Client’s late husband (he died last month) has an estate that predominately consists of an individual account, a life insurance policy and a retirement account. Client was named as a beneficiary of the retirement account and the life insurance policy. She was also the sole...
As most know, President Trump signed the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” (or Reconciliation Act or 2017 Tax Act) on December 22, 2017. Most of the provisions regarding tax reform for individuals are effective for only for years 2018 to 2025 (so that it could...
Now that the new law (the Tax and Jobs Act) has been passed resulting in less tax revenue for the federal government, it is anticipated that there will be changes to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid so that expenses will be cut. As mentioned in...
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has announced its 2018 rate increases for certain wartime military veterans not dishonorably discharged or their surviving spouses to help pay for care costs ranging from being housebound to long-term care costs. However, since VA pension benefits are paid...
As many of you know, Texas is an income cap state in connection with long-term care Medicaid eligibility. Presently, if an applicant for nursing home Medicaid has “countable” income (certain income is exempt or excluded) over $2,205 per month, then such applicant is ineligible for...
As of January 1, 2018, the equity limit for a homestead applicant (who is single) for the nursing home and “waiver” home care Medicaid program has increased to$572,000. Thus, if the equity limit is less than that, it is a non-countable resource in determining Medicaid...
The 2018 Protected Resource Amount (“PRA”) dollar figures were recently released which are used to determine how much can be protected when one spouse is in a nursing home and applies for Medicaid (which may pay all or a part of long-term care costs) and...
An Australian court has ruled that an unsent text message on the mobile phone of Mark Nichol was sufficient to be a valid will as it showed his testamentary intentions of leaving his home and pension to his brother and nephew rather his wife and...
Last Monday we were requested to do a Will for an 89-year-old married woman who was just put on hospice. Due to her being on hospice, we put her as an immediate priority. Her 90-year-old husband has Alzheimer’s disease and is living in an institutional...
Under the long-term care Medicaid Rules (which helps pay for long-term care costs), there is normally a five year “look back” period whereby the state can penalize an applicant from Medicaid eligibility if there is an uncompensated transfer within five years from when one applies...
