Archive for the Blog Category

Estate Planning and Digital Assets

On March 17, 2020   /   Blog  
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Estate Planning and Digital Assets

What happens to a person’s Facebook account when he or she passes away? What about the photos you share on social media, the documents you’ve stored in the cloud, your texts to family and friends? While the law is clear about how to handle physical property when a person dies, it is only now beginning to address the management of digital assets. An article in The Conversation discusses this issue. Here are some of the highlights. Privacy concerns. While many legal issues surrounding digital assets remain undecided, people should still consider including them in their estate planning. Access to a decedent’s email is an important consideration. Such messages can be highly personal in nature. What is more, bank accounts, utilities and other accounts may be linked to certain email addresses and messages. Access to this information can help administer a decedent’s estate. Meanwhile, limiting who can access it can protect

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Managing a Medicaid Crisis

On March 12, 2020   /   Blog  
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Managing a Medicaid Crisis

In the United States, the median monthly cost of a semi-private room in a nursing home is currently more than $7,500. The cost of a private room exceeds $8,500 per month. Depending on where you live, costs can be considerably higher. In addition, costs rise according to the level of care needed and they are expected to increase dramatically in the future.  (Please click to see the current costs for home care, adult day care, assisted living, and nursing home care in your area.) To make matters worse, nearly 70 percent of us over the age of 65 will require long-term care at some point in our lives and 20 percent of us will need long-term care for five years or more. All of this helps explain why so many families exhaust their life savings within a few years of a family member entering a nursing home. And why more

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Involve Your Children in Your Parents’ Care

On March 10, 2020   /   Blog  
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Involve Your Children in Your Parents’ Care

The last thing anyone wants in an emergency is to run around hysterically searching for important medical and financial information. You should have all of the following information readily available: Copies of the front and back of insurance cards, prescription cards, and, if applicable, military IDs Names and contact information of primary care physicians and specialists Basic medical history, such as medications, previous surgeries, and allergies A current list of medications and dosage Contact information for banks, financial advisors, insurance agents, attorneys, and other key advisors A list of financial accounts and safe deposit boxes, as well as the institutions where they are held The location of all estate planning documents, including Power of Attorney, Living Will/Healthcare Proxy, Will, HIPAA Medical Release, and, if applicable, trusts Involve Your Children in Your Parents’ Care One advantage of being in the sandwich generation is that you have help at hand—your kids. Maybe

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The Spectrum of Care, continued

On March 5, 2020   /   Blog  
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The Spectrum of Care, continued

In our last post, we discussed some of the options available for long-term care. Now let’s explore additional options, including assisted living and nursing home care. Medical Foster Home/Adult Foster Care A medical foster home is a private home operated by a trained caregiver. Residents may be elderly adults with chronic physical or cognitive health needs who require assistance in daily living, or younger adults with disabilities who want to reside in a non-institutional setting. The United States Department of Veterans Affairs oversees a program that encompasses about 700 U.S. medical foster homes and serves approximately 1,000 military veterans. Medical foster homes are not restricted to veterans, however. Many people in the United States live in non-VA adult foster home arrangements. Post-Acute Care Post-acute care is palliative or rehabilitative care for people who have recently been discharged from a hospital. Rehabilitation centers, nursing homes and other facilities may offer post-acute

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Planning Tips for the Sandwich Generation, continued

On March 3, 2020   /   Blog  
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Planning Tips for the Sandwich Generation, continued

For adult children raising kids of their own, assuming the role of caregiver for one’s parents can be extraordinarily difficult without the help of proper legal documents. We have discussed the importance of The Talk. The information gleaned from this discussion provides a foundation for the creation of effective legal documents that express and protect your parents’ wishes. These documents include a Will, a Power of Attorney, a Living Will/Healthcare Proxy, and a HIPAA Medical Release. Let’s take a quick look at these documents. A Will directs how a person’s estate is to be administered and how his or her assets will be distributed after death. The person who creates the Will is called the Testator while the individual who settles the estate is known as the Executor. Naming the Executor and specifying “who gets what” in advance can help eliminate family infighting. A Power of Attorney allows an individual

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Know Your Options: The Spectrum of Long-Term Care

On February 27, 2020   /   Blog  
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Know Your Options: The Spectrum of Long-Term Care

You’ve no doubt heard about assisted living and nursing home care, but there are many other long-term care options available. An article by U.S. News & World Report provides an introduction to the types of care now available. You can read the full article by clicking here. Adult Day Care Adult day care offers relief to family caregivers and a safe, social environment for older adults. It is suitable for people with mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease, or other forms of dementia; people who could benefit from speech, music, occupational, or physical therapy; and elders who crave activities and interaction with peers. Adult day care centers for people with dementia occasionally offer nighttime hours in recognition of the fact that some seniors are more active at night. Aging in Place The concept behind aging in place is to live independently in your own home and community as you grow older.

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Planning Tips for the Sandwich Generation

On February 25, 2020   /   Blog  
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Planning Tips for the Sandwich Generation

The term “sandwich generation” refers to people who are raising their own children while simultaneously trying to care for aging parents. If you are “sandwiched” between these two roles, the stress can seem overwhelming. Here are some tips for managing the challenge. Have “The Talk” with Your Parents as Soon as Possible. “The Talk” involves speaking with your parents about their wishes regarding long-term care and who will be able to make decisions on their behalf in the event of incapacity. By addressing these issues early and openly, you can then take steps to create legal documents to ensure your parents’ care will reflect their wishes (more about these documents later). Be sure to include your siblings and other members of your extended family in these conversations so that everyone is on the same page. This will help eliminate disagreements, which can quickly turn ugly, about what mom and dad

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A Pet Trust – Reward Your Pet With the Best Treat of All

On February 20, 2020   /   Blog  
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A Pet Trust – Reward Your Pet With the Best Treat of All

According to the American Humane Society, approximately 46 percent of households have at least one dog and 39 percent of households have at least one cat. We love our pets, and they provide us with plenty of love in return. Tragically, however, shelters and veterinarians euthanize approximately 500,000 pets each year when their owners predecease them. How can you be sure your beloved animal companion will receive proper care when you are no longer able to provide it yourself? A trust may be the answer. The main objective of using a trust to care for your pet is to provide a flexible method for managing financial assets for the benefit of any pets that survive you. The appropriate amount of money to fund the trust varies according to your pet’s age, condition and needs. With a properly designed trust, you can also designate a party to act as “caretaker” for

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Protecting Inheritances For and From Your Heirs

On February 18, 2020   /   Blog  
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Protecting Inheritances For and From Your Heirs

Our clients often express concern about protecting the inheritances of their children. Sometimes, parents worry about the security of a child’s job and what will happen if he or she loses that job, cannot pay bills, and subsequently loses the inheritance to creditors. Other times, parents worry about the influence a child’s spouse has over their child’s money management decisions. A child embroiled in a “bad marriage” frequently leads to parental concerns over an inheritance being diminished or lost through divorce. Finally, parents often wonder whether their children are mature enough to handle an inheritance on their own. Fortunately, there are a number of ways for you to leave an inheritance to your children and protect that inheritance against threats such as these and more. Certain types of trusts, for example, have the power to accomplish this goal, with the added benefit of avoiding probate. Here are a few examples.

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Seize Control Over Incapacity with Durable Powers of Attorney

On February 13, 2020   /   Blog  
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Seize Control Over Incapacity with Durable Powers of Attorney

Incapacity is defined, from a legal standpoint, as the inability to make sound decisions regarding one’s personal or financial affairs. Failing to plan for the possibility of incapacity in advance can create significant problems for seniors and their loved ones, particularly with regard to managing assets and medical care. This is why we recommend that all of our clients have us design durable powers of attorney for medical care and finances. Here are some of the most important reasons to have your own durable powers of attorney. If you become incapacitated, you are able to choose the person who makes financial and medical decisions on your behalf rather than the court. Without powers of attorney, the court will appoint someone to manage your financial affairs and medical care in the event of incapacity. The person named by the court could very well be someone you would never have wanted to

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