Medicaid

My favorite hobby is reading and I try to combine my love of reading with my profession of estate planning.  The plots of some of my favorite books are about dysfunctional family relationships complicated by really bad estate planning!

Here are three books I recommend where siblings were torn apart by their parents’ bad estate planning choices.

The Nest

by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney

The four siblings of the Plumb family - Leo, Melody, Beatrice, and Jack- are the beneficiaries of a trust fund they call “The Nest” left to them by their father. The terms of the trust provide that the trust assets will be distributed equally to the four siblings when the youngest, Melody, reaches age 40.

When the book begins, Melody is fast-approaching her 40^th birthday, and each of the siblings is anxiously awaiting the distribution that could solve their self-inflicted life problems.
Read more . . .

In my practice, I spend a lot of time educating clients about the need to have an Advance Directive for Healthcare in place so that someone can make healthcare decisions for them if they are unable to make those decisions or to communicate them.  But what does the healthcare agent or surrogate do?

When nominated to become a surrogate healthcare decision maker for someone, you may be asked to make decisions about what healthcare procedures and care will be appropriate for someone other than yourself. You will only be asked to make healthcare decisions if the person is not able to make or communicate those decisions.  What that means is that you may have to decide what the person would want without ever having discussed the issue with them.

In general, as a healthcare surrogate you will have the right to:

• Make choices about all medical care for the person, to include surgery, medical tests, medical tests or pain management.
  Read more . . .
  
  

Concerned about how your parents will pay for their long-term care?  Here are the four basic ways to pay for care.

Joe, an 89-year-old veteran served in WWII.  He and his wife, Mary, have been living in an assisted living facility for three years and Joe has been receiving VA Pension with Special Monthly Pension for Aid and Attendance.  Joe recently fell, and his physician has decided Joe cannot return to the assisted living facility.  Joe is now in a Nursing Home and needs to apply for Medicaid to cover the cost of his care.   

VA Pension Benefits can be a lifesaver for veterans or their surviving spouses who need home care or assisted living facility care.
Read more . . .