towns
in southern Queens County
and southwestern Nassau
County, New York.
Celebrating over
110 years of community
care, the
257-bed facility
provides people of
all faiths with comprehensive
preventative,
diagnostic,
treatment and
rehabilitative services,
regardless
of ability to pay.
Elder Law Minute TM
Estate and gift tax proposals
BY RONALD A. FATOULLAH, ESQ.
AND DEBBY ROSENFELD, ESQ.
Under current law, the Federal estate tax exemption
is $11,700,000. This exemption applies to gifts and
estate taxes combined, meaning that any taxable gifts
made by a person during his/her lifetime will reduce
the credit that can be used for the federal estate tax at
the time of the person’s death.
The exemption was due to terminate at the end
of 2025 and was going to revert back to $5,490,000,
adjusted for infl ation. For any estate subject to taxation,
the tax rate is 40 percent. In addition to the
$11.7 million exemption, individuals are also permitted
to give away up to $15,000 per year to an unlimited
number of recipients. Finally, the Federal estate tax
allows for portability.
Portability is only relevant for married couples
and it allows a surviving spouse to take advantage
of the deceased spouse’s unused exemption amount.
The estate tax exemption that was not used for the
deceased spouse’s estate can be transferred to the surviving
spouse (and thereafter be used when the second
spouse dies), provided the surviving spouse makes
a portability election with the Internal Revenue Service
(IRS) in a timely fashion.
The Biden administration has proposed some signifi
ELDER LAW
cant changes to the foregoing provisions. Firstly,
it is proposing a tax rate that will start at 45 percent
and graduate up to 65 percent. Second, it is proposing
to reduce the applicable exemption amount to
$3,500,000. Finally, the gift tax exclusion amount
will be reduced to $10,000 per person with a limit of
$20,000 per year.
At this point, these are just proposals and nothing
has been fi nalized, but there is some planning that
can be eff ected while the current rules are still intact.
For those individuals who are comfortable with relinquishing
control of some of their assets, now is an
opportune time to take advantage of the estate and
gift tax exemption through lifetime gifts.
In 2019, the IRS ruled that any gifts made while
the current rules are in eff ect would not be included
in the taxpayer’s estate when the laws do change. For
example, if a mother currently gifts $4,000,000 to her
son, this gift will fall within the allowable exclusion
amount and will not be taxed even if the law changes
before mother passes and, at the time of her death,
the exclusion has been reduced to $3,500,000.
The problem is that unless the gift is comprised of
total cash, there are often capital gains tax concerns
when outright gifts are eff ected. Furthermore, many
individuals do not relish the idea of making absolute
gifts without any elements of control. Trusts can be
created to hold the gifted asset but due to the fact that
the donor’s objective is to make a completed gift, very
few powers can be retained.
Married couples should make sure that their estate
planning includes the creation of credit shelter trusts
in order to preserve each respective spouse’s available
credit. Another aspect to be cognizant of is the portability
election.
When the applicable exclusion amount is in the fi ve
to ten million dollar range and the value of a person’s
estate is well below such amount, a surviving spouse
might not even consider electing portability because
he/she might think it is entirely unnecessary.
However, because the law is in a state of fl ux, it is
incumbent upon each surviving spouse to utilize this
provision and elect portability with the IRS. If this is
done, then when the second spouse dies, the benefi -
ciaries of the estate can take advantage of both parents’
exemptions thereby minimizing or reducing the
estate tax.
Needless to say, it is a good time for people to revisit
their estate planning and gifting objectives. It is certainly
helpful to be prepared for a change in the law
and to learn about viable options to reduce or minimize
taxes.
Ronald A. Fatoullah, Esq. is the founder of Ronald
Fatoullah & Associates, a law fi rm that concentrates in
elder law, estate planning, Medicaid planning, guardianships,
estate administration, trusts, wills, and real
estate. Debby Rosenfeld, Esq. is a senior staff attorney
at the fi rm. The law fi rm can be reached at 718-261-
1700, 516-466-4422, or toll free at 1-877-ELDER-LAW
or 1-877-ESTATES. Mr. Fatoullah is also a partner with
Brightside Advisors, a wealth management fi rm with
offi ces in New York and Los Angeles.
This summary is not legal advice and does not create
any attorney-client relationship. This summary
does not provide a defi nitive legal opinion for any factual
situation. Before the fi rm can provide legal advice
or opinion to any person or entity, the specifi c facts at
issue must be reviewed by the fi rm. Before an attorney
client relationship is formed, the fi rm must have
a signed engagement letter with a client setting forth
the Firm’s scope and terms of representation.
RONALD FATOULLAH
ESQ, CELA*
Courtesy of St. John’s Episcopal Hospital
The location of the soon-to-open Margaret O. Carpenter Women’s Health Center at
105-38 Rockaway Beach Blvd.
Courtesy of St. John’s Episcopal Hospital
Margaret O. Carpenter, second vice chair of the Episcopal
Health Services Inc. board of trustees
/WWW.QNS.COM
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