Davidov Law Group

When you hear that many elders rely on Medicaid to pay for long-term care, you may become alarmed. Most people are aware of the fact that Medicaid is only available to people who are financially needy. If a high percentage of seniors are on Medicaid late in their lives, they must be impoverished, right?

Unfortunately, there are people who wind up spending all of their resources paying for long-term care because they did not plan ahead effectively. However, if you are proactive about the implementation of a Medicaid planning strategy, you may never directly experience any financial hardships.

To qualify for Medicaid, your countable assets cannot exceed $14,850. People typically give assets to their loved ones before they apply for Medicaid, but you have to act in advance and get the right legal advice to make sure that you are complying with the Medicaid rules.

There is a five-year look back. You have to complete your gift giving at least five years before you submit your application to obtain eligibility.

Divesting yourself of assets is not necessarily going to result in poverty during this five-year interim. Your home is not considered to be a countable asset, so you would not have to dispossess yourself of ownership. (There is however an $828,000 equity limit in New York in 2015.)

Medicaid would not count the vehicle that you use for transportation, and you can maintain ownership of your personal effects and household belongings. Wedding rings, engagement rings, and heirloom jewelry would not be counted either.

You could continue to draw income during your spend down, so that would not be interrupted. Plus, if you are in a position to do so, you could create an income-only Medicaid trust.

The assets that you convey into the trust would not be counted for Medicaid purposes, and this can be an effective way to divest yourself of direct ownership of assets. Though you could not take back those assets, you could receive income from the earnings of the trust, and this could help you maintain your lifestyle.

Relevant to Everyone

Most seniors will need long-term care eventually, and it is difficult to pay out-of-pocket, so Medicaid planning is relevant to just about everyone.

Nursing home care is very expensive, and in New York the costs are particularly high. If you have to stay in a nursing home for two years, the bill can exceed $280,000, and some people stay longer. About 10 percent of nursing home residents remain in the facilities for at least five years.

If you take the right steps, you can potentially qualify for Medicaid without losing everything that you intended to leave to your loved ones.

Download Our Free Report

To learn more about Medicaid planning, download our special report. This in-depth report is free, and you can access your copy through this page: Medicaid Planning Report.

Estate planning is something that people often put on the back burner, and there are many reasons for this procrastination. One of them is the simple fact that it can be hard to know where to begin. There are various different estate planning documents that can be used, and the matter can be confusing.

To demystify things, you could sit down and discuss your estate planning objectives with a licensed attorney. In this post, we will look at some general questions that you may want to ask at the consultation.

I’m not rich. I should use a last will to state my final wishes, right?

A last will can be used as an asset transfer vehicle. However, you do have other options, even if you are not extraordinarily wealthy.

When a will is used, the executor must admit the will to probate. This a legal process, and it can be time-consuming and expensive. The heirs to the estate must wait out the probate process before they can receive their inheritances, and the amount of the inheritances can be shaved down by the costs that are accumulated during probate.

It is possible to proactively implement probate avoidance strategies.

How would I avoid probate?

There are a number of different ways to get assets into the hands of your heirs outside of probate. One very popular probate avoidance tool is the revocable living trust.

You retain control of the assets while you are living when you establish this type of trust. After you die, the trustee that you name in the trust declaration can distribute assets to the beneficiaries outside of probate according to your wishes.

I’m not comfortable giving everyone lump sum inheritances. Can I provide for each person in a different way?

The answer to this question is yes. An ideal estate plan will take all of the circumstances into account, and each respective person in the family will receive his or her inheritance in the optimal manner.

Financial matters are obviously important, but is there anything else I should know?

A well constructed estate plan should address the possibility of latter life incapacity. Many people become unable to make sound decisions late in their lives.

Your estate plan can include an incapacity component. Through the execution of a durable power of attorney, you can name a financial decision maker who could manage your financial affairs in the event of your incapacity.

With a health care proxy you could name a health care representative.

Schedule a Free Consultation

If you are ready to take action, our firm can help. We offer free consultations, and you can send us a message through our contact page to set up an appointment: Queens NY Estate Planning Attorneys

As you are going through life as a healthy adult, you may not concern yourself with possible physical limitations. After all, you eat well, you exercise, and you are approaching your retirement years in good health.

This may be a logical perspective, but you may want to look at a broader picture.

Long-term care is one of the most pressing matters within the elder law community because most people are going to need it. The need for living assistance is not a remote possibility; it is a likelihood, even if you have been in good health throughout your life.

How likely is it? The government maintains a website called longtermcare.gov, and according to the site, 70 percent of people who are reaching the age of 65 will need living assistance at some point in time.

Long-term care is a very big deal because of the fact that Medicare does not pay for custodial care. This is the type of care that you would receive in a nursing home or an assisted living community.

The average cost for a room in a nursing home in New York City is over $142,000 a year, while in Long Island, the average cost exceeds $148,000 a year. These prices have been rising on an annual basis.

Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease is something to be very aware of if you are pragmatically looking ahead toward your elder years. The Alzheimer’s Association tells us that 45 percent of people who are at least 85 are suffering from the disease.

To get back to good health for a moment, if you have embraced a healthy lifestyle, you probably expect to enjoy a good deal of longevity. As a result, it could be argued that someone who enters retirement in good health could eventually be quite vulnerable to Alzheimer’s, because of these longevity expectations.

Indeed, many people in nursing homes are suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

To prepare for possible incapacity, you could take steps that lead to Medicaid eligibility. This government health insurance program does pay for long-term care, and most elders in nursing homes are enrolled in the Medicaid program.

Because Medicaid is a need-based program, you could plan ahead to protect your assets before you apply for coverage. This must be done with full knowledge of the 60 month look back, because you are penalized and your eligibility is delayed if you give gifts within 60 months of submitting your application.

Free Elder Law Consultation

If these facts have gotten your attention, our firm can help. We would be glad to answer your questions about long-term care, and we can help you start to plan ahead with Medicaid eligibility in mind if you want to go forward.

To set up a free consultation, send us a message through this page: Queens NY Elder Law Attorneys

Living trusts are very versatile, and they provide a number of different benefits. We will look at a few of them in this blog post, with an emphasis on spendthrift protections.

Measured Distributions

You may have someone in your family who is not particularly good with money. Perhaps this individual has come to you over the years for assistance, and you are concerned about what will happen after you are gone. You could leave this person an inheritance, but what happens if the money is spent too quickly? At some point, the family member could experience true financial hardships.

It is possible to account for this type of situation when you create a revocable living trust. You as the creator of the trust would typically act as the trustee and the beneficiary while you are living. In the trust declaration, you name a successor trustee to administer the trust after your death, and you would name your spendthrift family member as the successor beneficiary.

The trustee could be a person that you know or a corporate trustee like a trust company or the trust section of a bank. If you use a professional fiduciary, the trust will be administered in accordance with professional standards, and there will be no personal heartstrings to tug at.

In the trust declaration, you leave behind instructions with regard to the way that you want the trustee to distribute assets to the beneficiary after you are gone. For example, you could allow for the trustee to distribute the earnings from the trust on a monthly basis while the principal remains intact.

It would be possible to give the trustee the discretion to distribute assets from the principal under certain circumstances.

When you include stipulations such as these, you can go forward with peace of mind. The trust will be in place to provide your family member with support after your passing, but the trustee would have the ability to make sure that your beneficiary has a financial underpinning to draw from for the long haul.

In addition to the spendthrift protections that you can add, a revocable living trust can be of value for incapacity planning purposes. Many elders become incapacitated late in their lives, and you could empower the successor trustee to administer the trust in the event of your incapacitation.

Probate avoidance is another advantage. The trustee would be able to follow your instructions and distribute assets to the beneficiary in a timely manner, because the distributions would not be subject to the process of probate.

Free Consultation

If you are interested in creating a living trust, send us a message through this page to request a free consultation: Queens NY Trust Attorneys.

People often procrastinate when it comes to estate planning. Just about all responsible people know that they should have a plan in place, but it can be complicated, and many individuals simply put the matter on the back burner. To some extent this is understandable, but at the same time, you should educate yourself and take action to protect your loved ones.

This can be easier said than done, and we recognize the fact that it can be hard to find sound information that you can trust. Our firm makes an effort to educate people in and around Queens, and to this end we are offering a series of estate planning workshops toward the end of the month of March.

These workshops are absolutely free, and you can obtain a great deal of useful information if you attend a session that fits into your schedule.

Wills

We will look at last wills at the upcoming seminars. A will can seem like a very simple document, and it can seem like the best choice for you if you are not extremely wealthy. However, this is not always the case.

There are some limitations to take into consideration, and a will must pass through probate, which is a timely and potentially costly legal process. You should understand the facts and make informed decisions.

Trusts

Trusts are often used in the field of estate planning, and there are different trusts that serve different respective purposes. You do not have to be rich to benefit from a trust.

Trusts can facilitate timely asset transfers outside of probate, and you can also include stipulations when you create a trust. The trustee could be empowered to distribute assets to beneficiaries on a limited, ongoing basis over an extended period of time.

At the workshops, we will look at the value of trusts, and we will answer any questions that you may have.

Nursing Home Asset Protection

When you are looking ahead toward the future, you should certainly consider the eventualities of aging. The majority of seniors will eventually need long-term care, and nursing homes are exorbitantly expensive.

Medicare does not pay for long-term care, so this is an issue that is very important if you want to have something left to leave to your loved ones after you pass away.

We will explore potential solutions at our seminars.

March Seminar Schedule and Registration Information

We make things simple for people who want to attend one of our estate planning workshops. You can visit our workshop schedule page to see a list of our offerings, and you can click the appropriate link to register for the seminar that works for you.

The estate planning workshops will take place on October 7th and 8th, and

There are people who do not take estate planning very seriously, because they simply do not understand all of the facts. They assume that they can quickly create a last will when they are senior citizens, and they think that is the long and short of it.

In reality, there are a great many things to take into consideration if you want to be prepared for the eventualities of aging as you simultaneously craft a suitable legacy. Let’s look at some of the facts.

Asset Transfers

A last will can be used as an asset transfer vehicle, but it is not your only choice. In fact, a last will would not be the optimal solution for many people.

For example, in a perfect world, would you like to have a professional money manager distribute assets to an heir or heirs after your passing in a conservative, measured fashion over an extended period of time? If you were to use a trust such as a revocable living trust instead of a will, you could make this happen.

Plus, the asset transfers would take place outside of the legal process of probate. A will must be admitted to probate, and this is a time-consuming and sometimes expensive process.

High net worth individuals may be exposed to the federal estate tax, and there is also a state-level estate tax to contend with in the state of New York. A last will would not provide estate tax efficiency, but there are other legal devices that would mitigate your estate tax exposure.

These are just a couple of examples, but there are other scenarios that would call for different asset transfer vehicles.

Incapacity Planning

Incapacity planning is another important consideration. Up to 45 percent of people who have reached the age of 85 are suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, and of course, this is not the only cause of incapacity.

You could appoint someone to manage your financial affairs in the event of your incapacitation through the creation of a durable power of attorney. With a health care proxy, you could empower a health care decision maker.

A living will could also be included to state your wishes regarding the utilization of life-sustaining measures.

Long-Term Care

Most seniors will need long-term care eventually, and Medicare will not pay for it. Nursing homes and assisted living communities are extremely expensive, so this is an issue that you must address when you are creating a long-term financial plan.

Schedule a Free Consultation

If you have estate planning questions, our firm can provide answers. We offer free consultations, and we would be glad to help you put a personalized plan in place.

To set up an appointment, send us a message through our contact page: Queens NY Estate Planning Attorneys.

A comprehensive estate plan will include an incapacity planning component. A significant percentage of senior citizens become incapacitated to one extent or another. While there are other causes of incapacity, around 45 percent of those who have reached the age of 85 are suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

If you were to contract Alzheimer’s, dementia can set in. Those who are suffering from dementia may not be able to make sound financial and medical decisions.

A question arises: who would be empowered to make decisions on your behalf in the event of your incapacitation?

Guardianship

If you do not take any steps in advance to prepare for possible incapacitation, the state could be petitioned by interested parties to appoint a guardian to manage your affairs. You would have no control over the choice of guardian.

Power of Attorney

You can take the matter into your own hands in advance by executing a particular type of power of attorney. A durable power of attorney would remain in effect even if you were to become incapacitated. If you execute a durable power of attorney, you are preventing a guardianship proceeding.

The attorney-in-fact or agent that you name in the device would be empowered to handle your financial affairs in the event of your incapacitation.

The major difference between a guardianship and a power of attorney is the matter of choice. With a guardianship, the state of New York would decide on the person who would manage your affairs. If you execute a durable power of attorney, a hand-picked decision-maker of your own choosing would handle your finances.

Health Care Proxy

In addition to a durable financial power of attorney, to be comprehensively prepared for possible incapacitation you should execute a document called a health care proxy. This is similar to a power of attorney for health care decision-making. You name a proxy, and this individual would be legally empowered to make health care decisions on your behalf should you become incapacitated at some point in time.

Prevent a Guardianship

It is highly unlikely that you would want the state to decide who will handle your financial and health care decision-making in the event of your incapacitation.

You have the power to assert your wishes with regard to decision-makers who would act on your behalf if you become unable to manage your own affairs. When you have a comprehensive estate plan in place that also addresses the possibility of incapacity, you can go forward with peace of mind.

If you would like to discuss incapacity planning with an experienced estate planning and elder law attorney, get in touch with us to schedule your assessment. You can request an appointment through the contact page on this website.