We are pleased to announce that the August 2012 issue of Texas Monthly magazine has again selected Michael B. Cohen as the only elder law attorney (although listed under the category of estate planning) in the Dallas-Fort Worth area as a Five Star Wealth Manager...
Transfer Penalty Rules Different for those Seeking Medicaid Assistance at Home Most people in need of care would prefer to stay at home rather than go to a nursing home. However, if you don’t have long-term care insurance or other ways to pay for the cost...
Here's a follow up to our previous post https://dallaselderlawyer.com/infamous-dallas-swiss-avenue-elder-abuse-defendant-goes-to-trial-on-attempted-theft/ Mark McCay, who was convicted by a Dallas jury on June 21 of attempted theft by getting 88 year old former model Mary Ellen Bendtsen to sign a new will (which was thrown out by the probate court)...
One of the defendants (Mark McCay) in the case that raised the conscience of North Texans about elder abuse as chronicled in a 2006 series in the Dallas Morning News is presently facing charges of attempted theft of the Swiss Avenue mansion of the late...
With fewer insurance companies offering long term care insurance (at least 14 fewer in the last 5 years) and premiums rising (for new and some existing policies) fewer may be able to afford long term care insurance (insurance that can help cover personal care costs...
On June 7, 2012, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report on methods to reduce improper payments to Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reported an estimated $21.9 billion of improper payments to Medicaid and $43 billion of...
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report last week regarding abuse of the Veterans Pension Program which is likely to spur a major change in the eligibility rules and make it more difficult for a wartime veteran (or his or her surviving spouse) to...
Effective September 1, 2011, Texas Probate Code Section 865 was amended to allow a guardianship court, upon application to approve gifts on behalf of the ward for the following purposes, in addition to tax-motivated gifts: “… or to transfer a portion of the ward’s estate...
As of March 1, 2012, the Texas Medicaid for the Elderly and People with Disabilities Handbook (which is a publication of the policy rules for long –term care Medicaid eligibility) now provides that “a transfer of a person’s home does not result in a transfer...
