Stefans Law Group, P.C.

Great News!

Posted on April 24, 2012 by glmain

“For the past year, my clients have been wondering how to plan for Long Term Care in light of the change in the Medicaid regulations proposed on 2011. I am proud to be a part of the New York State Bar Elderlaw Committee and the New York National Academy of Elderlaw Attorneys who fought hard and won in the latest budget battle canceling the proposed regulations. Please read the below article on the latest changes in the Medicaid rules for 2012-2013. Finally, as always, please call us if you have any questions as to how this will affect YOUR estate plan.”
- Donna M. Stefans, Esq. of Stefans Law Group, PC.

Great News! In New York, Spousal Refusal Lives and Expanded Recovery Dies

New York elder law attorneys achieved two major victories in the state’s recently finalized 2012-2013 budget. They beat back a proposal by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to remove the right of spousal refusal for those seeking Medicaid coverage of care in the community. Not only that, but they managed to include in the new budget repeal of expanded estate recovery rules enacted in last year’s budget.

As we reported, Gov. Cuomo’s budget plan initially had a proposal to make spousal refusal invalid unless the spouse both refused to provide care and assistance and was absent from the home.

Members of the New York State Bar Association’s Elder Law Section and the New York Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys rallied to fight the proposal, arguing that eliminating spousal refusal for those seeking care in the community would encourage separation and divorce and force the elderly to enter nursing homes.

In February, elder law attorneys traveled to the State Capitol in Albany to lobby in person for the preservation of the spousal refusal option and, secondarily, for the repeal expanded Medicaid estate recovery. When the final budget was unveiled in late March, the spousal refusal provision was gone and recovery was once again limited to the probate estate.

Donna M. Stefans Esq.
Stefans Law Group, PC
137 Woodbury Road
Woodbury, NY 11797
516-692-2744
www.stefanslawgroup.com

Posted in Social Security, elder law, medicaid | Tagged elder law, financial planning, lawyer, medicaid, medicaid plan, medicaid planning, ny, planning | Leave a comment

ARE YOU LISTENING?

Posted on February 23, 2012 by glmain

Elder Parent “As we go through the difficult stages of life, our family dynamics are continuously changing. One of the most challenging evolutions is assisting parents with their financial and care needs as they age. Where most of our life we are accustomed to being taken care of by our mom and dad, the roles may start to reverse. This unknown territory can be quite difficult for a family to adjust to. However, when the family members can communicate and support each other, the rewards of love, support and family unity can be priceless. Here are some tools and ideas to think about if you are faced with this experience in life.” Donna M. Stefans, Esq.

ARE YOU LISTENING?
National Care Planning Council

Remember when your parents were lecturing you on the rules for taking the car for a spin? Dad would put his face in front of yours and say, “Are you listening?” Of course you would say “sure” even though your mind was miles away on the adventure to come.

Today, as adults, the children who received the counsel and wisdom of their parents are facing a reverse situation in their lives. They are finding themselves concerned about their aging parents and what their needs will be as their health and mental abilities fail them. In some cases the children must take the role as parent in securing the safety and well being of an elderly family member.

Julie lives 600 miles from her mother. Knowing her mothers health is frail and she lives alone, Julie calls her every evening after work. The conversation always goes like this;

“How are you doing today Mom, Julie asks?

“Everything’s fine”, Mother replies.

“Are you taking your pills?”
“Yes, everything’s fine.”
“Do you need anything?”
“Everything’s fine.”

Julie does not get much more conversation from her mother. Perhaps everything is fine, or perhaps Julie’s mother just wants Julie to think she can take care of herself. Even worse, mother could think all is fine and be forgetting her medication and not eating properly.

Is Julie really listening? ARE YOU LISTENING?

It may be time to put your face in front of your parent and listen.

Assuming that all is well and that your elderly family member knows and does what is best for them, may be putting them at risk.

Become a partner with them in their care. The best time to form the partnership is before a crisis happens.

Donna Schempp, a licensed clinical social worker and program director at the Family Caregiver Alliance, states that in talking to your parents, “The sooner, the better.” If you bring up the subject before your parents need any extra support, “then it’s not crisis driven,” she explains. “It’s not a way of saying, ‘Mom, Dad, there’s something wrong with you.”

A good way to begin is to sit with your parents and ask questions like, what are your concerns for the future. Do you want to remain in your home? Are you worried about losing your independence? Listen to their answers. You might relate your concerns as well, or you desire to be of help.

In become a partner in planning for care and helping your loved one, you need to know what legal and financial arrangements are in place. By asking, “What if you had a stroke, Mom, I would need to know where your medical and insurance documents are and what you would have me do in your behalf.”

The next step might be to accompany them to their doctor appointment so to understand what their medical needs are and help create a plan for future needs.

The National Care Planning Council’s book “The 4 Steps of Long Term Care Planning” gives the following list of most common services family care givers will provide for their parents.

Walking, lifting, and bathing
Using the bathroom and with incontinence
Providing pain management
Preventing unsafe behavior and preventing wandering
Providing comfort and assurance or arranging for professional counseling
Feeding
Answering the phone
Making arrangements for therapy, meeting medical needs, and doctors’ appointments
Providing meals
Maintaining the household
Shopping and running errands
Providing transportation
Administering medications
Managing money and paying bills
Doing the laundry
Attending to personal hygiene and personal grooming
Writing letters or notes
Making repairs to the home, maintaining a yard

There are many resources available to help families in caring for their elder parents. As you become involved you will know when it is time to bring in professional services to help or when the need to find new living arrangements is necessary.

Beginning now, to talk, listen and plan together can make the journey more pleasant for everyone involved.

Posted in elder law | Leave a comment

Life Estates & Medicaid: What you need to know

Posted on January 27, 2012 by glmain

“As we go through the difficult stages of life, our family dynamics are continuously changing. One of the most challenging evolutions is assisting parents with their Elder Parent financial and care needs as they age. Where most of our life we are accustomed to being taken care of by our mom and dad, the roles may start to reverse. This unknown territory can be quite difficult for a family to adjust to. However, when the family members can communicate and support each other, the rewards of love, support and family unity can be priceless. Here are some tools and ideas to think about if you are faced with this experience in life.” Donna M. Stefans, Esq.

ARE YOU LISTENING?
National Care Planning Council

Julie lives 600 miles from her mother. Knowing her mothers health is frail and she lives alone, Julie calls her every evening after work. The conversation always goes like this;

Is Julie really listening? ARE YOU LISTENING?

It may be time to put your face in front of your parent and listen.

Assuming that all is well and that your elderly family member knows and does what is best for them, may be putting them at risk.

Become a partner with them in their care. The best time to form the partnership is before a crisis happens.

The next step might be to accompany them to their doctor appointment so to understand what their medical needs are and help create a plan for future needs.

The National Care Planning Council’s book “The 4 Steps of Long Term Care Planning” gives the following list of most common services family care givers will provide for their parents.

Walking, lifting, and bathing
Using the bathroom and with incontinence
Providing pain management
Preventing unsafe behavior and preventing wandering
Providing comfort and assurance or arranging for professional counseling
Feeding
Answering the phone
Making arrangements for therapy, meeting medical needs, and doctors’ appointments
Providing meals
Maintaining the household
Shopping and running errands
Providing transportation
Administering medications
Managing money and paying bills
Doing the laundry
Attending to personal hygiene and personal grooming
Writing letters or notes
Making repairs to the home, maintaining a yard

Beginning now, to talk, listen and plan together can make the journey more pleasant for everyone involved.

Posted in medicaid | Tagged asset protection, elder law, estate administration, Estate Planning, healthcare proxies, irrevocable trusts, living wills, medicaid planning, nassau county estate planning lawyers, poa, power of attorney, probate, revocable trusts, special needs care, special needs planning, suffolk county estate administration attorneys | Leave a comment

Medicaid: Pooled Trusts as an Income Protection Plan

Posted on November 22, 2011 by glmain

Do you or a loved one need long term home care services? Are you considering applying for Medicaid? Do the income qualifications for the Medicaid home care program deter you from utilizing Medicaid home care services? If this is the case then a Pooled Income Trust is an option you may wish to consider to protect your excess income, while still allowing you to qualify for Medicaid coverage.

A Pooled Income Trust is part of a long term care plan that is essential to anyone who requires Medicaid services but is ineligible because of surplus income. Contributing those excess funds to a Pooled Trust is a win-win scenario because during your life you are still entitled to receive the benefits of your income, and after your life you are contributing to provide for others with such disabilities who are in need of assistance.

Currently, in New York, to be eligible for Medicaid services you can retain no more than $787/month in income (plus the cost for health insurance premiums) and have $13,800 in resources. Individuals with income in excess of $787 are often deterred from applying for Medicaid services because of income qualifications, or even worse, they forfeit their “excess” income to Medicaid (called a “spend down”) to receive needed Medicaid services. This forfeiture of income, or spend down, results in the inability of these individuals to afford necessities, expenses and bills of day-to-day living.

A Pooled Income Trust is used to protect “excess” income, by allowing an individual to use that income while still qualifying and/or receiving Medicaid benefits. Essentially, a Pooled Income Trust will allow an individual to contribute their “excess” income to the Trust and then the Trust will pay out expenses. The individual may utilize the “excess” income they contribute to the Trust for expenses including rent, food, clothing, household expenses, credit card bills, and most expenses that benefit the recipient only (minus the fees that the Trust charges).

Let’s examine a practical example of how this would work. Sally is a 68 year-old woman who has on-going, long term health care needs and expenses. Her income each month is $3,787, but she wants to apply for Medicaid to assist with her health care needs. Sally also has $3,200 in monthly expenses. Therefore, even though Sally will net less than the amount allowed by Medicaid (she is left with $587 in her pocket after her bills are paid), she will not qualify because her gross income (income before expenses are paid) is more than the allowable $787. Therefore, Sally should fund the trust with the excess $3,000 she receives in income, and she can keep the $787. When Sally’s rent or mortgage becomes due or she needs to purchase food and pay her utility bills, she simply will submit a copy of the bill for each expense to the Trust and the Trust will pay those expenses on her behalf.

This may sound too good to be true, so how does the Pooled Income Trust benefit the charitable organization managing the client’s income? The Pooled Income Trust operates from two sources. First, the Trusts charge fees for enrollment, maintenance and administration of the Trust. Each organization offers different benefits and associated fees. Second, a common condition of participating in a Pooled Income Trust is that after the individual dies the Trust will retain the income and/or remaining principal of the individual’s trust. The remaining Trust funds will be used for the benefit of other disabled persons, as long as, the funds stay within the non-profit organization.

It is important to consult your Elder Law attorney when considering whether a Pooled Income Trust is the right option for you. An experienced attorney can assist with choosing which non-profit organization Pooled Income Trust program is right for your needs. Additionally, other important issues exist in these scenarios, including but not limited to allowable pre-Medicaid transfers of assets, Medicaid eligibility and application.

As always please feel free to contact our firm, Stefans Law Group, PC at (516)692-2744. We welcome the opportunity to assist you. We offer services including planning for your health care needs, as well as, preparing and filing your Medicaid and Pooled Income Trust Applications. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

Posted in medicaid | Tagged elder law, financial planning, lawyer, medicaid, medicaid plan, medicaid planning, ny, planning | Leave a comment

Health Care Proxies: Who will speak for you when you really need it the most?

Posted on November 1, 2011 by glmain

The New New York Family Health Care Decisions Act

In the State of New York one of the most important legal documents you should have during your lifetime is a Health Care Proxy, along with a Living Will. However, many people are not armed with these powerful documents for their vital critical care decisions. This is mostly because they either don’t get around to creating them, or worse, don’t know they even exist.

New York State’s answer to this problem is now found in the NYS Family Health Care Decisions Act (“FHCDA”). However, we firmly believe that the proactive approach of legally stating your wishes in your healthcare documents leave much less room for interpretation as to what your medical wishes might be if the time arises that you cant speak for yourself.

What is a Health Care Proxy?

A Health Care Proxy is a legal document in which you appoint a person, your agent, to act on your behalf regarding medical decisions at a time that you are incapable of making those decisions yourself. The Health Care Proxy gives you the power to choose a close and trusted person as your agent to make those decisions for you, and additionally you can limit and/or specifically decide decisions that the agent will make on your behalf. In short, a Health Care Proxy puts the person you select into your shoes, but only when you are unable to make decisions on your own. It also requires hospitals, nursing homes and doctors to inform and honor the decisions of the person you select, as if they were you.

Why is it important to have a Health Care Proxy?

Most people don’t begin to think about the Health Care Proxy and other estate planning documents until they become ill or come close to retirement. The fact is every person over age 18, should have a health care proxy, young or old, regardless of age and health condition. A Health Care Proxy will ensure (via your chosen agent) that your doctor or health care provider treats you as you would want to be treated regardless of your inability to make those decisions. It is one of the few ways you are able to control what type of medical treatments you receive or don’t receive in this type of situation. It also prevents the possibility that the decision-making power will fall into the hands of someone you may not want as your agent. (See below What if you don’t have a Health Care Proxy)

There are two instances where your Health Care Proxy is essential. First, is when you have the temporary inability to make health care decisions, for example you under general anesthesia and an unexpected medical decision needs to be made. Second, is when you have permanent inability to make health care decisions, for example if you are comatose, in a vegetative state, or suffer from dementia or Alzheimer’s.

In addition to medical decisions your health care agent can make decisions about organ and tissue donation. However, the agent can not make decisions regarding artificial nutrition and hydration unless you specifically discuss your wishes regarding these matters with them and they are in writing via the Living Will legal document. It is important to note that the Health Care Proxy only gives your agent power to make health care decisions.
An additional legal document that can help protect the type of medical care you receive is a living will. A person will often execute a living will as well as a health care proxy. The difference between a living will and a health care proxy is that a living will is a document that provides specific instructions for specific circumstances, where as a health care proxy gives your agent the ability and flexibility to make decisions in accordance with your wishes that may not be mentioned in your living will, or previously discussed or contemplated. Any other, non-medical, decision-making on your behalf, such as the power of an agent to make financial decisions for you, should be discussed with your attorney.

What if you don’t have a Health Care Proxy?

If an individual does not have a Health Care Proxy then The Family Health Care Decisions Act (“FHCDA”) will govern who will act on his/her behalf when incapacitated. The FHCDA provides a prioritized list of persons who may act as the surrogate decision maker (or agent). The list is as follows: a Mental Hygiene Law Article 81 court-appointed guardian, the spouse (if not legally separated) or domestic partner, an adult child, a parent, an adult sibling, a close friend. If a person does not have a guardian, family or available friend then the health care decisions are made by the attending physician in accordance with the standards for such decision making set forth in the FHCDA. Decisions by the attending physician regarding major medical treatment or withdrawal/withholding of life sustaining treatment have added safeguards, which require additional procedural steps before any decision is made.

One of the requirements of the FHCDA is that any medical decision made by a surrogate must be in accordance with the known wishes and/or religious or moral beliefs of the individual. The surrogate has power to terminate or decline life-sustaining treatment in certain circumstances, including extremely burdensome treatment of terminally ill or permanently unconscious patients. The FHCDA also provides that life sustaining treatment can be terminated or refused under other circumstances with approval from an ethics committee or court. Any previous decisions made by the individual orally or in writing, for example in a living will, will supersede any decision made by a surrogate under the FHCDA.

This is precisely why it is important to discuss, clarify and state your wishes, thoughts and preferences regarding the treatments you may or may not want with your agent (and perhaps your health care provider as well). These conversations may include, but are not limited to, the impact of your moral or religious beliefs on the type of medical treatment you receive, specific situations and types of treatment you do or do not want to receive, and general feelings about different types of medical treatment. These discussions will enable your agent to better assess and determine how you would have made the decision.

Posted in elder law | Tagged New New York Family Health Care Decisions Act | Leave a comment

Your Social Security Income – The Check is NOT in the mail

Posted on October 26, 2011 by glmain

For the first time in many years Social Security is making a major change in how seniors and others who qualify for Social Security receive their income checks. While this may take getting used to for some, the benefits far outweigh the minor inconveniences of the change. Social Security Benefit recipients will no longer have to worry about waiting for their paper check in the mail, rushing to the bank to pay bills, or worse, the money just not showing up. When people depend on this income to live month to month these problems can be devastating. In fact, according to the United States Department of the Treasury, 1.3 million people per year report issues with paper checks, 540,000 Social Security checks were reported lost or stolen in 2010, and nearly 50,000 checks were altered or fraudulently endorsed in 2010. The U.S. Department of Treasury is taking a proactive step to make receiving federal benefits quicker, safer and more convenient with a new rule that all beneficiaries must “Go Direct” by March 1, 2013.

What it means to “Go Direct?” Put simply, all persons receiving federal benefits will receive them in the form of electronic payment. Each individual has their choice to receive their benefits via direct deposit or the Direct Express card.

Direct Deposit: The direct deposit option gives the recipient more control and quicker use of their benefit check because the funds are deposited into their bank account at the same time every month and available immediately. Direct deposit provides many benefits including: preventing lost, forged or stolen checks; eliminating the need to go to the bank to deposit your check; removes the possibility of late delivery of benefits, and drastically reducing issues concerning Social Security payments. For those who do not have a bank account the Direct Express card is a great alternative.

The Alternative: If a person chose not to take advantage of the direct deposit option the Direct Express card functions the same as a debit card, without the need for a bank account. Similar to direct deposit, monthly payments are automatically deposited into the cardholder’s account and available immediately. The card can be used to withdraw cash, make purchases or pay bills online. The card is FDIC insured and PIN-protected for added security. The Direct Express card provides many of the same benefits as direct deposit. However, the card will come with added fees including: $0.90 fee for more than one cash withdrawal per month (per transaction); surcharges at certain ATMs; $0.50 for each online bill payment; $0.75 fee to receive a paper statement; and a $4.00 card replacement fee (one replacement is given free per year). See the complete list of fees from www.usdirectexpress.com.

Benefits of “Go Direct”

Fast, safe, secure and convenient delivery of social security and federal benefits.
Reduction of issues, including fraud or loss, with Social Security Payments
Saves us money. The US Treasury will save taxpayers approximately $130 million per year, or over $1 billion over the next ten years, most of which would remain in the Social Security Trust Fund.
Go green. This change will also save trees, or about 12 million pounds of paper in the first five years.

How to “Go Direct”
Direct Deposit: www.godirect.gov or by calling (800) 333-1795, or visit your local bank/credit union branch or contact your local SSA office.
Direct Express Card: www.usdirectexpress.com or call (888) 544-6347 or notify your local SSA office.

Important Dates:
May 1, 2011 – Persons applying for benefits after this date will be required to receive their payments electronically via direct deposit or the Direct Express card.
March 1, 2013 – Persons currently receiving benefits must chose direct deposit or Direct Express card option by this date. Failure to enroll in either of these options will result in a default selection of the Direct Express card.

Stefans Law Group, P.C. and Stefans Associates, Inc. are always a fan of any efforts to go green, especially when it will ultimately put money back in

Posted in Social Security | Tagged Social Security | Leave a comment

Obama Signs Tax-Cut Bill Setting Estate Tax Exemption at $5 Million for Two

Posted on December 22, 2010 by glmain

“Well everyone, the decision we have all been waiting for is FINALLY HERE!
As estate tax planning attorneys, we have been waiting, and waiting, and
waiting to get an answer as to what has happened to our estate tax laws. I
have received many phone calls and questions from clients wanting to know
what to do and how to plan so their legacies do not get desimated by
unnecessary estate tax bills. This week, our government created clarity for
all of us and signed a new estate tax law that is retroactive for 2010 and
extends through 2013. Granted, it is only a patch, for a limited period of
time, but at least we have the ball rolling now. Bottom line, it has never
been a better time to get your estate plan in action!

Congress has passed and President Obama has signed into law the deal
extending the Bush tax cuts that he struck with Congressional Republicans.
The legislation restores the estate tax for two years at a 35 percent tax
rate, with estates up to $5 million exempt from paying any tax ($10 million
for couples). If Congress does not change the law in the interim, in 2013
the estate tax will revert to what it was scheduled to be in 2011 — a 55
percent rate and a $1 million exemption. The $801 billion tax-cut bill makes
several other significant changes to wealth transfer taxes:

The new $5 million estate tax exemption and 35 percent rate are retroactive
to January 1, 2010. The heirs of those dying in 2010 will have a choice
between applying the new rules or electing to be covered under the rules
that have applied in 2010 — no estate tax but only a limited step-up in the
cost basis of inherited assets. This will benefit the heirs of tens of
thousands who died in 2010 with relatively modest estates and who would have
been subject to capital gains tax on inherited assets above a certain
threshold.
The law makes the estate tax exemption “portable” between spouses. This
means that if the first spouse to die does not use all of his or her $5
million exemption, the estate of the surviving spouse could use it.
The law unifies the estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer tax
exemptions at $5 million. (For 2010 there is no generation-skipping tax,
while the gift tax exemption has been $1 million for a number of years.) A
35 percent tax rate will apply to gifts or transfers over the $5 million
threshold. (There is no change in the $13,000 annual exclusion amount for
gifts.) These high exemption levels mean that “[t]he rich will have a
two-year window in 2011 and 2012 to protect huge amounts of their estates
from taxation for generations,” wrote estates attorney Kevin Staker on his
Estate Tax News Blog.

But that window is open even wider than was previously assumed because of an
additional loophole for the wealthy in the new law. Although taxpayers have
until December 31, 2010, to transfer funds outright to grandchildren and
avoid the generation-skipping tax, there’s the risk that the grandkids will
squander the sudden influx of cash. As Forbes blogger Janet Novak explains
in a recent post, “the money doesn’t (as most planners had believed) have to
be distributed outright to the grandkids to qualify for the 0% rate.
Instead, according to the fine print in the tax deal, it can be put in a
trust for them, [noted estate planning lawyer Jonathan] Blattmachr says.
That means, he explains, that money can be taken from an existing
multigenerational trust, declared subject to the 2010 GST tax, and deposited
in a new trust for grandkids’ benefit, with the GST tax now pre-paid at a 0%
rate.” Novak says Blattmachr has been telling his estate planning attorney
peers, “Cancel your ski trip or trip to Hawaii. This is a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity.”

The generous estate tax provisions were the main sticking point for
progressive Democrats. A vote in the House on an amendment to increase the
estate tax, including lowering the exemption to $3.5 million, was defeated
by a vote of 233 to 194. After some minor changes to the bill were made, it
passed the House by a 277 to 148 margin, after having been approved
overwhelmingly by the Senate 81 to 19.

The site Politico quotes one senior House Republican aide as saying, “I’m
trying to remember something that we passed under Bush that was this good.”

Posted in Tax Law, elder law | Tagged Congress, estate tax bill, estate tax planning attorneys, Obama Signs Tax-Cut Bill | Leave a comment

6 Tips on Helping Parents With Finances

Posted on December 6, 2010 by glmain

A frequent challenge for children of seniors who are beginning to fail is how to help them with their finances without taking away their autonomy or getting into a tug-of-war over the issue. Concerns often arise when visiting children find that bills have not been paid, papers are in disorder, or even that utilities have been cut off. It’s not unusual to find parents defrauded by predators or going on a spree on the Home Shopping Network.

All parents, children and the relationships between them come in different flavors. Some parents freely share financial information with their children and readily let them participate in bill paying and investment decisions. Others hold onto control as if their lives depended upon it — and well it might, to the extent that they would lose their identity along with their checkbook. They may even suspect their children of wanting to take their money.

So there’s no single answer for every situation. Following, however, are approaches that we have worked for many of our clients in the past:

Offer to help with bill paying. Permit the senior to continue to control the checkbook, but schedule a monthly sit-down to go through all of the bills that have accumulated. The child can write out the checks, but permit the parent to sign them.
Use the Internet. With on-line access to accounts, children can monitor them without stepping to take control. If unusual payments or transfers occur, children can step in quickly, rather than waiting to review monthly statements.
Segregate accounts. Leave the senior in charge of the family checking account, but take control of investment accounts. This will leave only smaller amounts at risk, rather than the parent’s entire estate.
Make sure the parent does estate planning while competent. Through properly-executed durable powers of attorney and revocable living trusts, children can step in when needed.
Play on parental responsibility. While it is contrary to the traditional parent-child relationship for the child to take over the parent’s finances, it is consistent with such roles for the parent to take care of the child. Pitch the need to help with finances as a way to put the child’s mind at ease, rather than as a response to the parent’s increasing incapacity. This is something the parent can do for the child, rather than the other way around.
If all else fails, it may be necessary for the child or children to seek court appointment as guardian or conservator over the parent’s finances. While this gives them complete control, it removes the parent’s right to make any financial or legal decisions. In addition, it involves legal costs, periodic reporting to the court and, in some instances, the necessity of seeking court approval for expenditures or estate and long-term care planning steps that could be carried out freely under a durable power of attorney or revocable living trust.

Just as there is no single answer for every family situation, it may be necessary to try various interventions to determine which works best. Or, one may work for a while, and then it may become necessary to take a more drastic step if the situation deteriorates.

Posted in elder law | Tagged dementia, elder abuse, Estate Planning, financial assistance | Leave a comment

IRS Issues Long-Term Care Premium Deductibility Limits for 2011

Posted on November 18, 2010 by glmain

Social Security benefits may be stagnant, but the IRS is increasing the amount you can deduct on your 2011 taxes as a result of buying long-term care insurance.

Premiums for “qualified” long-term care insurance policies (see explanation below) are tax deductible provided that they, along with other unreimbursed medical expenses, exceed 7.5 percent of the insured’s adjusted gross income. These premiums — what the policyholder pays the insurance company to keep the policy in force — are deductible for the taxpayer, his or her spouse and other dependents. (If you are self-employed, the tax-deductibility rules are a little different: You can take the amount of the premium as a deduction as long as you made a net profit; your medical expenses do not have to exceed 7.5 percent of your income.)

However, there is a limit on how large a premium can be deducted, depending on the age of the taxpayer at the end of the year. Following are the deductibility limits for 2011. Any premium amounts for the year above these limits are not considered to be a medical expense.

Attained Age before the close of the taxable year	Maximum deduction for year
40 or less	$340
More than 40 but not more than 50	$640
More than 50 but not more than 60	$1,270
More than 60 but not more than 70	$3,390
More than 70	$4,240

What Is a “Qualified” Policy?

To be “qualified,” policies issued on or after January 1, 1997, must adhere to certain requirements, among them that the policy must offer the consumer the options of “inflation” and “nonforfeiture” protection, although the consumer can choose not to purchase these features. Policies purchased before January 1, 1997, will be grandfathered and treated as “qualified” as long as they have been approved by the insurance commissioner of the state in which they are sold. For more on the “qualified” definition, click here.

The Georgetown University Long-Term Care Financing Project has a two-page fact sheet, “Tax Code Treatment of Long-Term Care and Long-Term Care Insurance.” To download it in PDF format, go to: http://ltc.georgetown.edu/pdfs/taxcode.pdf

(If you do not have the free PDF reader installed on your computer, download it here.)

Posted in Social Security, Tax Law | Leave a comment

Hello world!

Posted on October 14, 2010 by glmain

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

ARE YOU LISTENING?

Life Estates & Medicaid: What you need to know

Medicaid: Pooled Trusts as an Income Protection Plan

Health Care Proxies: Who will speak for you when you really need it the most?

The New New York Family Health Care Decisions Act

What is a Health Care Proxy?

Why is it important to have a Health Care Proxy?

What if you don’t have a Health Care Proxy?

Obama Signs Tax-Cut Bill Setting Estate Tax Exemption at $5 Million for Two

6 Tips on Helping Parents With Finances

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