Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 6, 1995 TAG: 9503090027
SECTION: MONEY PAGE: 6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MAG POFF
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A: The interest rate on Series EE Bonds changes twice a year according to market conditions, but HH bond interest changes very seldom. There is no regular schedule.
Larry Harding, area coordinator for U.S. Savings Bonds, said the present rate of 4 percent is actually a guaranteed minimum for a period of 10 years. The guarantee was 7.5 percent from 1982 to 1986, then 6 percent from 1986 to 1993. The present rate was adopted in March 1993. So you can see the rate changes only every few years.
HH Bonds purchased 10 years ago drop to the current minimum after the end of the guarantee period. Bonds acquired in 1985 are about to fall from 7.5 percent to 4 percent.
Q: My mother is 79 and will soon need nursing home care. Her real estate is deeded in her name, my sister's name and my name jointly. She has other assets, but our concern is what would happen to the real estate should the other assets be depleted by her nursing home care.
A: Cynthia Hamblett, Medicaid elibility supervisor with the Roanoke Human Services Department, said your mother's share of the real estate would be considered an asset available for her nursing home care after six months in the nursing home. She would have a six-month grace period after her admission.
There are some exceptions that would be evaluated before a home must be used as an asset, but they probably would not apply to your mother's case. Two such exceptions would be a disabled adult child living in the home or a child over 70 living in the home, Hamblett said.
If your mother's share is one-third of the property, you and your sister would presumably have to buy out her interest. In the alternative, you would have to sell the property and divide the money three ways. Your mother's share would have to be spent on her nursing home care before she could become eligible for Medicaid.
Q: I have 100 shares of Nickel Rim Mines Limited issued by G.R. Kyls Associates Oct. 16, 1959. The certificate is transferable at the office of Guaranty Trust Co. of Canada in Toronto or Chemical Corn Exchange Bank in New York.
Please advise how I sell these shares and how I determine the value.
A: The only way to buy or sell stock is to deal with a stockbroker. The broker can also determine the value by checking various stock exchanges by computer for the day's quotation.
Robert Kulp, manager of the Roanoke office of A.G. Edwards & Sons checked the various exchanges, including those in Canada, and said there was no market for the stock of that name on any exchange. He said the company must have gone out of business and, therefore, its stock has no value.
Q: My father recently passed away, and I am the executor of the estate. He did not have $600,000, but he gave away $20,000 to each child two months before he died. I need to know how to handle that.
A: If a gift is made within three years of death, it becomes part of the estate, according to Harry Schwarz, a certified public accountant with the Roanoke firm of Schwarz & Co. If the estate were worth $600,000 or more, he said, you would have to include the money in the estate tax return.
But because your father's estate is worth less than $600,000, Schwarz said, you do not have to file a tax return and there is no tax to pay. Therefore, you do not have to worry about it.
by CNB