Elder Law 101: Legal Help For Senior Citizens

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elder law, senior citizens law

Senior Citizens:

Senior citizens over the age of 60 are one of the most vulnerable groups in society. With age, comes a whole set of new problems that are unique to this demographic. They must worry about retirement and finances, health, and later end of life care. A number of federal programs like Social Security and Medicare have attempted to ease these burdens, but don’t eliminate them, and in many cases, create a bureaucratic system to receive the benefits. Legal assistance can be very helpful in these stages to make sure all the necessities are addressed.

Retirement and Finances:

Our senior years unfortunately, often come with a financial burden. In this stages many people retire or move to part time in the career, and must make major lifestyle adjustments to accommodate their income and savings. Elder lawyers for senior citizens can help to ensure that social security and other retirement accounts, like 401K, are paid correctly. Taxes must be adjusted per earned income and assets, which can be challenging. Creating a budget and multiyear plan is vital so funds can be disturbed equally. Health care cost also increase dramatically in our senior years.

Health:

Health is a major concern in the later years in life. The cost associate with health care can be major, and must be properly calculated. It must be determined if home care or assisted living can offer you the best options. Determining if and how your insurance will cover this is important as well. Senior citizens are entitled to certain rights regarding patient care and this need to be clear and upfront. An experience legal representative can assist in the health area and advocate for your rights.

End of life care:

Finances and health burdens multiply with the arrival of end of life care. Legal assistance for these aspects is of upmost importance. Power of attorney needs to be appointed to make financial decisions in the case you are unable to. And guardianship for decisions on your behalf regarding your health if you are unable to. Drafting a will is also a priority to ensure your loved ones can maintain possession of our assets. Successful wills require a “Super Lawyer”. A will is a complicated legal document, and there are many things that must be addressed. There are many small precautions to take like adding relatives’ names on to bank accounts, and mortgages. Careful considerations should be given for when to do this. Another major legal and health decision is a “do not resuscitate order”, that is added to your legal records requesting your wishes in case of resuscitation.

All of these decisions are not to be taken likely and have many legal consequences. There are many great law offices that specialize in assisting senior citizens and their experience can be invaluable.

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Medicaid Planning 101: Flushing Away Your Elder Law Concerns

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elder law, medicaid planning

Avoiding Medicaid liens on ones home is a crucial part of planning for your future. Making NY states elder Laws work for you requires learning about your rights in regards to protecting your home. Nursing home care is very expensive and if covered by medicaid the government can put liens on ones property. An irrevocable Medicaid Trust is one strategy to avoid these liens which also happens to be a very flexible strategy. Others use a plan which involves the transfer of ownership of a home to someone in their family. The original owner can protect themselves under this ownership transfer with what’s called a “life estate”.

Irrevocable Medicaid Trust

This process requires ones home and assets to go into a trust which is managed by a member or members of your choice. One can choose anyone they confide in to be your trustee except for your spouse. Some of the benefits to this strategy include rent that the property generates, the right to live in your home for as long as you and the spouse are alive and many tax benefits. After death the funds are distributed exactly how one selected for them to be distributed.

Life Estate

Similar to a Medicaid trust, one can be assured of their right to live in the home for as long as they are alive and collect any rent profits. Life Estate’s have shorter penalty periods and are easy to create and implement. This makes a “Life Estate” a more frugal choice in comparison to a Medicaid Trust. However, when you transfer your property under a Life Estate arrangement you lose your right to sell the house without the consent of the other party. You also lose the right to change ownership of the property down the line without the consent of the other party.

For a complete list of the advantages and disadvantages of the Life Estate process versus the Irrevocable Medicaid Trust process read this article about Medicaid Planning laws & the Life Estate deed.

Planning your future in accordance to NY state Elder Law can be very complicated. Medicaid planning and elder lawyers should be consulted before any major decision is made.

This information was contributed by: Law Offices of Roman Aminov 147-17 Union Turnpike Flushing, NY 11367 (347)766-2685. Roman Aminov is an Estate Planning Attorney in the NYC area. Roman runs an Elder Law Firm in Flushing, NY.  Roman’s writings on estate planning and elder law topics are published regularly in magazines across the New York Metropolitan Area.