Long-term goals have been laid out by State health officials designed to improve access to services for the estimated 50,000 people living with autism spectrum disorders in Michigan, including more early screening and the creation of a state resource center to assist families.

(Related: 5 Tax Deductions & Credits For Special Needs Families)

The Autism Spectrum Disorders State Plan unveiled by the Michigan Department of Community Health and Autism Council revealed gaps in the availability of services and makes recommendations for how to improve the lives of adults and children with autism spectrum disorders. Included in the group of developmental brain disorders is autism, Asperger syndrome and Rett syndrome.

(Related: MSU Study Indicates Link Between Autism, Larger Brain Ventricles)

Father to a daughter with autism, Lt. Gov. Brian Calley said the overall goal is that eventually, “Michigan will be the place to be if you’re a family that is living with an autism spectrum disorder.”

The plan calls for increased early screening for autism spectrum disorders by primary care providers to enable those needing treatment to get it sooner. According to the report,  a number of primary care providers are not aware of the early signs of autism spectrum disorders. As a result, the report calls for increased and improved training of primary care providers to help them identify symptoms that could point to a disorder.

Amy Matthews, vice-chair of the Autism Council, said the number of children diagnosed with autism is continuing to rise dramatically. According to the report, one in every 88 children is affected by an autism spectrum disorder today.

(Related: Not all Therapists are Created Equal)

According to the report, more than 45 percent of parents with children ages 13 to 25 said they needed better access to things like higher education and employment services to help their child transition to adulthood. Creating a state resource center where adults living with autism and their families could get information and be connected to available services would go great lengths to alleviate this need.

The plan will be implemented by the Autism Council, a group within the MDCH. The department did not lay out a timeline for when the plan will be put in place. Last year, Calley signed a bill mandating that insurance companies provide coverage for autism treatment for children. Starting in October, insurers have been able to be reimbursed through a $15 million autism coverage incentive fund.

Read more: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130318/POLITICS02/303180377/Michigan-release-plan-autism-services?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE%7Cp

Marc H. Wander is a partner of the Bloomfield Hills law firm of Witzke, Berry, Carter &Wander, PLLC. Marc has been licensed to practice law in Michigan since 1992. Marc’s practice is devoted to estate planning and business succession planning.  Marc is a member of the Probate and Estate Planning Section of the State Bar of Michigan and is a prior Chairperson of the Oakland County Bar Association Tax Committee. He is a frequent continuing education speaker to insurance agents, financial advisors, CPA’s and financial industry organizations. He has also been heard on WJR Radio. Follow Marc on Twitter @MarcWander

In states where the law permits, top-earning gay married couples may soon be paying more in income taxes as the U.S. Supreme Court considers the legality of same-sex unions.

Currently, couples’ finances are frequently complicated by the division between federal and state law: They’re able to handle their finances and tax-filing jointly under their state’s law while the federal government — which doesn’t recognize the marriages — treats them as though they are single.

Income Trusts

On the flip-side, gay couples would lose the ability to pass assets via grantor retained income trusts, or GRITs, if the Supreme Court overturns the defense-of-marriage law, said Oliveri of White & Case.

(Related: 5 Tax Deductions & Credits For Special Needs Families)

In 1990 Congress barred the use of HRITs for immediate family members as a result of people using them to discount assets and reduce gift taxes owed. Gay couples have been able to take advantage of the trusts because they aren’t considered related under federal law.

Same-sex couples also would lose a planning technique for stock sales if the federal law changes. Gay partners currently can sell shares to their spouse, recognize a loss to offset gains and keep the security in the family. Opposite-sex couples must sell in the market and then wait 30 days before buying back the same stock because they are related, per the Internal Revenue Service rules.

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Market Involvement

Same-sex couples would have more options for their retirement savings upon a partner’s death if the federal law is overturned. The survivor would be able to roll over the deceased spouse’s individual retirement account into their own. Currently the so-called spousal rollover for IRAs is not available to same-sex married couples.

A surviving spouse doesn’t have to start taking money out until he or she turns 70.5. Depending on how old you are that could mean tremendous benefit.

Worker Benefits

Same-sex couples in states that permit marriage would be entitled to joint-and-survivor annuity payments necessart for spouses with pension plans if the law is overturned. They would automatically become each other’s beneficiaries on 401(k) accounts unless giving consent for someone else to be listed.

Health-insurance costs would also change for gay couples. They currently can’t receive the tax advtanges of being married for employer-provided medical benefits. They will be able to add their partner to their company’s plan, however, payments for their spouse must be made on an after-tax basis. The employer contribution is also treated as taxable income.

(Read more: Women and Estate Planning: Part 1)

More consistency for sae-sex married couples is a likely result around health-care decisions, in addition to parenting rights and immigration rules if the law is overruled. Futhermore, it would be easier for same-sex married couples to title properties jointly and transfer assets in a divorce settlement without triggering taxes.

Same-sex couples who are legally married in their state will be sibject to the pros and cons of hundreds of laws in the event that the defense-of-marriage is overturned.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-04/wealthy-gay-couples-seen-paying-more-if-unions-legalized.html

Marc H. Wander is a partner of the Bloomfield Hills law firm of Witzke, Berry, Carter &Wander, PLLC. Marc has been licensed to practice law in Michigan since 1992. Marc’s practice is devoted to estate planning and business succession planning.  Marc is a member of the Probate and Estate Planning Section of the State Bar of Michigan and is a prior Chairperson of the Oakland County Bar Association Tax Committee. He is a frequent continuing education speaker to insurance agents, financial advisors, CPA’s and financial industry organizations. He has also been heard on WJR Radio. Follow Marc on Twitter @MarcWander

In states where the law permits, top-earning gay married couples may soon be paying more in income taxes as the U.S. Supreme Court considers the legality of same-sex unions.

Currently, couples’ finances are frequently complicated by the division between federal and state law: They’re able to handle their finances and tax-filing jointly under their state’s law while the federal government — which doesn’t recognize the marriages — treats them as though they are single.

(Related: 5 Tax Deductions & Credits For Special Needs Families)

The ruling could mean thousands of dollars in higher income taxes for gay couples where both earners are making salaries of $400,000 a year or more, if the court accepts the legality of these unions. High-earning couples already face added costs when they file their taxes, share employee benefits such a health insurance and transfer assets.

The Supreme Court will consider gay marriage for the first time this month in two cases. The first, a dispute over a California ballot measure banning the practice. The second, a challenge to a 1996 federal law called the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as solely a union between a man and a woman. A ruling is expected to be reached by the court in June.

(Read more: Who Owns Your Facebook Pages When You Die?)

Estates, Benefits

While the rulings may not legalize gay marriage nationally, meaning that same-sex married couples who move to states that don’t recognize their union would still face challenges with their finances, estates, employee benefits and other rights.

More than 1,000 federal rights and benefits involve marital status. Some couples would be hurt, but most would see some advantages in other parts of their personal finances. Wealthy gay married couples would be able to delay estate taxes if their unions were legalized. But still, there are downfalls to being married from a federal tax standpoint.

(Read more: Women and Estate Planning: Part 1)

A primary disadvantage for high-earning couples on the income-tax side is the marriage penalty. As it stands, two partners each earning $400,000 a year in taxable income don’t pay the top rate of 39.6 percent, which starts at income above that amount for singles and at $450,000 for married couples.

‘Kind of Brutal’

In the event the federal law is overturned and the same-sex spouses file jointly, their combined income is $800,000 of which $350,000 would be subject to the highest federal rate.

Legally married gay couples will endure both pluses and minuses if the Supreme Court finds the act, known as DOMA, unconstitutional and have to plan for them.

“The biggest impact for DOMA being repealed especially for wealthy same-sex couples is the availability of the federal estate-tax marital deduction,” said Lisa Siegel, senior wealth planner at Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC)’s private bank unit. “That completely changes estate planning for same-sex couples.”

Same-sex spouses aren’t treated as married for federal tax purposes, which means when one spouse dies their assets don’t transfer to the survivor free of estate taxes.

Surviving Spouse

The effect of the marital deduction for heterosexual married couples is to defer federal estate taxes owed until the death of the surviving spouse.

For older couples with significant wealth, it will make a lot of sense — from a tax perspective — to get married if the federal law is overturned, especially if one spouse has a lot more wealth than the other.

Same-sex married couples would be able to use a variety of marital trusts and benefit from so-called portability rules under federal estate-and-gift-tax laws. This provision enables a widow or widower to retain the unused portion of a deceased spouse’s lifetime exclusion from estate and gift taxes. In 2013 that amount is $5.25 million for individuals or $10.5 million for married households.

Marc H. Wander is a partner of the Bloomfield Hills law firm of Witzke, Berry, Carter &Wander, PLLC. Marc has been licensed to practice law in Michigan since 1992. Marc’s practice is devoted to estate planning and business succession planning.  Marc is a member of the Probate and Estate Planning Section of the State Bar of Michigan and is a prior Chairperson of the Oakland County Bar Association Tax Committee. He is a frequent continuing education speaker to insurance agents, financial advisors, CPA’s and financial industry organizations. He has also been heard on WJR Radio. Follow Marc on Twitter @MarcWander