Nursing Home

17 Nov 2021 MAXIMUM RESOURCE LIMITS FOR SPOUSAL MEDICAID

Posted at 09:00h in Disability Benefits, Divorce, Estate Planning, Home Equity, Long Term Care, Medicaid Application, Medicaid Planning, 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 such...

19 Oct SUCCESS STORIES OF THE MONTH – SAVING THE HOME FROM PAYBACK TO GOVERNMENT AFTER LONG-TERM CARE MEDICAID RECIPIENT DIES

Posted at 21:25h in Assisted Living, End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Lady Bird Deed, Long Term Care, Medicaid Application, Medicaid Planning, Medicare, Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer, Nursing Home, Probate Administration, Transfer of Death

Most Texans have inadequate income and resources or lack long-term care insurance to pay for the cost of long-term care (such as nursing home and assisted living care or care at home). As a result, they often use long-term care Medicaid to help pay for...

31 Aug SUCCESS STORY OF THE MONTH – THE ALMOST SPEND-LESS SPEND-DOWN

Posted at 13:58h in Alzheimer’s, Estate Planning, Long Term Care, Medicaid Planning, Medicare, Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer, Nursing Home, Retirement, Social Security, Special Needs, Success Story of the Month

Long term care Medicaid helps pay for long-term care costs such as nursing home care and drug costs. The average cost of care in Texas (exclusive of drug costs) is $6500 per month and most Americans have inadequate income or long-term care insurance to pay for...

29 Jul LADYBIRD DEEDS – 10 SITUATIONS WHERE IT IS BEST THAT A TRUST RECEIVE PROPERTY INSTEAD OF AN INDIVIDUAL

Posted at 19:55h in Asset Protection, Assisted Living, Beneficiary, Disability Benefits, Estate Planning, Guardianship, Home Equity, Inheritance, Lady Bird Deed, Medicaid Planning, Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer, Mortgage, Nursing Home, Probate Administration, Public Benefits Protection, Special Needs, Special Needs Trust, Transfer of Death

Ladybird Deeds and Transfer on Death Deeds are used to avoid probate (which is the legal process whereby the court determines if a will is valid and assets are distributed according to the will). These types of deeds are particularly useful to avoid Medicaid Estate Recovery. If...

02 Apr $1,200 TAX REBATE CHECKS IMPACT ON PUBLIC BENEFITS

Posted at 15:34h in Estate Planning, Long Term Care, Medicaid Planning, Medicare, Miller Trust, Nursing Home, Public Benefits Protection, Social Security

Many Americans will soon be getting $1,200 stimulus checks (which are considered a tax rebate) if they are (1) of working age, (2) not an adult dependent and (3) their income is less than $75,000 ($150,000 if married). Smaller checks will be received by those...

09 Feb SUCCESS STORY OF THE MONTH

Posted at 09:00h in Asset Protection, End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Home Equity, Lady Bird Deed, Long Term Care, Medicaid Planning, Medicare, Nursing Home, Short Term Care, Success Story of the Month, Transfer of Death, Trusts

A married couple owns a homestead located out-of-state held in a trust. They move to Texas to be closer to their children since the wife needs long-term care. They have no long-term care insurance, and their liquid assets and income are insufficient to pay for...

21 Jan SEVEN DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRUSTS USED IN PUBLIC BENEFITS PLANNING

Posted at 19:54h in Asset Protection, Assisted Living, Beneficiary, Disability Benefits, Estate Planning, Inheritance, Lady Bird Deed, Long Term Care, Medicaid Planning, Miller Trust, Nursing Home, Public Benefits Protection, Social Security, Special Needs, Special Needs Trust, Transfer of Death, Trusts, Veterans

Public benefits can range from payment of expensive drugs (no matter what age) to long-term care costs such as skilled nursing care. There are 40-50 Medicaid programs in Texas in addition to strictly federal public benefits programs such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Social Security...

24 Dec LADYBIRD DEEDS – WILL TITLE COMPANIES FOLLOW COURT RULES?

Posted at 15:56h in Assisted Living, Beneficiary, End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Lady Bird Deed, Long Term Care, Medicaid Application, Medicaid Planning, Mortgage, Nursing Home, Power of Attorney, Probate Administration, Taxes, Transfer of Death

Ladybird Deeds are often used to protect a homestead from a Medicaid estate recovery claim as it avoids probate and are supposed to permit the grantor (the one who signs the deed) to reserve for the grantor’s life, the full possession, benefit and use of...

30 Nov 2020 FINAL MAXIMUM RESOURCE LIMITS FOR SPOUSAL MEDICAID (HOW TO KEEP MORE FOR SPOUSE IF ILL SPOUSE NEEDS TO GO INTO NURSING HOME OR NEEDS CARE AT HOME)

Posted at 16:52h in Disability Benefits, Divorce, Estate Planning, Home Equity, Long Term Care, Medicaid Application, Medicaid Planning, Nursing Home, Social Security

The Texas Health and Human Resources has announced its final numbers in connection with long-term care Medicaid eligibility for year 2020. The final numbers are slightly different than projected as set forth in our November newsletter. As a result, we have edited that article with...

26 Nov SUCCESS STORY OF THE MONTH – SAVING THE FAMILY MINERAL INTERESTS, COSTS OF CARE AND MORE

Posted at 16:33h in Asset Protection, Estate Planning, Home Equity, Lady Bird Deed, Long Term Care, Medicaid Planning, Nursing Home, Probate Administration, Success Story of the Month, Transfer of Death, Veterans

Elderly client, whose health is declining, owns a trailer and 11 acres that is treated as his homestead presently valued at around $55,000. He also owns 60 acres of undeveloped property where he would prefer to live which is much more valuable. The only other...

25 Nov HOME SWEET HOME – MEDICAID HOMESTEAD EQUITY (MAXIMUM VALUE) LIMIT INCREASED TO $595,000 FOR 2020

Posted at 16:27h in End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Home Equity, Lady Bird Deed, Medicaid Application, Medicaid Planning, Mortgage, Nursing Home, Transfer of Death

As of January 1, 2020, the equity limit for a homestead applicant (who is single) for either the nursing home Medicaid program or “waiver” home care Medicaid program has increased to $595,000. Thus, if the home equity (the difference between the appraised value and any...

24 Nov JOINT BANK ACCOUNTS – A BLESSING OR A CURSE? NINE REASONS TO NOT USE A JOINT ACCOUNT

Posted at 16:09h in Asset Protection, Beneficiary, Estate Planning, Financial Powers of Attorney, Guardianship, Long Term Care, Medicaid Planning, Nursing Home, Power of Attorney, Probate Administration, Trusts, Wills

Joint bank accounts can be helpful in several ways, but such accounts can also be a trap for the unwary. A couple of the major benefits are as follows: Trusted joint account owner can pay your bills. Probably the most common reason for opening such accounts,...

23 Nov TRANSFER ON DEATH DEED VOIDED BY COURT

Posted at 10:00h in Beneficiary, End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Lady Bird Deed, Long Term Care, Medicaid Planning, Nursing Home, Probate Administration, Transfer of Death, Wills

TRANSFER ON DEATH DEED VOIDED BY COURT The Fort Worth Court of Appeals has recently set aside a Transfer on Death Deed (an instrument that usually avoids court action for real estate to pass to a beneficiary) since a jury determined the deed was signed as...

15 Oct RECENT MEDICAID RULING HINTS THAT IRA RMD TREATMENT TO SOON CHANGE

Posted at 09:00h in Estate Planning, Long Term Care, Medicaid Application, Medicaid Planning, Nursing Home, Retirement, Social Security, Special Needs, Special Needs Trust

The Texas Department of Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC), which governs the rules regarding long-term care Medicaid eligibility (Medicaid helps pay for some or all nursing home and medication costs, etc. – the present average monthly cost in Texas for skilled nursing care is around...

07 Oct 2020 PROJECTED MAXIMUM RESOURCE LIMITS FOR SPOUSAL MEDICAID (HOW TO KEEP MORE FOR SPOUSE IF ILL SPOUSE NEEDS TO GO INTO NURSING HOME OR NEEDS CARE AT HOME)

Posted at 09:00h in Disability Benefits, Divorce, Estate Planning, Home Equity, Long Term Care, Medicaid Application, Medicaid Planning, Nursing Home, Social Security

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 such care and also lack long-term care insurance or similar insurance products. As a result, some elderly and disabled...

06 Sep SUCCESS STORY OF THE MONTH – USING DIFFERENT LEGAL TOOLS (LADYBIRD DEED, REVERSE MORTGAGE AND REVOCABLE LIVING TRUST) IN THE TOOLBOX

Posted at 09:00h in Beneficiary, Disability Benefits, End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Guardianship, Home Equity, Lady Bird Deed, Long Term Care, Medicaid Planning, Mortgage, Nursing Home, Power of Attorney, Probate Administration, Success Story of the Month, Transfer of Death, Trusts

Client had created a revocable living trust several years ago prepared by another attorney. The most common reasons for such a trust is to avoid probate (the laws that govern the probate process which is the process to determine if the Will is valid and...

03 Sep QUEEN OF SWEDEN AND IKEA PARTNERSHIP TO HELP PEOPLE WITH DEMENTIA

Posted at 09:00h in Alzheimer’s, Assisted Living, Dementia, Long Term Care, Nursing Home

In an effort to make it easier for those suffering dementia to live independently instead of going to a nursing home, the Queen of Sweden (Queen Silvia), furniture maker Ikea, along with Skanska (a Swedish construction company) are teaming up to provide comfortable living solutions....

30 Aug NEW LAW LIMITS NURSING HOME ARBITRATION AGREEMENTS

Posted at 09:00h in Assisted Living, Estate Planning, Lawsuits, Long Term Care, Nursing Home

At the present time, many skilled nursing facilities and other long-term care facilities require the patient (or their agent) to sign an admission agreement (in which amendments are not permitted) as a condition of being admitted to the facility. One of the almost universal provisions...

29 Aug SENIORS HAVE LESS RIGHTS THAN TERRORISTS – NEW TEXAS LONG-TERM CARE MEDICAID TRANSFER PENALTY DIVISOR ANNOUNCED

Posted at 09:00h in Assisted Living, Elder Justice, Estate Planning, Long Term Care, Medicaid Application, Medicaid Planning, Nursing Home, Retirement, utma

Under our criminal justice system, guilt must be determined “beyond a reasonable doubt” as there is a presumption of innocence. However, if a senior makes a gift within five (5) years and applies for long-term care Medicaid, there is a presumption of guilt since Medicaid...

04 Jun TEXAS COURT RULES AGAINST PENALIZING INCAPACITATED MEDICAID APPLICANT IF NO REPRESENTATIVE APPOINTED

Posted at 14:37h in End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Guardianship, Long Term Care, Medicaid Application, Medicaid Planning, Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer, Nursing Home, Social Security

On May 24, 2019, a Texas appeals court ruled that if an incapacitated Medicaid applicant does not have a guardian appointed, then the resources of the applicant should be considered unavailable for Medicaid eligibility purposes. Usually, the cost of long-term care (such as a nursing...