Elder Law Elements

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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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