Long Term Care

09 Jun Texas Medicaid Agency Again Loses Battle To Count Home As A Resource Without Prior Occupancy

Posted at 12:49h in Estate Planning, Home Equity, Long Term Care, Medicaid Application, Medicaid Planning, Medicare, Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer, Nursing Home, Probate Administration

A Texas appeals court has again ruled against the Texas Health and Human Services Commission’s requirement that a long-term care Medicaid applicant occupy a home prior to moving into a nursing home for the home to be an excluded resource in determining long-term care Medicaid...

03 May Three Reasons Why Revocable Living Trusts Should Not Be Used For Long-term Care Medicaid

Posted at 17:43h in Asset Protection, Beneficiary, Business, Estate Planning, Home Equity, Lady Bird Deed, Long Term Care, Medicaid Application, Medicaid Planning, Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer, Nursing Home, Probate Administration, Public Benefits Protection, Special Needs, Special Needs Trust, Success Story of the Month, Transfer of Death, Trusts

Revocable living trusts are useful in estate planning for many different reasons (avoidance of probate, privacy, quick transition of an on-going business, etc.) but there are only limited situations when they are helpful in planning for long-term care Medicaid which helps pay for nursing home...

03 May Nine Exceptions To Lender Forcing Payment Or Foreclosing On Your Home When You Make A Transfer

Posted at 17:39h in Asset Protection, Beneficiary, Divorce, End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Home Equity, Lady Bird Deed, Long Term Care, Medicaid Planning, Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer, Mortgage, Probate Administration, Public Benefits Protection, Transfer of Death, Trusts

Whenever you borrow from a bank or other lender to purchase residential real estate or borrow against the equity, it is typical that there is a “due-on-sale” clause in your deed of trust or mortgage. This gives the lender the ability to require full payment...

03 May Success Story of the Month – “Where’s The Beef When We Saved Their Bacon?”

Posted at 17:20h in Beneficiary, Business, Dementia, Divorce, End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Guardianship, Long Term Care, Medicaid Planning, Medicare, Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer, Nursing Home, Power of Attorney, Probate Administration, Short Term Care, Social Security, Special Needs, Special Needs Trust, Success Story of the Month, Taxes, Transfer of Death, Wills

Who says you can’t save more than the “maximum”? This case illustrates how you can protect more assets than the “maximum” pursuant to long-term care Medicaid rules. FACTS: Wife, 70, has dementia and needs long-term care. She has no long-term care insurance. She receives Social Security of...

15 Mar Eight Circumstances To Leave Assets In A Trust For Your Beneficiary

Posted at 21:00h in Asset Protection, Beneficiary, Charitable Giving, Divorce, End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Guardianship, Inheritance, Long Term Care, Medicaid Planning, Probate Administration, Public Benefits Protection, Taxes, Trusts, Wills

Instead of your beneficiary inheriting outright, below are eight situations whereby you may want a trust for various protection: If your beneficiary is a minor or too immature to handle assets If your beneficiary is a minor, then the beneficiary (as a matter of law) cannot make...

assets, attorney, benefits, care, deeds, elder care

15 Mar Six Different Trusts Used In Public Benefits Planning

Posted at 20:36h in Asset Protection, Assisted Living, Beneficiary, Disability Benefits, End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Guardianship, Inheritance, Lady Bird Deed, Long Term Care, Medicaid Planning, Medicare, Miller Trust, Nursing Home, Probate Administration, Public Benefits Protection, Social Security, Special Needs, Special Needs Trust, Trusts, Veterans

There are a variety of public benefits programs ranging from taking care of drug costs to long-term care costs to assistance for food and shelter. Although some public benefits programs such as Social Security Disability and Medicare are not “means-tested”, eligibility for most public benefits...

15 Feb Ten Types Of Assets That Should Not Be Included In A Revocable Living Trust

Posted at 22:09h in 401(k), Beneficiary, End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Guardianship, Long Term Care, Medicaid Planning, Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer, Nursing Home, Probate Administration, Retirement, Transfer of Death, Trusts, utma, Wills

Revocable Living Trusts (RLTs) are commonly used for a variety of reasons ranging from avoiding probate to avoiding guardianship by retitling assets into the name of the trust if you should become disabled. However, not all assets can or should be transferred or even mentioned...

veterans benefits lawyers, veterans benefits attorneys

12 Jan Veterans Benefits Increase Announced – Government Salute To Those Who Served In Wartime

Posted at 15:06h in Assisted Living, Disability Benefits, Estate Planning, Long Term Care, Medicaid Planning, Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer, Nursing Home, Probate Administration, Social Security, Trusts, Veterans

The Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) has announced in December its 2022 rate increases for certain non-service-connected disability wartime military veterans, not dishonorably discharged or their surviving spouse to help pay for care costs ranging from being housebound to long-term care costs. However, since these...

wills and estate planning, wills lawyers Dallas

12 Jan How To Pay An Adult Child Without Jeopardizing Medicaid Paying For Care Costs – Five Examples Of What Is Acceptable Or Not For Granny Smith And Others

Posted at 14:54h in Assisted Living, Estate Planning, Long Term Care, Medicaid Application, Medicaid Planning, Medicare, Mortgage, Nursing Home, Probate Administration, Taxes

Most Americans do not have adequate long-term care insurance for care at home or in a nursing home. Furthermore, most Americans would like to stay at home as long as possible before nursing home care is required. If one has inadequate income or resources or...

08 Dec 2022 Medicaid Income Cap Increase – QITs No Longer on the Qt

Posted at 19:55h in Beneficiary, Estate Planning, Long Term Care, Medicaid Application, Medicaid Planning, Medicare, Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer, Miller Trust, Nursing Home, Probate Administration, Social Security, Trusts

Applicants for long-term care and Star+ Medicaid must be below an income cap as one of the requirements for eligibility, the solution for this is the creation of a Qualified Income Trust (QIT) formerly known as a Miller Trust. The government recently announced the gross...

11 Nov REVERSE HALF-A-LOAF MEDICAID TRANSFER PLANNING STRATEGIES

Posted at 21:47h in End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Long Term Care, Medicaid Application, Medicaid Planning, Medicare, Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer, Nursing Home, Probate Administration, Public Benefits Protection

Although many are familiar with existing IRS rules which permit a donor to give away $15,000 per year, per person (donee) without reporting the gift to the IRS (if you give more than $15,000 per year, then there is a duty of the donor to...

11 Nov ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF A WILL AND A REVOCABLE LIVING TRUST FROM AN ELDER LAW ATTORNEY’S PERSPECTIVE

Posted at 21:38h in Asset Protection, Beneficiary, Business, Disability Benefits, End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Financial Powers of Attorney, Guardianship, Long Term Care, Medicaid Planning, Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer, Notarizations, Nursing Home, Power of Attorney, Probate Administration, Public Benefits Protection, Retirement, Special Needs, Special Needs Trust, Transfer of Death, Trusts, Wills

There is much debate among Texas attorneys as to whether it is better to have a Last Will and Testament or a Revocable Living Trust to transfer assets at death under the terms and conditions you desire. The simple answer is that it depends on...

11 Nov 2022 MAXIMUM RESOURCE LIMITS FOR SPOUSAL MEDICAID

Posted at 21:27h in Disability Benefits, Divorce, Estate Planning, Home Equity, Long Term Care, Medicaid Application, Medicaid Planning, Medicare, Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer, Nursing Home, Social Security

(How to keep more for spouse if ill spouse needs to go into nursing home or needs care at home) As we live longer, there is a greater likelihood of disability and the need for long-term care. However, most Americans have inadequate resources or income for...

19 Oct NEW MEDICAID TRANSFER PENALTY DIVISOR ANNOUNCED

Posted at 20:19h in Estate Planning, Long Term Care, Medicaid Application, Medicaid Planning, Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer, Nursing Home, Probate Administration

Effective September 1, 2021, the “transfer of assets divisor” in Texas for long-term care Medicaid has increased from $213.71 to $237.93 (which represents the average daily cost of long-term care in Texas). The increased figure applies to Medicaid applications in Texas submitted on or after...

19 Oct SUCCESS STORY OF THE MONTH – AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION IS WORTH A POUND OF CURE

Posted at 20:13h in End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Guardianship, Inheritance, Long Term Care, Medicaid Planning, Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer, Nursing Home, Power of Attorney, Probate Administration, Special Needs, Special Needs Trust, Success Story of the Month, Wills

Although this is a factual situation where assets are preserved even without proper planning, it is best to plan so the risk is reduced. FACTS: 34-year-old single mother (“Susan”) gets hit by a car while walking in the street. Susan’s injury is so severe that she...

20 Sep HOW TO PROTECT YOUR HOME FOR PARTNER AND BENEFICIARIES THROUGH A LIFE ESTATE

Posted at 14:32h in Beneficiary, End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Inheritance, Lady Bird Deed, Long Term Care, Medicaid Planning, Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer, Mortgage, Probate Administration, Public Benefits Protection, Taxes

Texas law does not provide domestic partners or significant others the same home protection rights as a surviving spouse. If you are married, your surviving spouse has a right to live in the homestead of the deceased spouse for the remainder of the surviving spouse’s...

20 Sep BEWITCHED, BOTHERED AND BEWILDERED: FAMILY’S PERSPECTIVE WHEN PARENT HAS NO POWER OF ATTORNEY

Posted at 14:21h in End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Financial Powers of Attorney, Guardianship, Inheritance, Long Term Care, Medicaid Planning, Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer, Nursing Home, Power of Attorney, Probate Administration, Social Security

Financial powers of attorney may be the most (if not one of the most) important documents that almost everyone should have as illustrated by the following sad (but true) story: Husband dies (with a Will) and leaves everything (although the estate is not large) to wife....

20 Sep THE TEXAS TWO-STEP (PART 2): HOW MUCH CAN AN EXECUTOR BE PAID?

Posted at 13:50h in Business, Elder Justice, End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Long Term Care, Medicaid Planning, Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer, Probate Administration, Taxes, Wills

A common question by someone who has been appointed as an executor of a Will after the Will has been probated (the process where it is determined the decedent’s Will is valid) is “What can I charge for acting as Executor?” After all, it often...

19 Aug MEDICAID PLANNER’S PERSPECTIVE WHEN CONSIDERING PUBLIC BENEFITS – MEDICARE SAVINGS PLAN RETENTION OPTIONS WHEN RECEIVING AN INHERITANCE

Posted at 03:11h in Asset Protection, Assisted Living, Beneficiary, Disability Benefits, End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Guardianship, Inheritance, Lawsuits, Long Term Care, Medicaid Application, Medicaid Planning, Medicare, Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer, Mortgage, Nursing Home, Power of Attorney, Probate Administration, Public Benefits Protection, Short Term Care, Special Needs, Special Needs Trust, Taxes, Transfer of Death, Wills

Do you want to analyze a case like an elder law attorney? Here is a recent case and the thoughts that come to mind. Client, 77, who is single but who has had a partner for decades, is about to receive an inheritance that would result...

18 Aug THREE GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS THAT HELP PAY FOR CARE AT HOME

Posted at 23:34h in Assisted Living, Disability Benefits, Estate Planning, Guardianship, Home Equity, Long Term Care, Medicaid Application, Medicaid Planning, Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer, Miller Trust, Nursing Home, Probate Administration, Short Term Care, Transfer of Death, Veterans

Even prior to the pandemic, most prefer to stay at home as long as possible if they should need long-term care. The increase in Covid variants has caused renewed and even greater interest for alternativesto care at long-term care facilities and the desire of many to stay at home due to safety concerns....

Medicaid Services