Elder Law Elements
Are you a mature American (i.e., age 65 or older), do you care about someone who is, or do you anticipate becoming a mature American yourself one day? If so, then, according to the
U.S. Census Bureau, you are in good company. In 1960, there were nearly 17 million mature Americans. Today, there are more than 35 million and by 2010 there will be some 40 million mature
Americans. Thereafter, due to the graying of the Baby-Boom generation, we will witness that figure jump to 53 million in 2020, and to 70 million in 2030! As this mature population
increases, so will the need for Elder Law services.
What is Elder Law?
Generally speaking, Elder Law can be defined as the holistic application of general legal principles to the specific emotional, logistical and financial needs
of mature Americans. Many mature Americans are concerned with two fundamental threats to their dignity: (1) becoming incapacitated, and thereby losing control to the court system over
their personal, health care and financial decisions; and then (2) running out of money due to the catastrophic costs of long-term
(nursing home) care, and ending up on welfare (Medicaid). Fortunately, these threats
may be minimized, or even avoided, through properly coordinated legal and financial planning.
Avoiding Probate at Incapacity
As the number of candles increases on your birthday cake, so do the odds that you will become incapacitated by an injury or illness. Whether incapacity strikes
suddenly, as with an accident or acute illness, or gradually, as with Alzheimer’s Disease, the consequences are the same. Either you will have appointed the back-up decision-makers of your
own selection through proper legal plans or, by default, the probate
court system may step in to appoint them for you ... under the
ongoing supervision of the court. Note: This default approach may
employ at least three lawyers and can be a rather expensive invasion
of your privacy. Accordingly, you may consider probate court a lawyer full-employment program.
Paying for Nursing Home Care
Did you know that, if you are single, you face a 50 percent chance of needing long-term care? If you are age 65 and married, there is a 75 percent chance that
either you or your spouse will need long-term care. The average nursing home stay, by the way, is 2.5 years.
Long-term care is expensive. Nationally speaking, a year in a nursing home is estimated to cost an average of $76,460. Not surprisingly, 50 percent of mature couples become
impoverished within a year after either spouse enters a nursing home. The number jumps to 70 percent for widowed or single persons.
By the way, forget about Medicare paying for your chronic long-term care needs. Medicare only pays for acute nursing home care for up to 100 days, and even then your
eligibility and payments are subject to very strict requirements. Remember, too, Medigap (i.e., Medicare Supplement) policies typically will not pay for your chronic long-term care needs
either.
Qualifying for Medicaid
What about giving away your assets to your loved ones
in order to qualify for Medicaid? Legally speaking, any transfer of assets for less than fair market value may subject you
to a lengthy period of ineligibility under the complex and confusing web of Medicaid Regulations. And transferring assets can be hazardous for other reasons. Consider this: What would
happen if your transfer of assets to loved ones disqualified you for Medicaid assistance, and your loved ones subsequently lost the assets through squandering, divorces, lawsuits or
bankruptcies? Not good.
Asset Protection and Preservation
The key to proper long-term care planning is to plan now rather than to react later. There are numerous legitimate strategies to preserve more of
your assets, but only if you do not procrastinate until it is too late.
One of the best strategies may be to insure your financial security through proper Long-Term Care Insurance. Again, don’t wait too late to apply, because your health actually
purchases Long-Term Care Insurance, your money just pays the premiums.
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