Trusts are great tools for you to pass assets to your heirs, whether that be to children, other family members, or charities. However, not all trusts are created equally. Sometimes, we use revocable trusts for one client, while another client established an irrevocable trust. When does it make sense to use a revocable trust compared to an irrevocable trust?
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Attorney Elena Lidrbauch was quoted in the CJN Article: Attorneys can help create estate plan when disabled person involved. She states “the first step is to establish whether the person has sufficient capacity to do estate planning, meaning they understand what it is they are doing” .
The Medicaid application process is difficult and time consuming. The highly complex rules can trip up even the most careful of applicants. Even the county caseworkers who process Medicaid can make mistakes, misunderstand the rules, or even lose your application all together! So, what happens if Medicaid denies your application?
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Special Needs Trusts are in place to protect the benefits of an adult or child with special needs and are exempt from Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). A properly drafted special needs trust gives (you) the trustee, or someone you appoint, the sole discretion to use the funds for the benefit of your family member. A question I get asked often is what can I use the funds for, and are there any limitations?
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The Medicaid Act permits individuals, who are seeking Medicaid assistance, to pay for nursing home care by purchasing a Medicaid compliant annuity. These annuities can be used to protect a spouse that is still living in the community from poverty or can be used to transfer wealth to loved ones upon death.
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AARP recently released findings of a study that analyzed over 236,000 cases of individuals diagnosed with COVID-19. The study indicates that up to one-third of survivors suffer from psychiatric or neurological illnesses within six months of infection, with 34% of those further diagnosed with mental health or neurological disorders. The most common conditions were mood and anxiety disorders, but it also identified a higher rate of insomnia, dementia, and even encephalitis.
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Attorney Ethan Welch had his blog Should I Share My Estate Planning Information with My Family featured in the Senior Living tab for The Morning Journal’s July Edition. Ethan states “there is no right or wrong answer when it comes to sharing estate plan information, and some approaches may work better than others”.
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Social media is something I did not have to worry about as a kid, but it’s a very different story today. Every silly, embarrassing or inappropriate thing that a kid posts on social media can be instantly shared with hundreds, sometimes thousands or millions, with the tap of a finger. It immediately becomes part of their permanent record that could come back to haunt them when they’re looking to get a job, get accepted into college, and it can get them into trouble at school.
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One of the most common questions I get asked is if Medicaid is going to take the home. For many families, their home is their most valuable asset. But even if you have assets worth more, you probably don’t have the same emotional attachment to your retirement account as you do to your home. It’s easy to see why! You live in your home for many years, and your time there is full of memories. The thought of Medicaid forcing you to leave your home is frightening. Unfortunately, a lot of bad information is out there about Medicaid and your home. So let me be clear: Medicaid will not take your home. Hopefully, this blog post helps you better understand how Medicaid treats your home, how you can protect your home from Medicaid spend-down, and how to be ‘Medicaid smart’ if you do decide to sell your home.
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Medicaid and Medicare are the two largest publicly funded health programs in the country with different missions that often overlap. Medicare provides health coverage to seniors and some individuals with disabilities. Medicaid covers adults and children who cannot afford insurance, or who have health care costs they cannot afford. Often, an individual will be eligible for coverage through both programs. Today, I will focus on how both programs work together by answering some commonly asked questions.
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As the school year is starting to wrap up, we know you super planners are already thinking ahead to next year and making sure that things get off to a good start for your child. Summer is a great time to sit back and review your documents, get organized, ask questions, do your research, make your plan, and gear up for 2021-22!
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