Wilma has dementia and was just admitted to a nursing home. Her daughter, Pebbles, is in our conference room in a weary and teary state. Pebbles has just learned that due to having an inadequate power of attorney in place essentially all of Wilma’s assets will have to be used to fund Continue reading
Category: Elder Law
The Five Components of a Good Estate Plan
Many people believe that if they have a will, their estate planning is complete, but there is much more to a solid estate plan. A good plan should be designed to avoid probate, save on estate taxes, protect assets if you need to move into a nursing home, appoint someone to make your Continue reading
What’s the Difference Between a Will and a Trust?
Everyone has heard the terms “will” and “trust,” but not everyone knows the differences between the two. Both are useful estate planning devices that serve different purposes, and both can work together to create a complete estate plan.
One main difference between a will and a trust Continue reading
What is Medicaid and How does it affect the Country and its budget?
Kaiser Health News has compiled a wonderful breakdown of Medicaid. Not just Nursing home medicaid, but the entirety of the system. Here is everything you could ever want to know about how medicaid is built, how it works, and how it effects us as a country. The facts, not the spin Continue reading
Do New York’s Courts suddenly disagree about when a Medicaid Qualification Penalty is proper under the law?
Some great cases on when transfers of assets will create a Medicaid penalty period in Central and Western New York came down in the final quarter of 2016. The regions’ two Appellate Courts reached seemingly inconsistent conclusions on when a Medicaid Penalty is appropriately imposed. Continue reading
Continuing Care Retirement Communities
Continuing care retirement communities (CCRC) are fantastic options of seniors who are fond of planning ahead and controlling their living arrangements and potential long term care needs. Having recently toured a fantastic CCRC modeled campus in Chautauqua County, run by Heritage Continue reading
The Caregiver Penalty
In a crushing blow to family values, the Third Department of the Appellate Division of New York’s Supreme Court recently held that the state properly imposed a penalty period on a Medicaid applicant who transferred assets to her caregiver daughter because she did not submit proof Continue reading
The Special Needs Trust Fairness Act
The Special Needs Trust Fairness Act, a bill that would allow people with disabilities to create their own first-party special needs trusts without having to rely on others, has passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 382 to 22.
The Senate unanimously approved the Act last Continue reading
Spousal Refusal? Only if you’re Willing to defend the resulting law suit!
Last month, a New York trial court entered judgment against a woman who refused to contribute to her spouse’s nursing home expenses, finding that because she had adequate resources to do so, an implied contract was created between her and the state entitling the state to repayment Continue reading
Arm’s Length Sale Trumps Assessed value of Medicaid Applicant’s Home
When a house is sold in a transaction to an unrelated party, the sale price is a better indicator of the property’s fair market value than the property’s assessed value. Such is the holding under a recent case out of New York’s Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department. Continue reading
