The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is the federal agency that administers the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Medicare and...
Eldercare Lawyer Blog
Taking Control of Your Possible Disability
There may come a point in your life when you are unable to make decisions for yourself. This inability may be temporary—such as a temporary...
The Benefits of a Trust Protector
When a person passes away, his property passes on to other individuals. If the decedent dies with a last will and testament, then his property will...
Second Marriages and Estate Litigation
In the past five years, I’ve noticed an acceleration of a trend that, in my opinion, is likely to result in an increase in the number of estates...
The Medicaid Clock Starts Ticking Sooner Than You Think
Medicaid is a government health payment plan for needy individuals. In order to qualify for Medicaid benefits, an individual must have a very...
What Did You Do for Your Parents?
What did you do for your parents? This is a question that some people ask me during a consultation appointment. I think it’s a smart question...
Is the Medicaid Process Really Fair?
Medicaid is a health payment plan for needy individuals. When a person enters a nursing home or assisted living residence, he is faced with a...
How Much Tax Do I Owe?
“How much tax do I have to pay on my inheritance?” the client asked. The lawyer said, “It depends on what you inherited.” When a person, called the...
Can You Refuse an Inheritance
When a person dies, he leaves his property—called his “Estate”—behind to be distributed to certain people. Who those people are depends on various...
Can the Nursing Home Kick Dad to the Curb?
When a client of mine goes to live in a nursing home, his family members often have a great number of concerns. One of the most frequent concerns I...
Some Assumptions Don’t Hold Up Under Closer Review
There are several misconceptions that I hear from clients on a regular basis. I thought I would take the time to write about several of the...
A Living Will Is not a Death Warrant
If you read my column regularly, you know that I recommend anyone over the age of eighteen having three, basic estate planning documents—a last will...
Why Fear of Legal Fees and Probate Often Leads to Costly Mistakes
By concentrating my practice in one area—elder law—I see the same issue arise time-and-time again, so I understand the public’s reaction to certain...
What’s in a Name? More Than You Might Think
What’s in a name? You would be surprised with the number of people who use a name other than their legal name and who aren’t even sure what their...
The General Durable Power of Attorney
Of all the estate planning documents, I think the most important document is a financial power of attorney. A financial power of attorney is often...
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Recent Posts
One Lawyer, One Client
When I first opened my law practice twenty-five years ago, I knew that I would concentrate in one area—elder law. There are many benefits to concentrating your practice in one area, but to me, the biggest benefit is that everything I do helps me hone my skills in this...
Protecting Your Assets from Medicaid
For years, I have been using an irrevocable trust to protect a client’s home from the cost of long-term care. I successfully used such a trust to protect my parents’ home from the ravages of long-term care. My mother was a resident of a nursing home for six years; my...
Having an Estate Plan
In my lifetime, several United States presidents have passed away, and one thing I notice about presidents is, each of them planned out their funeral arrangements in detail. I believe we can all take a lesson from this when making our estate plans. Approximately 68%...
Estate Planning Resolutions You Might Actually Keep
It’s another new year. Many of us will enter resolutions with ourselves—either spoken or unspoken—things we want to accomplish in the new year. I thought I would take this time to go over some legal to-do’s that I believe people should accomplish in the new year....
Will I Pay Estate Tax?
The new year is upon us, and with that, the federal government has issued new numbers for the credit equivalent against federal estate and gift tax. For years, I have called the federal gift and estate tax a boogeyman because the tax affects so few people, yet...
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