Plan Medicaid and Inheritances Carefully

October 17, 2022Filed Under: Elder Law, Medicaid Planning

It is possible to make mistakes when it comes to inheritances and Medicaid. It can be very costly to make those mistakes. When a person is drawing Medicaid benefits and inherits money or property, that inheritance jeopardizes the benefits. The inheritance must be handled carefully to minimize expensive penalties. What “careful” means, though, can be misunderstood without the necessary expertise.

The Right Steps for Handling Inheritance

The first and best idea is to call experienced elder law attorneys like us. (An even better idea is to call us well before any inheritance becomes a “problem.” The sooner you call us, the more money we can likely protect for you.)

An Ohio attorney was recently suspended partly because he mishandled this Medicaid-inheritance issue. The mistaken advice was that to protect the benefits, the person who stood to inherit should “disclaim” or “renounce” the inheritance – in other words, give it away to someone else.

Medicaid Rules and Inheritance Context

That advice would have been OK in the tax context. It was not OK in the Medicaid context. The Medicaid rules count inheritances regardless of whether the recipient keeps them or passes them on to someone else. The bad result, in such cases, is that the person receiving Medicaid would be charged just as if he or she had taken the money, even if he or she gave it away, and the person’s benefits would be docked accordingly. This can be a very expensive misstep.

The better result would be to consult us immediately. We can advise you on the necessary techniques to split the inheritance between the recipient and somebody else, like a child. If the right strategies are used, Medicaid would count the inheritance to an extent, but not as much as it would have if the recipient had simply given away the whole sum.

An even better result would be if the person leaving the inheritance had consulted us first. We know how to structure that person’s financial arrangements, to protect the people to whom the person wants to leave his or her legacy.

Elder law is a law unto itself. We know that complicated area of the law well and we have helped many people successfully meet the challenges it poses. If you have questions or would like to discuss your personal situation, please don’t hesitate to contact us at 513-771-2444.

Some Nursing Homes in the U.S. Are in Dire Straits

October 10, 2022Filed Under: Elder Law, Long Term Care

Americans who live in nursing homes are among the most vulnerable. When the novel coronavirus did hit, these nursing homes became its ground zero as many residents and workers did not receive testing, and staff found obtaining personal protective equipment a struggle. Some facilities tended to downplay the severity of the outbreaks. Couple these issues with some state governments mandating the reintroduction of recovering COVID-19 patients back into nursing home facilities, and the perfect storm came into being. The Washington Post reports that according to the best estimates, about half of COVID-19 deaths have been among nursing home residents. Currently, that half represents more than 52,500 of our senior population.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that according to two studies, nursing home residents who are dying from COVID-19 on average could have expected to live for another decade. Even the more senior residents, 90 and older, with multiple ailments, are losing more than one year of life. These studies challenge the perception that the coronavirus tends to kill elderly people who were likely to die soon anyhow.

A New Perspective on Elder Care

The coronavirus pandemic is forcing us to take a hard look at where our loved one should receive care if care at home is not a safe option. As the number of nursing home deaths continues to increase, the news media is finding it harder than ever to gloss over the unpalatable reality of these deaths.

Now more than ever it is important for families to come together when a decision must be made about a loved one’s care. We help families discuss options for care and how to plan to pay for appropriate care.

We hope you found this article helpful. If you have questions or would like to discuss your personal situation, please don’t hesitate to contact us at 513-771-2444.

The Combination of Estate Planning and Elder Law Equals Life Care Planning

October 3, 2022Filed Under: Elder Law, Estate Planning

Elder law and estate planning are often used interchangeably, but there are significant differences between them. While some overlap exists between the two, learning and implementing strategies from both law practice types is crucial to prepare for successful aging and preserve a family legacy.

Estate planning lets families:

Name guardians for minor children
Manage and protect valuable assets
Distribute property according to specific instructions after you die
Minimize potential estate taxes
Simplify or avoid probate
Distribute property to beneficiaries
Create a business succession plan

Younger people tend to focus on asset protection in their earlier years. They are building their legacy.

Elder law primarily deals with later stages in life and an aging individual’s needs while they are still alive, like:

Retirement goals
Paying for long-term care
Protecting the family if they become incapacitated due to an accident, severe illness, or reduced cognitive function
Accessing proper health care without depleting a senior’s resources
Protecting the legal rights of aging adults
Address the needs of persons with disabilities and war veterans, including their spouses, children, and caretakers

Seniors worry about protecting their legacy from medical costs, fraud, or abuse. They want to keep the family home for a spouse or the next generation.

What is Estate Planning?

Estate planning is for adults of all ages. An estate plan determines what will happen to assets upon death. An estate planning attorney can use wills and trusts to ensure your wishes are followed. If there are minor children, a will identifies a guardian to guide and protect them through life until they become adults. Naming a guardian for minors is a crucial aspect of a will.

Estate planning lawyers can structure assets and property to help an estate avoid probate. Various revocable and irrevocable trusts can save money on estate taxes, leaving more to beneficiaries. The probate process is slow, can be very costly, and is a public process, so it makes sense to keep as much of your estate out of probate as possible.

Several assets can pass to heirs without being addressed in a will or a trust through beneficiary designations. Insurance plans, IRAs, and 401(k)s are all examples of beneficiary designation account types. Reviewing your designations is crucial for major life changes, particularly death or divorce. Update your beneficiaries. If they have changed or are deceased, a court will decide the fate of your funds.

If you have a small business, estate planning is also relevant to the business’s future success. A succession plan helps a future business owner or family member to run the business upon your retirement, incapacitation, or death. An estate planning attorney can help structure inheritance using life insurance policies to balance inheritable assets if one adult child is particularly interested in running the business and others are not.

What is Elder Law?

Focused on later stages of life, elder law anticipates future medical needs, including long-term care, to ensure a senior can live a long, healthy, financially secure life. The goal is to develop a plan to pay for future care that meets their comfort level while preserving as many assets as possible. An elder law attorney knows how to help you qualify for Medicaid or other government benefits while keeping a portion of your assets. In addition, they may support you through Medicaid hearings and appeals.

Elder law attorneys can help protect individuals from elder exploitation or abuse as they become older and caring for themselves becomes difficult. Designating a durable power of attorney (DPOA) for property and financial affairs and another for health and well-being permits representatives to oversee and protect seniors when they are no longer able. DPOAs are documents used in estate planning. Without a power of attorney, elder law and estate planning can assist with guardianship and conservatorship.

What is Life Care Planning?

As an estate grows in value and minor children become adults, it is important to revisit and amend your estate planning documents. Review them regularly as your life evolves, particularly after marriages, births, divorces, deaths, and substantial changes in finances. You may find yourself straddling the needs of children and aging parents. Estate planning shifts as estate planning attorneys consult with you on elder law matters.

Life care planning protects your assets, health, and legacy at every stage of life and addresses common concerns to avoid potential problems. Proactive planning is the key to living your best life, from raising a family to fears of declining health.

We hope you found this article helpful. If you’d like to discuss your particular situation, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Please contact our Cincinnati office by calling us at 513-771-2444 with any questions.

You Can Avoid a Conservatorship With a Durable Power of Attorney

August 1, 2022Filed Under: Elder Law, Estate Planning

Legal guardianship over an adult is known as a conservatorship. There are times when someone (or several people) can act on behalf of another. The conservator is the person(s) with the power to make decisions, and the conservatee is the adult who needs help with their financial, health care, living arrangements, and daily affairs due to old age, physical or mental limitations. Some conservatorships are broader than others. For example, some conservators may only have authority over financial decisions, not medical ones.

Common reasons for conservatorship include an adult in a coma, with dementia, or developmental delays. A conservatorship is different from durable powers of attorney. A durable power of attorney is a legal document that adults can set up for themselves if they fear they will lose the capacity to make decisions at some point. They can choose who makes important decisions for them.

Conservators are put in place through court authority to manage the affairs of those who can no longer make their own decisions about health care or finances. Without a durable power of attorney reflecting your wishes, family members may petition a court to appoint a conservator to manage your well-being if you become incapacitated.

What Does Conservatorship Determine?

A “conservator of the estate” guides financial matters while a “conservator of the person” manages personal and medical decisions. In less complex circumstances, one person may be in charge of both estate and personal/medical conservatorships. Both types of conservators follow court supervision and are held accountable to that court.

This court supervision acts as a safeguard, preventing conservators from mismanaging property or taking advantage of those in a conservatorship. The conservator must periodically report the details of their actions to the court. Frequently, courts will require the conservator to seek permission before making major decisions, such as terminating life-support or requiring medications (medical and personal conservatorships) or selling real estate or other property (financial conservatorship). Additionally, a financial conservator must often post a bond as an insurance policy protecting the conservatee’s estate from mismanagement.

Avoiding a Conservatorship

Conservators must serve the conservatees’ best interests and be chosen based on the ability to be competent and trustworthy. Yet conservatorships are often expensive and can be avoided by adequately preparing durable powers of attorney before a physical or mental health crisis occurs. These legal documents provide a template for decision-making based on your wishes by the designated power of attorney(s). In the absence of these documents, the court will often appoint a conservator who is a relative that is available to serve, such as a spouse or adult child.

A conservator will act until the court issues an order ending this responsibility which usually follows:

The conservatee’s death
The conservatee no longer requires this level of assistance
In the case of a financial conservatorship, all assets are spent
The conservator can no longer handle the responsibilities or resigns
The court removes the conservatorship due to a successful legal challenge by the conservatee

To avoid an unwanted conservatorship, draft your durable power of attorney while you are young and have all your faculties. Although it is unpleasant to consider, you never know when your life can change drastically. Meet with an elder law attorney to discuss your concerns around potential physical or mental illness. Your chosen representatives will be those you trust to make decisions in your best interest, and you will have peace of mind knowing that future decisions will reflect your wishes. We hope you found this article helpful. If you have questions or would like to discuss your personal situation, please don’t hesitate to contact us at 513-771-2444.