You have worked hard your entire life. You have saved up a nice little nest egg for yourself, so you can use it if you need it. You've even had your own estate plan set up, including a will, financial and health care powers of attorney and maybe even a trust. You think you have done everything necessary to protect your assets for yourself during your lifetime and for your loved ones after your gone. But have you? What you may not realize is that the instructions you have in your financial power of attorney are key to how those…
An Alabama attorney recently filed an application in a spousal case, in which the husband, community spouse, has been farming for more than 20 years to supplement his income. Therefore, they claimed his tractor and pickup truck as excluded because they were necessary in his farming operation. He has been filing a Schedule F. Well, it turns out that because his wife at home Alzheimer's dementia took so much of his time, he had sold off all his cattle in 2010 and only had 29 chickens in his inventory. Since he had no income reported in 2011 from sales, his…
1. 70% of Americans who live to age 65 will need long-term care at some time in their lives! 2. It costs approximately $142,000 a year for a nursing home bed at some facilities! 3. 50% of all couples and 70% of single persons become impoverished within one year after entering a nursing home. 4. Medicare does not pay you or your family for long-term care. 5. By using proper Medicaid Asset Protection strategies, Medicaid is available to pay the nursing home costs, without forced impoverishment.
Medicaid transfer rules are something the average family should be concerned with! The facts are, as we live longer, more than half will spend time in a nursing facility. As a general rule, when assets are transferred to others for less than fair market value, this transfer will result in a period of Medicaid ineligibility. Here are four instances where transferring the family home or principle residence for less than fair market value may be permissible and not result in Medicaid ineligibility or penalty. First, the principle residence can be transferred to the spouse who is not in…
Entering a nursing home can provide provide peace of mind for your elderly parent. But if proper asset protection planning for the monies involved in nursing home care and estate planning are not done in advance, it can put your loved one at risk financially. Especially for seniors on Medicaid, there are important considerations to take before moving into a nursing home. Many seniors own a home, and depending on what is done with a home before moving into the nursing home can greatly affect their assets. Before deciding on selling the family home or transferring it to a family…
Medicare does not pay for long-term care, except for 100 days of rehabilitation in a nursing home. Nursing home care falls primarily to Medicaid, the jointly funded state and federal program. The program now is shouldering 40% of the country's long-term-care spending, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. To be eligible for Medicaid in Maryland, can have no more than $2,500 in cash and investments. (Spouses are allowed to keep a home, a car and up to approximately $110,000.) In the past, regulators looked at any gifts you made up to three years before applying for Medicaid. However, in 2006,…
Unfortunately, most people do not plan for the nursing home, until the crisis occurs. As an elder care attorney I see this situation time and again. Therefore, it is important to educate my clients on the options they have available. The nursing home is a strong possibility for most Americans. People are now living longer than they ever have before. Consequently, for most they cannot care for themselves. Therefore, you will need some form of long-term care, usually, the nursing home. We, if the need occurs, help you plan for how to make this possibility happen. Medicare does not pay…
Medicaid eligibility rules are extremely complex and confusing, and impossible to understand without legal assistance. The United States Supreme Court has called the Medicaid laws “an aggravated assault on the English language, resistant to attempts to understand it.” Schweiker v. Gray Panthers, 453 U.S. 34, 43 (1981). Additionally, the United States Court of Appeals for our own Fourth Circuit (just below the U.S. Supreme Court), in a case arising out of Virginia, has called the Medicaid Act one of the “most completely impenetrable texts within human experience” and “dense reading of the most tortuous kind.” Rehab. Association of Virginia v. Kozlowski,…
Pursuant to the applicable provisions of the Federal Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA 2005), the look back period for Medicaid is five years (60 months). That federal statute requires that any uncompensated transfer that occurred during the relevant look back period will cause a penalty period with regard to the receipt of Medicaid benefits. The penalty period is the amount of the uncompensated transfer ( say gifts of $68,000)divided by the state's reimbursement rate (Maryland is $6,800). The result is ten (10) months that will constitute the penalty period. The penalty period begins in the month in which the…
Providing asset protection, support and guidance to families, I realize that the cost of care is not usually understood. Our typical client is not aware that planning for care is similar to planning for a child's education; there is a need to plan ahead or you may not end up where you want to be or end up paying too much. The need for planning is becoming more important as our nation's demographics are evolving to a situation that has never been seen before. The nation's population of senior citizens is about to rise to historic levels. By year's end,…
Frederick, MD 
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