We bring up and discuss Medicaid with our clients as we find most Middle-Class Americans cannot afford Long Term Care, long term. Medicaid benefits can be used in conjunction with Veteran’s Aid and Attendance if you qualify.
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Throughout our busy office, we often hear the adult children of our clients say, “We need to get our estate planning done so that we don’t leave a mess for our children, like what we had to deal with for Mom and Dad.”
If this quote seems all too familiar to you, then let this be the year to make a meaningful New Year’s Resolution that will change your life for the better. As an experienced estate planning and elder law firm in Hilliard and Findlay, Ohio, we can help you establish and tackle estate planning goals.
There are lots of misconceptions about estate planning, and any one of them can result in costly mistakes. Understanding who needs an estate plan and what it should cover is key to creating a plan that is right for you.
Top Reasons Everyone Needs a Comprehensive Power of Attorney
The benefits of a highly detailed, comprehensive power of attorney are numerous. Unfortunately, many powers of attorney are more general in nature and can actually cause more problems than they solve, especially for our seniors. Below are the highlights of the benefits a comprehensive, detailed power of attorney, including some of the provisions that should be included.
There are currently over 25 million veterans alive in the United States. There are over 9 million surviving spouses of veterans currently living in the United States. Many of these veterans and surviving spouses are receiving long term care or will need some type of long term care in the near future, and there are funds available from the Veterans Administration (“VA”) to help pay for that care.
A revocable living trust, which is often just called a living trust, is a legal tool that is created to ‘hold’ the assets of an individual. This individual, known as a grantor, can control and manage all the assets placed within the trust, or they can assign another party to do this on their behalf. Having assets held in a trust like this can provide a variety of different benefits both now, and after the grantor has passed away.
Providing care for a senior family member, particularly long-term care, can bring about lost wages and missed opportunities for the caregiver. A report by Genworth entitled Beyond Dollars 2018 shows that although statistically having to miss work to provide care is down 7% from 2015, overall 70% of caregivers still report missing work because of caregiving responsibilities.
This is the time of year we like to pause and reflect on that for which we are thankful. In our personal lives, we often share these thoughts around the table at Thanksgiving. In our professional life, the words “thank you” are not said often enough. We would like to say “thank you” for the people and things that make our lives more fulfilling. Here are five things we Elder Law Attorneys are thankful for.
Medicare and Medicaid have long been a mystery to many consumers. In fact, it can baffle and confuse even some of the smartest citizens. Like me, you might have thought, “I don’t need to worry about this right now.” However, it is never too early to gain a little understanding and awareness that just might help you help an aging loved one or yourself down the road.
Early planning is best, to consult an elder law attorney at least five years before the need for Medicaid arrives. If that is not possible, an experienced elder law attorney can find other, less-fraught ways than divorce.