Make a Plan Step Nine-Future Planning for Your Child: How do you want to provide for your child with disabilities if you die or are too ill to provide the care? You can't make any plans if you don't have any idea what you want. If it's too difficult to think about your own death or loss of capacity, there are two ways to combat this: 1) consider what you don't want (I don't want my children to have to decide if I should be kept on life support if I am dying), and 2) consider what you would not…
A number of articles in The Voice have stressed the importance of being careful when choosing trustees to manage special needs trusts. Often the choices seem to come down to only two: a family member or a bank. However, family members are often problematic for reasons explained in a recent Voice article. On the other hand, banks and trust companies can be impersonal, often will not handle trusts with less than $1 million in assets, and may not have personnel who are knowledgeable about the multitude of unusual issues specific to serving a special needs beneficiary. There is sometimes a…
Do not think that just because you have a financial power of attorney drafted by a lawyer, that your financial agent has the authority to protect your assets and make these transfers. Your financial power of attorney must have been given the specific authority to make these transfers. The specific authority given to your financial agent in a financial power of attorney must comply with the recent changes in the financial power of attorney statute, which confirmed existing court case law. In order to make transfers to your loved ones and protect your assets, your financial power of attorney must…
Under the current Medicaid rules, if you are married and one spouse is in the nursing home, there are ways to protect your marital assets for the well spouse. By reallocating your assets to non-countable assets, none of those assets would have to be spent down on nursing home care before Medicaid starts paying for the care. If you are single and in the nursing home, there are also ways to protect your assets for your loved ones. Although you cannot protect all of your assets as you can with a spouse, you could save about half of your assets…
Sally was the “responsible daughter” and it seemed like whenever there was a family problem, it fell to her. She was the one her dad trusted the most, so years ago he named her as the agent on his Power of Attorney. He knew that she would make sure his finances were safe and that he would be well cared for. Sally visited her father at the care center nearly everyday to make sure he was getting the care he needed. She talked with the folks in the business office and made sure that dad’s bill was paid every month…
As a Market Watch story explains, a program that involves training doctors has proven successful in minimizing senior financial abuse. The Elder Investment Fraud and Financial Exploitation program was launched in 2009. It involves the training of thousands of doctors to ask general, but helpful questions when their senior patients visited for appointments. Considering the frequency with which seniors have medical appointments, it is natural place for basic inquiries about their financial situation to be tested. As part of the program the doctors ask questions like: -Have you given power of attorney to another person? -Has someone asked you to…
Why would you ever consider giving someone else the power to manage your health and financial affairs? After all, you’re healthy and don’t have any concerns. However, if you have a heart attack, stroke or an accident that leaves you suddenly incapacitated, who will carry out your affairs? Consequently, you should consider a power of attorney. A few simple steps can relieve you of worry and your family from the burden associated with the difficult decisions that come with aging. What is a Power of Attorney? A power of attorney is a legal document allowing someone to act on another’s behalf….
There is a tendency to view elder law estate planning as a static process i.e. once done don’t need to do anything more. However,estate planning is rarely a one-time event. Besides accounting for legal changes, the plan must be modified to account for life changes — birth, death, divorce, finances and health. Even the best of plans may be obsolete by the time they are needed, sometimes many years later. At a minimum, an estate plan should be reviewed every three years to see if any life or law changes affect it. Over time, clients may want to change their…
If you are providing care for your aging parent, and they are paying for your services, beware of the consequences. Medicaid, my treat the transfer of funds, from your parent to you, as a gift. Therefore, if your parents apply for Medicaid, to pay for the nursing home, they may be denied due to gifting. To prevent Medicaid from treating payments to family members as a gift, there must be a written, contract between the parties. This “care contract” must be in place before the work is performed and must specify the services and amount to be paid. The…
A living will can't cover every possible situation. Therefore, you might also want a medical POA to designate someone to be your health care agent. This person will be guided by your living will but has the authority to interpret your wishes in situations that aren't described in your living will. A medical POA also might be a good idea if your family is opposed to some of your wishes or is divided about them, states the Mayo Clinic. Choosing a health care agent Choosing a person to act as your health care agent is possibly the most important part…
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