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We are planning our 1st Elder Law Forum: The Challenges of Home, Hospital and Facility-Based Care.
This will be a forum for diverse professionals with a common interest and will feature a unique array of presenters from health care, insurance, government, law and consumer advocates who will address critical questions facing seniors and people with disabilities living in Florida. We will focus on home and community based care initiatives to provide a vision of the future that includes rapid changes in health care and responses to budget cuts. Stay tuned for details. | |
We provide The Elder Law Update to our clients and our colleagues who make up a wide range of service providers for seniors and people with disabilities to facilitate the dissemination of helpful and accurate information. We thank you for letting us share our knowledge with you. We continue to welcome your comments and questions. You may send them to Info@ElderLawAssociates.com.
Partner Ellen S. Morris published an article on the latest developments in the area of elder law in the Florida legislature for The Elder Law Advocate, entitled "What Happened in the Florida Legislature of Interest to Us?" It specifically provides a summary of bills of interest to elder law attorneys that are expected to be or have been signed by the governor.
Wealth Counsel, a quarterly magazine for the estate planning community, recently published an article Partner Howard S. Krooks, CELA, entitled "How the DRA Has Affected the Use of Personal Care Contracts."
It details how Medicaid agencies have responded to the upswing in the use of personal care contracts, and what you need to know when preparing a personal care contract for a loved one. |
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New Alzheimer's Drug Brings Hope to Millions
 On July 30, The Scotsman newspaper from Edinburgh, Scotland ran a story about a potentially groundbreaking new drug designed to arrest the development of Alzheimer's disease.
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Online Calculator Gives Personalized Estimate of Future Social Security Benefit
 The Social Security Administration (SSA) has unveiled a new online calculator that allows you to project what your monthly Social Security benefit will be based on your actual work record. The Retirement Estimator also lets you create "what if" retirement scenarios based on different earnings projections and retirement ages. The calculator requires inputting personal information like your Social Security number, date of birth and mother's maiden name, but the SSA says the site is secure.
Since the calculator is tied to your actual Social Security earnings record, there is no need to manually enter years of earnings information. The Retirement Estimator is also interactive, allowing you to compare different retirement options by changing your "stop work" dates or expected earnings. With the click of the mouse, you can calculate the difference in benefits if you retired at age 62 rather than, say, 66, and how reducing your current income by switching to part-time work will affect your benefit.
You cannot use the calculator if you do not have enough Social Security credits at this time to qualify for benefits or you are already receiving Social Security benefits. The SSA also stresses that retirement estimates are just that, estimates. They will vary somewhat from the actual benefit you may receive, in part because the actual future benefit will be adjusted for inflation.
For more on the Retirement Estimator, click here. | |
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How Parents Can Provide for a Caregiver Child
 Taking care of a parent can be a full-time job. Children may have to give up paying jobs in order to provide care to aging parents. Unfortunately, caregiving is usually unpaid work. Parents who want to compensate a child who takes on the burden of caregiving may do so in one of several ways.
- Caregiver Agreements. Caregiver agreements are an increasingly popular way to ensure a caregiver child is compensated for the child's work. A caregiver agreement (also called a personal care contract) is a contract between a parent and a child (or other family member) in which the parent agrees to reimburse the child for caring for the parent. These agreements have many benefits. They provide a way to reward the family member doing the work. They can help alleviate tension between family members by making sure caregiving is fairly compensated. In addition, they can be a be a key part of Medicaid planning, helping to spend down savings so that the parent might more easily be able to qualify for Medicaid long-term care coverage, if necessary. The downside to caregiver agreements is that the income is taxable. For more information on caregiver agreements, click here. Note that such agreements should not be drawn up without the help of a qualified elder law attorney.
- Estate Plan. A parent can leave a caregiver child an additional amount in the parent's will or trust. The problem with this method of compensation is that it can lead to conflict between siblings or other family members. If a parent chooses to go this route, it is important that the parent explain his or her reasoning to any other children or family members that might be upset. Communication between the family members can prevent problems later. In addition, to avoid any appearance of undue influence, the parent should not involve the child in drafting the estate plan. For more information on preventing a will contest, click here.
- House. If a parent doesn't have cash to compensate a child, the parent may transfer the parent's house to the caregiver child. The parent can transfer the house outright and retain a life estate for him- or herself or the parent could make the child a co-owner of the house. If the caregiver child has lived with the parent for at least two years, transferring a house can have Medicaid planning advantages as well. However, transferring a house can have serious tax and other consequences, so before taking this step it is important to consult with an elder law attorney.
- Life Insurance Policy. Another option for compensating a caregiver is to take out a life insurance policy in the child's name. The benefit of this method is that the life insurance policy will go directly to the child, avoiding probate, but the downside is the life insurance policy could be very expensive.
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New Web Site Invites Reviews of Nursing Homes and Other Senior Care Services
 A new Web site, seniorDECISION, features consumer ratings and reviews of nursing homes, assisted living, retirement communities, and home health care agencies. The site is a forum for seniors, caregivers, and aging professionals to share opinions on more than 75,000 senior care and housing services nationwide.
Unlike many Web sites that provide nothing more than text lifted from company-produced brochures, seniorDECISION offers first-hand accounts from people who are receiving senior care services, living in senior housing, or by their family members. Site visitors can choose to write a review, read previously posted reviews, and keep abreast of the latest news on senior issues provided by industry experts. There is no cost to use seniorDECISION and the site does not accept industry advertising.
seniorDECISION was founded by Maryland husband-and-wife team Rob and Jennifer Liebreich in response to the frustrating and emotionally draining experience of arranging housing and care for their grandparents. Motivated by a desire to make the process easier for other caregivers, Rob left his career in the telecommunications field and earned an MBA through Johns Hopkins University's Senior Care and Housing Program.
This led to a position as director of marketing and sales for a large senior housing provider. Despite Rob's success in this role, both he and Jennifer, a former senior advocate for the Southwest Suburban Center on Aging, were challenged by the idea of how they could help caregivers on a national basis.
"We knew from personal experience the difficulty and heartbreak in researching and choosing the 'right' senior care," said Jennifer. "Finding unbiased reports is difficult and first-hand experiences, almost impossible. We wanted to change that. With so much at stake, caregivers should feel they've made the best choices with the best, unbiased information available."
The Liebreichs were convinced that family members needed a place to share their experiences with senior care -- both good and bad -- with others in the same situation. Further, they believed that making consumer feedback accessible would help industry providers improve their operations.
The site's seniorACTIVE subscription service notifies providers when reviews are posted about them and gives them the opportunity to respond publicly to consumer reviews. "We designed the site to be a win-win for caregivers and those in the senior care and housing industry," said Rob.
Consumers are invited to post reviews, which can be done anonymously. Reviewers rate providers and share opinions on topics ranging from cost to cleanliness, administration to activities. Detailed compliments or complaints are encouraged, not just to speak one's mind, but to give others a helping hand as they navigate the myriad care and housing options available for loved ones. Posting a review on the Web site takes less than five minutes and can be accomplished in five easy steps:
- Go to www.seniordecision.com
- Click on the green box that reads "write a review"
- Type in a Provider's name
- Rate the Provider on a scale of 1 to 5 (5 is highly recommend); write a comment
- Fill in the registration boxes and click "submit." It's free and anonymous.
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Millions of Retirees and Vets Are Leaving Stimulus Money on the Table
 The IRS reports that more than 5 million retirees and disabled veterans who are eligible to receive a tax rebate under the $152 billion economic stimulus package have failed to take the steps necessary to get their checks. As we have previously reported, Social Security recipients (including beneficiaries receiving Social Security Disability Income) and disabled veterans who earned at least $3,000 in qualified benefits, earned income, or both, may be eligible to receive an economic stimulus payment of up to $300 per person or $600 per couple.
But there is a catch. In order to receive an economic stimulus payment, eligible retirees or veterans must file a 2007 income tax return, even if they are not required to file because their income is below the filing threshold. Since many low-income retirees have not filed a tax return in many years, they may not be aware that they are eligible to receive a stimulus payment. Most people in this situation will be able to file a Form 1040A, with only a few lines filled, in order to meet the filing requirement. This can be done up until October 15, 2008.
People with disabilities also have good news regarding the stimulus payments. Although SSI payments do not count towards the $3,000 annual income requirement for receipt of a stimulus payment, many SSI beneficiaries also receive SSDI benefits which do count. The Social Security Administration (SSA) has issued instructions explaining that the stimulus payments do not count as income in determining SSI eligibility and will not count as a resource for two months following the month in which they are received. (See earlier article.)
For more information on the stimulus payments and what income tax forms to file, go to www.irs.gov or call 1-800-829-1040.
For a recent article in USA Today detailing the IRS's efforts to reach out to seniors and veterans with disabilities, click here.
For state fact sheets on unclaimed stimulus payments, click here. |
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Elder Law Associates PA is a boutique elder law firm that practices exclusively in Medicaid and long term care planning including long term care insurance, Medicaid applications, home and community-based Medicaid waiver services, diversion program benefits, nursing home benefits, spousal refusal applications, and Medicaid fair hearings and appeals; nursing home and assisted living facility residents' rights litigation; asset preservation planning with a special focus on planning in light of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, including personal service agreements, the purchase of life estates, income producing real estate and spenddown planning; disability planning, including special needs trusts and guardianship; estate planning, including wills and trusts and advance directives; and probate, which encompasses estate and trust administration as well as litigation.
We assist clients in planning for the possibility of disability, incapacity, home health care, assisted living and/or nursing home placement. Our firm enables clients to avoid impoverishment caused by the escalating cost of long term care, to maintain their right to make health care decisions and to avoid unnecessary medical treatment.
We hope you have enjoyed The Elder Law Update. If you have questions about something you read, elder law matters or issues concerning persons with disabilities, we would be delighted to hear from you. We serve as an elder law resource to many professionals and organizations and want to become your elder law resource as well. You can reach us at Info@ElderLawAssociates.com.
Warm regards,
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Ellen S. Morris, Esq. & Howard S. Krooks, Esq., CELA
Elder Law Associates PA
phone: (561) 750-3850 / (800) 353-3752
fax: (561) 750-4069
This publication is intended for general information purposes only. It is not intended to constitute individual legal advice to any specific client.
To comply with the U.S. Treasury regulations, we must inform you that (i) any U.S. federal tax advice contained in this newsletter was not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, by any person for the purpose of avoiding U.S. federal tax penalties that may be imposed on such person and (ii) each taxpayer should seek advice from their tax advisor based on the taxpayer's particular circumstances.
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