Patti's Blog - Advocate for Elders, People with Disabilities and Their Families

Disability Trusts and Medicaid Qualification

Excerpt from: Mullen & Giarusso (click for full article)

 

Medicaid is like the Big Dig—a big, dark hole in the ground—a federal program administered by the state. It covers care in a nursing home for those who qualify. It also provides, among other things, health insurance to the poor of all ages and people with disabilities. In the absence of any other public program covering long-term care, Medicaid is the default nursing home insurance of the middle class. As for home care, Medicaid offers very little.

While Congress and the federal government set out the rules under which Medicaid operates, each state is granted the authority to enforce the rules as it interprets them. In Massachusetts, Medicaid applications are filed in Revere, Taunton, Tewksbury and Springfield; and each processing center interprets the state regulations differently as they wish! A Medicaid application could be approved in 30 days or three years. We find however, about four months to be the norm. You can imagine the anxiety this places on the family whose loved one is in a nursing home.

Trust and Estates Attorney in Savannah Answers, “How Much Do You Need to Save for Retirement?”

Excerpt from: Smith Barid, LLC (click for full article)

 

If you’re like 70% of people in the US who have a retirement plan, you still haven’t worked with a professional such as a trust and estates attorney in Savannah in order to determine how much money you really need to save.  A recent study found that only about 30% of this group has actually sat down with a professional to come up with a realistic number.  Another 34% has simply guessed at a number that they think might be reasonable.

Any good Savannah trust lawyer will tell you that this is incredibly dangerous.  There are so many factors that go into determining what will be needed.  Just a few of these include:

•         What do you want to do when you retire?
•         What assets do you have now?
•         How will inflation impact the value of the dollar?
•         What kind of retirement fund do you have?
•         How long do you have before you retire?
•         How much will you lose to taxes when you withdraw your money?

As you can see, getting to a total that will support your lifestyle during retirement is a bit more complex than simply plucking a number out of thin air.

How Much Should I Put Into My Child’s Special Needs Trust?

Excerpt from: NAELA News (click for full article)

 

An issue families often find challenging is how to split their estate among their children when one child is disabled and other children are not. This subject alone could take an entire book. Parents often struggle with their attempts to be fair to all of their children. The fact is, children are not created equal, whether they are disabled are not. In many cases, it might be more prudent, at least initially, to dedicate more of the estate to the disabled child’s special needs trust than to the nondisabled child’s share. The children who are not disabled presumably would have more earning capacity than their disabled sibling, especially if the parents contributed to their education. This balancing act is nothing new to parents of disabled children. In many instances it is very difficult to accommodate all children fully, especially when the family has limited resources. Parents must look at the equities and make a pragmatic decision, which is easier said than done. Parents must try to avoid making decisions based on guilt. A common approach is to purchase life insurance to make up the difference or fill in the gaps, which can be a short-term or a long-term solution, depending on the situation and the type of insurance purchased, whether it be “perm,” or “term.”

2013 RPTE Spring Symposia

Excerpt from: Wealth Strategies Journal 2.0 (click for full article)

 

This year the ABA Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law is hosting their 24th Annual Spring Symposia May 2-3, 2013 in Washington, D.C. Don't miss this opportunity to network in the Nation's Capital.

Posted by Jillian Snell, Associate Editor, Wealth Strategies Journal

James Brown’s Legacy Protected by S.C. Supreme Court

Excerpt from: Lawyers.com (click for full article)

 

Despite challenges by the children and wife he left behind, as well as by the state of South Carolina, James Brown’s plans for the inheritance of his money will stay in place. In February the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that an irrevocable trust set up by the Godfather of Soul – which cut out any wives and left most of his estate to an educational trust fund – could not be set aside.

Estate Planning Lessons From 'Downton Abbey'

Excerpt from: TaxProf Blog (click for full article)

 

The show has become something of a sensation among financial planners and lawyers, who see parallels in their clients' lives. ... The most obvious take-away from Downton Abbey is to diversify investments, a lesson the earl learns after squandering much of his American wife's fortune on an investment in a Canadian railway filing for bankruptcy. ...

Here are some of the biggest lessons.

• Sell the house
• Spell out control and ownership when passing the baton
• Use trusts to protect the family fortune
• Make a will before giving birth
• Set up a medical directive

Clients Turn to Medicaid Trusts as Costs Soar

Excerpt from: Wall Street Journal (click for full article)

 

More people who anticipate being in nursing homes someday are turning to Medicaid trusts to protect their homes and investments--as well as their children's assets--from being used to pay for the care.

A growing number of middle-class Americans are waking up to the fact that paying for expensive long-term nursing care could be financially devastating for their spouses or children.

More people who anticipate being in nursing homes someday are turning to Medicaid trusts to protect their homes and investments--as well as their children's assets--from being used to pay for the care.

A growing number of middle-class Americans are waking up to the fact that paying for expensive long-term nursing care could be financially devastating for their spouses or children.

Have seniors really paid for Medicare and Social Security?

Excerpt from: Washington Post (click for full article)

 

- Few seniors have actually paid for their Medicare benefits. According to an Urban Institute estimate, the typical retired couple paid $122,000 in lifetime Medicare taxes but can expect to receive benefits worth $387,000. Social Security is another story. There, the average retired couple paid $600,000 in lifetime taxes for $579,000 in benefits. Put together, it’s $722,000 in taxes for $966,000 in benefits. (All figures are adjusted for inflation.)

The trust funds are, by and large, okay for a few more years, but going forward, both programs are taking in much less than they’re scheduled to be paying out, particularly if health-care costs don’t slow in a permanent way.

- There’s nothing unusual about Social Security and Medicare in this respect. We all pay into most everything the government does, and we’re all paying less than we’re ultimately receiving. That’s why there’s a large and persistent deficit.

Special Needs Trust

Excerpt from: Special Needs Planning (click for full article)

 

Simply put, the Special Needs Trust – which is established by placing funds and other assets under the control of a trustee – is a legal document which is designed solely for the financial protection of an individual with a disability. It is the only legal way for a beneficiary (the individual with a disability) to receive the benefit of unlimited extra income without sacrificing valuable state and federal benefits. It is of the utmost importance that the Special Needs Trust be written correctly. A trust which has been established without regard for the eligibility laws may disqualify a person with disabilities from government benefits, specifically from Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid. (Note: In most states, Medicaid is automatic when a person with special needs qualifies for SSI.)

A short explanation to the answer that you are probably now asking yourself (how is that possible?) is this:  SSI and Medicaid are needs-based government benefits. In order to qualify for these benefits, a person with a disability cannot assets totaling more than $2000 in their name. If the Special Needs Trust is completed correctly, it becomes its own entity. As such, any funds or assets which fall under the Special Needs Trust will not be considered an asset of either the grantor (the person who establishes the trust) or the beneficiary (the person with special needs). Therefore, the beneficiary will still qualify for SSI and Medicaid, as they will not have these funds or assets totaling more than $2000 in their name.

Special Needs Legal and Estate Planning 101

Excerpt from: SF Gate (click for full article)

 

What is the first thing parents should do to prepare for the future?

Prepare their own estate plan and write out their instructions for how to best manage their child and their finances. If that is too much, they should at least prepare a Power of Attorney and Advance Health Care Directive to appoint someone to make these important decisions if they are unable to do so.

Why is it important to hire an attorney who specializes in special needs trusts?

Special needs trusts work to preserve eligibility for public benefits, but only if all of the rules are followed. Many estate planners who do not do a lot of planning for persons with disabilities do not understand all the wonderful things a special needs trust can do to enhance the quality of life of a person with a disability. Thus, it is important that the proper special needs planning attorney is used to make sure all of the legal technical rules are followed along with providing advice on all the options that can be used as part of the special needs planning.