Dear Mr. Premack: I have a conundrum. I am 66 and would love to marry the woman with whom I am in love. We’ve been together for six years. She’s the light of my life, eight years younger, an independent business woman and she makes me very happy. I have no children and she has two married adult children. The only reasons I hesitate are legal, some based on the impacts that federal law would have on my benefits. For instance: 1) I am a military retiree with a Survivor Benefit

Dear Mr. Premack: I read that President Obama has just released his budget proposal for next year. Your earlier columns said that the current federal estate tax law will expire at the end of 2012. What is the status of the estate tax for next year? Does the budget proposal give us any hints as to what we may see out of Congress? – C.W. This is a political process, in a highly charged political year. Right now, the estate tax exemption is $5.12 million and the top tax rate on

Dear Mr. Premack: My step-father has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and may soon need to be put in a nursing home. He currently receives social security and a pension check from the school district where he worked. If it is necessary to put him in a nursing home, I already know his social security check will go to the nursing home. Will the nursing home take his retirement check also? If so, my mother will not have any other source of income besides her $422 social security