Emergency Intervention to Prevent Financial Abuse of the Elderly
Since emotional abuse often accompanies financial abuse for caretaker perpetrators, a civil protection order can be an effective tool to prevent further emotional abuse of the victim and to separate the elderly victim from the perpetrator of the abuse. Besides the protections against assaults and threatened bodily harm, stalking, and domestic abuse, a Court may issue a civil protection order for a person who is more than 60 years of age or an at-risk adult restraining a defendant from repeated acts of verbal threats, assaults, or harassment.
What is Your Most Important Estate Planning Document?
Assume that you and your husband have been happily married for fifty years. You have two children and you get along with them and their spouses. (Imagine that!) Your home and bank accounts and investments are in joint tenancy. Life insurance and IRA's are paid to the surviving spouse otherwise to your children equally.
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Problems Increase for Medicaid Applicants
About four years ago, February 8, 2006, President Bush signed the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. The Act made a major change in Medicaid law; it increased the amount of time to be considered for gifts. For applications now, gifts made on or after the enactment date, the “look-back” period, are considered at the time a person applies for Medicaid. Starting February 8, 2011, that period will be five years prior to the application.
Should You Worry About the Estate Tax?
The Federal estate tax has not been renewed by Congress. Before, your estate would not have been taxed unless it exceeded $3,500,000! Right now there is no tax. So, if you’re really rich, dying now would be tax optimal. However, I don’t recommend it!
The Illusion of Prenuptial Agreements with Medicaid
Couples who remarry often sign prenuptial agreements. Good reasons for them are to preserve an inheritance for their children by a prior marriage and to protect themselves from claims of maintenance and property division should they later divorce. The agreements typically provide that the surviving spouse may not make a claim against the estate of the deceased spouse for their statutory rights, allowances for exempt property, for family support and for the spousal elective share.
Does Long Term Care Insurance Pay Off?
I am frequently asked by my clients if I recommend long term care insurance. In response, I tell them “yes”. Having a policy allows greater freedom to the patient to choose the amount and type of care without having to deal with a governmental application.
New Tools Against Financial Exploitation
Before January 1, 2010, Colorado law was unclear about accountings for the activities of the agent acting according to a power of attorney. While an agent must always account to the principal who created the power of attorney, the problems occurred when the principal became unable to control the agent or his or her financial affairs because of later disability. This was, most frequently, the onset of confusion, forgetfulness or, most importantly, the inability to reason that accompanies dementia. The agent would continue to have full control of the principal’s funds because the power of attorney could be used during the disability of the principal: a “durable” power of attorney.
Personal Services Contract for Medicaid in Colorado
A person who ultimately applies for Medicaid in Colorado may sign a personal services contract with another person, usually a son or daughter, to assist them with their activities of daily living and other services. The services can include monitoring the health status of the applicant, securing their healthcare by hiring professionals, taking the person to doctor appointments. The caretaker may also assist the applicant in making sure that they are visited periodically by family members, that they attend social events and entertainment events, that the caretaker transports them for shopping trips and to buy groceries and supplies, assists them with their financial affairs by managing their check books, by being a spokesperson with doctors and bankers, etc.
Protecting Clients from Abuse and Identity Theft
Elder abuse assumes a variety of forms. An elderly person might seek legal assistance after experiencing physical abuse; caregiver neglect; financial exploitation; or emotional, verbal, or sexual abuse. A person interested in the welfare of the older adult might seek legal intervention to stop the abuse of an elderly family member or friend, or to attempt to prevent an older adult from harming him or herself through self-neglect 1 . Additionally, an elderly person might inquire about identity theft, either in terms of prevention or when seeking legal representation after being a victim of identity theft.
Highlights of Guardianships for Adults in Colorado
A court appoints a guardian to carry out a care plan for an incapacitated adult whose diminished capacities result in the adult being unable to satisfy the essential requirements for his or her self care, health or safety. 1 Care planning is a familiar concept to persons who provide medical services. Medical personnel assess the patient's capacities, note her deficits and propose medical interventions, care and supervision needed to allow the patient to perform at the patient's highest level of medical, psychological and psycho-social functioning. This standard is set forth for nursing home residents according to the Nursing Home Reform Act. While not stated explicitly for other arenas of medical treatment, this standard is implicit in the care of the patient regardless of where they are treated such as the home, the doctor's office, a hospital, skilled nursing facility, etc. The court's standard form of order requires a guardian to file a report within sixty days of the guardian's appointment by the Court and annually thereafter. 2
Medicaid Eligibility for Long Term Care
For all practical purposes, in the United States the only "insurance" plan for long-term institutional care is Medicaid. Medicare only pays for approximately 7 percent of skilled nursing care in the United States. Private insurance pays for even less. The result is that most people pay out of their own pockets for long-term care until they become eligible for Medicaid. Although Medicare is an entitlement program, Medicaid is a form of welfare -- or at least that is how it began. So to be eligible, you must become "impoverished" under the program's guidelines.
Despite the costs, paying privately for nursing home care may be advantageous. By paying privately, an individual is more likely to gain entrance to a better quality facility. The obvious disadvantage is the expense; in Colorado, state nursing home fees average $6,623 a month and Denver Metro fees, $7,046 per month. These are official Colorado figures. In fact, the costs could be as much as 10% more. Without proper planning, nursing home residents can lose the bulk of their savings.
For most individuals, the object of long-term care planning is to protect savings while also qualifying for nursing home Medicaid benefits. This can be done within the following rules of Medicaid eligibility.
The Living Trust
The living trust or revocable living trust has become a popular estate planning vehicle which has been touted as saving probate costs, saving estate taxes, saving income taxes and as advice for the management of property in case of disability. Moreover, these trusts are being sold by mail order houses which boast of these benefits and offer them to individuals with self-help instructions.
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Aurora, CO 80014
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