Elder abuse is, unfortunately, an all-too-common occurrence in our country. In fact, the National Council on Aging estimates that as many as 1 in 10 Americans over the age of 60 has been victimized by some form of elder abuse (most commonly, this occurs as some variation of financial exploitation). What many people fail to [...]
As Elder Law attorneys, we help financially-concerned clients qualify for needs-based, long-term care assistance under Medicaid (aka, ALTCS). Think of this as financial support for those that otherwise would be unable to pay for such end-of-life care (which, at a minimum, involves assisted living or a possible stay at a residential care home and, more [...]
(This analysis does not include planning for the use of state tax credits for gifts to qualified charities.) In a previous post, we suggested that direct gifts of your required minimum distributions (RMD) from your IRA trustee or custodian to your church or other charities is a tax-efficient method of giving (as opposed to you [...]
(This analysis does not include planning for the use of state tax credits for gifts to qualified charities.) In two recent posts, we suggested two charitable giving strategies which are even more advisable under the new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (effective January 1, 2018): -gifting your required minimum distributions (RMD), transferred directly from your [...]
There is an entire category of assets which, too often, are overlooked when planning your legacy – digital assets. Perhaps you didn’t even consider these items to be “assets” when you set up your own will or trust. If so, there is no need to worry as they are somewhat straightforward to address. The first [...]
A common myth is that you can protect your assets from creditors and legal judgments by putting everything into a revocable living trust. It is more complicated than that. Wealthy people are justifiably concerned with shielding their assets from creditors and liability lawsuits. When you have worked hard to obtain wealth, you do not want [...]
If you want to take care of your family after you pass away, then it is important to get a good estate plan. If you are like most people, then you put a lot of time and energy into building up your assets and taking care of your family. Short of winning the lottery, it [...]
The terms guardian and conservator are often used interchangeably. They do, however, have different meanings traditionally. It might seem to some people that the law loves nothing more than to be confusing to laypersons. In some states, a guardian is needed to take care of an elderly person who can no longer take care of [...]
Every year Medicare pays approximately $20 billion to doctors to administer prescription medications. New rules seek to lower that amount. Currently, when a doctor administers a prescription medication to a patient in a doctor's office or a hospital outpatient facility, Medicare Part B reimburses the doctor for the cost of the drug plus an extra [...]
Most pet owners want to make sure their pets are taken care of after the owner passes away. Many have informal plans about how that should be done, but it is much better to make those plans official. It is very common to for pet owners to arrange for a friend or family member to [...]