The post Can Medicaid-planning Help You or Your Parents? appeared first on The Hughes Law Firm.
]]>While your loved one may only have minor symptoms now or has not yet formally been diagnosed, you need to start planning now to protect those you love. The sooner you move to create a thorough plan for securing long-term care and obtaining Medicaid benefits, the better. Act now to best protect your parents’ assets and get them the care they need.
There are many misconceptions about Medicaid, Medicare and long-term financial planning. Read on to learn more and find out how you may obtain the assistance you need.
Waiting too long to consider the need for long-term care, e.g., assisted living or nursing home, could be a massive financial mistake. Hard-earned assets could end up consumed by the costs associated with the quality care of a person confined to a nursing home. These costs can leave the one still at home financially vulnerable and at risk for any of the numerous issues that come with the loss of assets.
The state considers any amount of income transferred or gifted in the last five years, so early planning is key to success. Creating a living trust that includes major accounts and a home is one way to reduce personal assets without depriving others of a decent standard of living in their golden years.
Medicare and many private insurance policies will not cover long-term care. Medicaid, however, will cover this type of care, provided that the one who needs it qualifies for Medicaid coverage. Qualification includes looking at both income and accumulated assets.
For example, if your parents have limited incomes, the assets they hope to use to cover costs of living expenses during their retirement years could end up preventing them from qualifying for Medicaid. This is why careful planning, such as creating a trust, can make a major difference. Your parents should not have to worry about losing their home to ensure one of them has access to long-term care when they need it.
Careful planning for moving assets into a trust well before there’s a need for long-term care — as well as planning for disbursements that won’t disqualify your parents from coverage — can make a major difference in their security and financial solvency in their later years.
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]]>The post Will You Have to Pay for Your Parents’ Health Care Costs? appeared first on The Hughes Law Firm.
]]>Filial refers to the relationship between parents and children. Filial responsibility laws were based on “poor laws,” which required children to pay for their destitute parents’ care in 16th century England. Nearly 30 states have filial duty laws. These laws have remained largely unused since Medicaid began providing benefits that pay for nursing home care.
However, the rising cost of long-term care is bringing filial laws back into action. Health care providers are turning to the court system to pursue financial assistance — or full responsibility — from sons and daughters.
Colorado is one of 21 states that do not have filial responsibility laws. However, you and your siblings may have to pick up the slack if, 1) your parents live in Puerto Rico or one of the 29 states that have filial laws, and 2) your parents do not have the financial means to pay for their long-term care costs.
While it may be an uncomfortable topic at first, talk to your parents about their life care planning arrangements. A little planning now can make a world of difference later. Long-term care and estate planning can provide financial stability and wellbeing to them as well as to you and your children.
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]]>The post How Your Estate Plan Can Help Others Help You appeared first on The Hughes Law Firm.
]]>Without good planning, your illness could cause great financial strain for your children, especially in a soft job market. On the other hand, thoughtful estate planning can help soften the blow and make things easier for any child providing you care.
Nearly half of working adults have taken leave or anticipate taking leave to care for a family member. While this is good news for many people who need assistance, you might not gain complete peace of mind simply from knowing you can count on your child’s support. You might also need to know you’ve arranged to give your child the help he or she needs. The following steps can help:
You may wish to update their will or trust to provide more for the child who acts as your caregiver. If you have other named beneficiaries, especially other children, it is important to explain your reasoning to help discourage feelings of resentment.
You might not have cash, stocks or other liquid assets available to help offset your caregiver’s expenses. In this case, you might show your gratitude by transferring the title of your home, vehicle or other asset to the caregiver. You don’t need to sign over ownership immediately. Creating a life estate or establishing joint ownership will still allow you to retain control over your assets.
If you have a substantial life insurance policy, you may wish to name your caregiver as the beneficiary — or one of the beneficiaries — of this policy.
If you haven’t already looked into Medicaid planning, you might be overlooking one of your best options. Medicaid planning may help you qualify for assistance without forcing you to “spend down” your hard-earned assets. Done right, it might help ensure that your caregiver and other beneficiaries will still benefit from your largesse after you are gone.
In troubled times, it’s reasonable to think about your health and whether your child or children will need to provide you care. Good estate planning can address both your physical health and your family’s financial healthy. The steps you take with the help of an attorney may ensure you receive the care you need and lessen the burden your caregiver may someday face.
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]]>The post Good Estate Planning Opportunities In Bad Markets appeared first on The Hughes Law Firm.
]]>The key, as Barron’s notes, is to adjust your approach. Instead of bailing out of the market, taking your losses and finding yourself in a worse position when the market recovers, you can take advantage of your depreciated assets. Take the long view. And, in the end, you may end up ahead of the curve.
There’s little reward to a bad market if you’re living day-to-day off your dwindling retirement fund. However, the more you have and the more patient you can afford to be, the more you can afford to let your depreciated assets sit and recover. You can look for—and take advantage of—the good side of their depreciation.
Several of the better ways to take advantage of depreciated stocks tie to your estate plan:
Naturally, which of these options—and how many of them—may be best for you depends on your circumstances and your goals.
You can’t part the clouds and bring out the sun. And you can’t kickstart the market on your own. You can, however, look to make the most of the current situation. Much of it is a matter of perspective.
For those with enough patience and an eye to their long-term goals, the volatile markets may offer bittersweet rewards. This may not be a great time all around, but it may be an excellent time to meet with your attorney and review your estate plan.
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]]>The post Know This About Undue Influence appeared first on The Hughes Law Firm.
]]>When everything isn’t as you thought it would be, you have to determine what you’re going to do. The answer to this might be just following the estate plan. The other option is that you can contest the plan. There are very limited instances in which you can do this. One is when your loved one created the estate plan under the undue influence of another person.
Undue influence defined
Undue influence means that a person had to do something they didn’t intend to do because another person forced them to. There are many people who might do this with an elderly person. These include family members, caregivers and anyone else who has contact with the individual. Even telemarketers can exercise undue influence over a person who isn’t mentally prepared to deal with them.
Generally, undue influence occurs when a person is being told what to do by someone who is considered stronger. This might be a person who can exercise some sort of control over the person. They may be able to stop the person from spending money or prevent them from getting adequate medical care. Even things like refusing to cook for the elderly person until they change the will is undue influence because it is coercion.
Difficult to prove
Because undue influence usually occurs without any witnesses, it can be hard to prove. In some cases, it might be easier to show that the person was cognitively competent when they created the new will.
Circumstances surrounding the person’s care and quality of life might come into the picture. This might be the case if a person has multiple children but only one is caring for the parent. That adult child may refuse to let the other kids see the parent. While they have the parent to themselves, they could convince them to change their estate plan to bypass the other siblings.
If you think that your loved one’s estate plan doesn’t accurately represent their wishes, such as if it if markedly different from a previous version, you may choose to take legal action. Consider this carefully because contesting the will could lead to tension between you and your family members.
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]]>The post Will You Pass The Income Assessment For Colorado Medicaid? appeared first on The Hughes Law Firm.
]]>In order to qualify for Medicaid, you have to demonstrate that you meet certain standards, which can include living on an income below a certain level and meeting a limit to your total assets available for liquidation, such as investment accounts and cash on hand. Certain possessions, such as specific amounts of equity in your home, are exempt from consideration for Medicaid benefits.
However, your bank accounts, financial assets and current income could all influence whether you can receive Medicaid benefits when you need them. Given that the government will look back at five years of your financial records when trying to determine if you qualify for Medicaid, it is obvious that planning as soon as possible, rather than waiting for when you need benefits, is in your best interest.
When it comes to liquid capital and financial assets, there is a shockingly strict limit in place for those who need Medicaid benefits. If you have more than $2,000 in countable assets, the state can require that you liquidate those assets prior to receiving Medicaid benefits.
Thankfully, your home equity is an asset not included in that calculation, at least up to a certain point. You can have up to $560,000 in home equity and still qualify for Medicaid. Your clothing, jewelry and other personal assets, as long as they are not held as investments, can often also be exempted from consideration. Your car is also exempt, but many other assets could leave you without the benefits you may need in the future.
There are many ways in which you can reduce the value of the assets the government will consider during the Medicaid application process. One of the simplest and most direct is to begin distributing some of your assets to loved ones and family members. Instead of leaving everything as an inheritance when you die, you can choose to strategically gift items and assets to your family members and heirs to reduce the total value of your possessions.
If you worry about how such distributions could impact your family or that they might result in the misuse of your assets, the creation and funding of a trust can be another means by which to insured Medicaid eligibility. You can place many assets in a trust, from financial accounts to the title for your home. So long as you do so at least five years before you apply for Medicaid, those assets should have protection from liquidation to pay for medical expenses.
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]]>The post A Bulletproof Trust Can Help You Protect Your Heirs From Mistakes appeared first on The Hughes Law Firm.
]]>However, there are many different kinds of trusts, and the way that you structure a trust, as well as which people you name as beneficiaries, will impact how easily the trustee can manage the administration of your trust. There are certain issues that you may have to worry about impacting your planned legacy, including the risk of your family members divorcing or winding up in debt.
While you can’t control the fiscal and familial decisions of your family members, you can engage in careful estate planning practices to minimize the impact of their mistakes on your legacy.
In a standard last will, the heirs and beneficiaries receive a lump-sum benefit paid out from the estate. It is then the responsibility of the recipients to properly safeguard those assets from financial difficulty in the future.
One of the most common mistakes that people make with their inheritance is the decision to deposit it in a joint household account or to allow their spouse access to their inheritance. Once someone has commingled their inheritance with assets owned jointly in their marriage, their spouse will have a claim to a portion of that inheritance if they divorce. The creation of a trust can reduce the risk of that happening.
You can structure how and when your heirs can access the assets left behind for them. Although your loved ones can use trust funds for their cost-of-living expenses, they can’t deposit them into a joint account, leaving them less vulnerable to claims by a spouse in a divorce. While some heirs may find a trust frustrating because it will limit how and when they access the resources you leave behind, a trust offers them protection from long-term issues, including divorce, as well as debt problems in the future.
People who inherit a large amount of money may spend those assets frivolously, failing to consider both their tax obligations and how they may need those assets in the future. Other people can find themselves facing financial hardship through no fault of their own, potentially due to a motor vehicle accident or a serious illness, such as cancer.
Placing the assets you want to leave behind for your loved ones in a trust limits the ability of creditors to go after those assets in the future. In fact, in some cases, a trust can protect your loved one by helping them qualify for state benefit programs, such as Medicaid, when they need substantial medical care.
The right kind of trust can protect the assets, funds and legacy that you want to leave for the people you love. A trust gives you more control over the use of the assets you leave behind and protects your loved ones from the loss of those assets through divorce or creditor collection efforts.
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]]>The post Defending Your Actions And Decisions As Executor Of An Estate appeared first on The Hughes Law Firm.
]]>In addition to obtaining records and paying bills, an executor or administrator must do their best to fulfill all of the expectations set by the deceased party in their last will. That could be a pretty difficult job to perform, especially for someone who already has a job or a family to care for.
Still, most people serving as executor or administrator for an estate want to do right by the person who trusted them with that authority. Even if you fulfill your obligations to the estate to the best of your ability, you may find yourself dealing with contentious or angry heirs, family members or estate beneficiaries who want to challenge your role or performance as administrator.
If you know what needs to be done and have the time and ability to do it, you may want to handle things as quickly and efficiently as possible. Unfortunately, efficiency won’t be the primary guiding factor in the administration of an estate. Instead, careful compliance with the requests of the deceased and the laws of the state of Colorado are what matter most.
You should make sure that the will or estate plan is valid and that all of the terms set in the document comply with state law before you begin handling the estate. Once you do assume your role officially, make it a priority to document every single thing you do.
From calling creditors to giving the vintage family china to a granddaughter of the deceased, you need a thorough record of every asset you distribute and every bill you pay. That way, if someone does bring a challenge against you, you can prove you have been fulfilling your obligations to the best of your ability.
People expecting a massive windfall from an estate may take legal action when reality doesn’t measure up to their expectations. Challenging the estate or executor may seem like a way for that person to secure a bigger piece of the proverbial pie.
However, what they are actually doing is diminishing the overall size of the pie, which means that even if they do manage to get a bigger slice, they may still end up with the same amount of pie overall. It is unfortunate that the actions of one individual could impact the inheritance of many and the legacy of someone else, but you can’t control the actions of others.
All you can control is how you manage the estate and record your actions. Provided that you fulfill your duty and follow the wishes of the testator, you should be able to defend against complaints and challenges brought by those unhappy with the terms of the estate.
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]]>The post Do You Have A Valid Reason To Contest A Last Will Or Estate Plan? appeared first on The Hughes Law Firm.
]]>If the deceased party is your parent, perhaps they disinherited you and your siblings in favor of your stepparent. It could also be possible that your family member chose to leave a large amount of money to someone outside of the family, such as the home health aide who provided care during their final months of life.
If you find yourself confronted by unexpected changes to the last will of someone close to you, you may need to explore whether you have the legal right to contest the last will or estate plan. Only very specific circumstances allow for the successful challenging of an existing estate plan.
As people get older, their cognitive function declines. Both injuries and illnesses, as well as age-related issues, can impact a person’s ability to make rational decisions. Older adults who suffer head injuries or who have a medical condition that contributes to cognitive decline may make decisions in their later years that do not reflect the wishes they held for the majority of their life.
If the changes to the last will took place after your loved one was already struggling with some kind of decreased cognitive function, you may be able to challenge the will because the testator was not fully in their right mind at the time that they created or signed the documents.
A last will or estate plan is supposed to reflect the specific wishes of the individual creating it. Unfortunately, other people can do their best to try to control or manipulate someone during the estate planning process for their own benefit.
If your loved one disinherited family members or a preferred charity in favor of leaving money to an unrelated caregiver, that individual may have intentionally manipulated your loved one through their position of authority.
It is also possible for family members, including spouses and children, particularly those who cohabit with the testator or who provide medical or social support to them, to pressure or influence someone to change their legacy.
One of the more common concerns people have about a last will is whether fraud played a role in its creation. Fraud could come in many forms.
Fraud could involve someone else creating a document that benefits them and tricking the testator into signing the document, potentially by claiming it is something else altogether. Some people could also forge signatures or even use falsified identification to sign on behalf of someone else in the presence of a notary. If you have any reason to suspect that fraud played a role in the creation of or changes to a last will or estate plan, those concerns may be an adequate reason to challenge the will.
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]]>The post Retirement Preparations Should Include Estate Planning appeared first on The Hughes Law Firm.
]]>Too many people overlook an important area of retirement planning. If you don’t already have an estate plan and last will in place, now is the time to create one. If you created one years ago, it is likely that your family situation and financial circumstances have shifted drastically since then.
Those life changes mean that you should review your last will or estate plan in depth and consider making any necessary changes. Outdated language in your last will makes it more vulnerable to challenges from family members who aren’t happy with your plans. Dying without a last will could leave you without any control over your legacy.
Many people create an estate plan, in part, to ensure that their children have a caregiver and assets to their name if something tragic happens. If your children have grown up and left the home, you should remove any language talking about a guardian for them. It is possible that you have had more children or that you want to include your grandchildren in the last will. You can add new beneficiaries while removing unwanted ones.
If you have divorced, you want to remove your ex from any of the documents, including your advance medical directive and power of attorney documents. If you got remarried, you probably want to add your new spouse. In some cases, people for whom you wanted to leave something have passed on or are no longer part of your life. Making updates now helps ensure that you have an accurate and thorough estate plan.
As you grow older, you may need increasing levels of support and care. Eventually, a nursing home could be necessary for your safety and medical care. Unfortunately, Medicare and private insurance typically won’t cover in-patient nursing home care. Instead, you will need to qualify for Medicaid.
Planning now for future medical needs could include creating or updating your advance medical directive. It could also mean creating a trust or transferring assets to loved ones now as gifts to help ensure that you can qualify for Medicaid when the time comes.
Creating power of attorney documents that authorize someone to make financial and medical decisions on your behalf is also an important concern. Even if you have taken these steps before, if your opinion about your medical needs or your family has changed, updating your wishes is usually a good decision.
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