Archive for the Blog Category

MEDICARE, MEDICAID, AND PLANNING FOR LONG-TERM CARE Perhaps you are unsure of the difference between Medicare and Medicaid as it pertains to the challenge of paying for long-term care. If so, you are not alone. The two programs sound similar and both of them provide for medical care. Let’s begin with a short definition of each program. Then, we’ll look at each program’s potential to help you cover the cost of expensive long-term care. Medicare is an entitlement program. Anyone who has reached the age of 65, and is eligible to receive benefits from Social Security, can also receive Medicare. Medicaid, on the other hand, is a public assistance program. It is designed to help those with limited assets and income pay for medical care. In order for a person to receive assistance from Medicaid to pay for nursing home care, he or she must meet certain asset and income

WHAT IS ASSET PROTECTION? As an attorney who teaches lawyers across the country about estate planning, elder law, Medicaid planning, Veterans benefits planning, and asset protection planning, it is amazing to me how much confusion there is among lawyers as to what asset protection really is.  If there is that much confusion with lawyers, I could only image the confusion with their clients.  So what is asset protection? Asset protection laws deal with the protection of your assets against future creditors.  Asset protection planning cannot be done to avoid having to pay existing creditors or existing obligations.  The most common protection sought is protection from the “nursing home” or other long term care costs.  Asset protection also includes the protection of assets from lawsuits, one’s own poor decision making, or fear of not having the mental capacity to manage the assets you have accumulated.  All of these are forms of

IT’S ALL ABOUT FAMILY All of us have family. Whether it is our spouse, children, extended family, or even our pets. The question is, what does estate planning have to do with family?  Everything!  Over the past 25 years I have been asking my clients what they want their estate plans to accomplish.  The number one answer I receive is, “Dave, I want stay in control.”  The second issue I hear is, “I don’t want to become a burden to my loved ones,” and third is, “I want to keep it simple.”  The reality is, the only way to stay in control and keep your estate planning simple is to actually do it now, while you are healthy.  And the only way to not become a burden to your family is to ensure your planning provides your wishes for your care so your loved ones don’t have to make life

Proper Estate Planning WHAT IF YOU DON’T DIE? Many seniors assume they will die before they reach a “certain age.” I understand why.  From the time we are young, we have been told we will work until 65, retire and then plan for our “final years”.  Now, look around you.  How are old are you?  Did you think you were going to be this old and feel this good?  My parents, age 89, recently drove themselves from Central New York to Connecticut to visit my brother.  How about you? Many seniors today are extremely active.  They go to the gym, they stay actively engaged socially and intellectually.  What we believed to be true based on what we have been told since we were young is not quite turning out the way we thought.  But have you planned for it?  That’s really the key to estate planning.  Most people think estate

Isn’t it Time You Took the Time for Proper Estate Planning? Do you remember the first time you got a babysitter for your children? If it was like mine, my wife went through extreme measures to write down very detailed instructions for the babysitter on how to care for the children; what time to put them to bed, be sure to give them warm milk, make sure my daughter has her stuffed animal, etc. When the babysitter finally arrived, there was extensive conversations and reiterations of what was written in the note. We wanted to ensure the babysitter knew how to contact us, where we would be and all the specific nuances of each of the children. As that continued, I began to pry my wife away and remind her we had dinner reservations a mere few miles away. We left the house and got in the car. It was