Federal law presently limits charging older adults (generally between 50 and 64 since many get Medicare at age 65) who need health insurance policies no more than three times the amount they charge other people the same products. However, if the State Age Rating Flexibility...
Life insurance can be beneficial in numerous ways to estate plans – even for those who are older with less means. Here are but a few ways it can be helpful: Provide long-term care benefits. Some policies allow you to add a rider for long-term...
At the present time, the federal government matches (in some states up to 70%) state funds budgeted for Medicaid. This is an incentive for states to allot more of their budget on Medicaid and be inefficient in their spending. Medicaid spending has soared to the...
If you have a child who has special needs and you want your child to be a beneficiary of your estate, a standard will or trust may be insufficient. A few things to consider are as follows: If your child became disabled before age 26,...
A House of Representatives bill entitled as the “Close Annuity Loopholes in Medicaid Act” has been proposed earlier this month to reduce the benefits of an asset preservation strategy for a commonly used benefit of the “well” spouse in Medicaid planning when the ill spouse...
Usually the biggest asset that most Americans have is either a home or their retirement accounts or both. Americans are living longer than ever before, but most have inadequate long-term care insurance coverage. Most mistakenly think that Medicare will take care of them if they...
At our December estate planning workshop, there were several questions about the use of enhanced life estate (“Ladybird”) deeds to protect a Medicaid recipient’s homestead from the state’s Medicaid Estate Recovery Program (“MERP”). After the death of the Medicaid recipient under present laws in Texas,...
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has announced its 2017 rate increases for certain wartime military veterans not dishonorably discharged or their surviving spouses. These rates are effective as of December 1, 2016. If interested in seeing the new rates, click here. However, since VA...
You may or may not be concerned with what your heirs or charitable organizations may do with the assets that they inherit from you, but a recent case in New Hampshire has enraged many connected with the University of New Hampshire. For over 50 years, Robert...
On December 13, 2016, President Obama signed the 21st Century Cures Act which contains the Special Needs Trust Fairness Act that allows disabled persons with mental capacity to create their own special needs trust. Prior to the passage of this law, a disabled person under...
