According to a study conducted by Caring.com, the percentage of people aged fifty-five and older who have created a will has fallen from 60 percent to 44 percent since 2019.[1] Although creating or updating your estate planning may seem like a daunting task, a proper estate plan can help address the concerns you may face…
When your aging parent, or elderly loved one, is having difficulty paying their bills, or needs medical care they can’t afford, you probably want to pitch in and help. Doing so with your own pocketbook will mean less money available to pay your bills and save for your own retirement. You attempting to solve your…
We often are asked if a parent sells assets to have funds to pay for a nursing home, or assisted living facility, will there be a penalty or waiting period before the parent can qualify for Medicaid benefits. The simple answer to that question is no. There is no transfer penalty or waiting period when…
What are advance directives and why should everyone have them? Advance directives allow you to plan for the possibility that you may one day be unable to make your own medical and financial decisions. In doing so, there can be confusion about the differences between the various advance directives. Among the most important…
A durable power of attorney is one of the most important estate planning documents you can create, but it is also one that can be misused. While it isn’t possible to entirely prevent the possibility of abuse, there are steps you can take in drafting the document to greatly reduce the chances. A power of…
When our client’s daughter, Natalie entered the emergency room of the hospital, the scene was very intense. Her mother, who lived in a care center had been very ill for months. The paramedics that had brought her in were working CPR, trying to revive her. Natalie’s sisters stood emotionally distressed by the door of the…
Immediate annuities can be a useful tool to protect the spouse of a nursing home resident who applies for Medicaid. These types of annuities allow the nursing home resident to spend down assets and give the spouse a guaranteed income. But while immediate annuities for Medicaid planning work in Florida, they may not work in…
Is Medicaid planning complex? Sometimes, Medicaid planning can be easy. An example might be when there is a need for a Qualified Income Trust, for a nursing home resident who has spent down their assets to practically zero, and whose income is above the Medicaid limit of $2,313 for 2019. You just fill out the…
Frequently, we are asked whether the client can engage in Medicaid planning and the preparation of a qualified income trust, or Miller Trust, on their own. The short answer is that “yes” a person can do their own Medicaid planning and prepare their own qualified income trust. What you “can” do and what you “should”…
The following dollar amounts represent the Medicaid income and asset limits for 2019. If an individual exceeds these limits, they will not qualify for Florida Medicaid Institutional Care Program benefits, to help pay the cost of long term care in a skilled nursing facility. Often, when someone has excess income or assets, there are legal…
