Elder Law / Medicaid Planning

The New York Times published an article by Paul Sullivan entitled, "How to Plan for the Unforeseen" (Oc 08, 2017). Provided below is a brief summary of the article published at nytimes.

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Financial-Planning.com published an article by Ed Slott entitled, "When you should establish an IRA as a trust" (May 31, 2017). Provided below is a brief summary of the article published at Financial-Planning.
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CNBC.com published an article by Sarah O’Brien entitled, "Planning Your Estate When You've Got No Children or Heirs" (May 31, 2017).
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Wickedlocal.com published an article by Leanna Hamill entitled, "PLANNING MATTERS: Why you need an Estate Plan" (Feb 7, 2017). Provided below is a brief summary of the article published at Wickedlocal.
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Poughkeepsiejournal.com published an article by Bernard A. Krooks entitled, 

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TheTimesHerald.com published an article by Matthew Wallace entitled, "New Year's Resolution: Plan to Plan" (Jan 2, 2017). Provided below is a brief summary of the article published at TheTimesHerald.
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Kelley Long (Forbes.com) published an article entitled, "The Most Important Estate Planning Issue Boomers Need to Address" (May 08, 2016). Provided below is a brief summary of the article from Forbes.
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How can you care for seniors who live independently when you are at a distance?

It is increasingly common for the elderly to "age in place," retaining as much independence as possible. Many seniors understandably do not wish to give up their homes and may even feel shame about being a burden to their families or having to move to an assisted living facility. 

Seniors May Not Realize How Much Help They Need

For a son or daughter concerned about an aging parent, making sure that all is well can be a challenge, especially if the parent is at a distance. A parent's assurances that "all is well" may not reflect difficult truths. Seniors may not be aware of all that is wrong with their health, hygiene, or nutrition.

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According to the Kaiser Health News Webinar "Who Are America's Caregivers? Nearly A Quarter Are Millennials" the commonly held belief that Baby Boomers are the only ones caring for older relatives is failing to consider the the role Millennials are taking on in the estimated $470 billion worth of work:

"Caring for older relatives is usually a task associated with Baby Boomers, the 50- and 60-somethings who find their aging parents need assistance. But almost a quarter of the adults who take care of older people — on top of their regular jobs and responsibilities — are between the ages of 18 and 34... About 40 million Americans considered themselves caregivers in 2013…[t]hose people are typically women, and their median age is 49. The work they do caring for older relatives…was estimated that same year to be worth about $470 billion.”

Source/more: Kaiser Health News

The financial abuse of seniors is a growing area of crime in America.

 

This kind of abuse often comes at the hand of caregivers who manage to deplete an elderly person’s life savings. Sadly, a lot of this theft is committed by family members. According to a study by the Journal of General Internal Medicine, 60 percent of financial abuse cases involved an adult child of the elderly person; women are twice as likely to be victims as men, although elderly men are also abused, most frequently those who are living alone.  

 Currently, there are no federal laws regarding financial elder abuse, and only two states, California and Florida, have laws that require the reporting of financial elder abuse (or abuse of any handicapped adult). However, most states have a department on aging charged with tracking these cases. Unfortunately, there is little if any coordination between these departments and the authorities. So elder abuse often does not get reported or investigated. 
 

Nonetheless, growing media attention is shining a light on the problem and the federal government is taking notice. In fact, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently issued a guide to help professional caregivers protect the people in their care by preventing and addressing financial scams. The guide helps them recognize, record, and report suspected financial abuse by family members and others who are handling the finances of an elderly or incapacitated adult. 

 
The American Bankers Association also recently announced an alliance with AARP to work on the financial elder abuse crisis. ABA president Frank Keating said in a statement: "Our planned alliance with AARP will help us provide bankers, older Americans, and their caregivers with the tools they need to thwart financial crimes." 
 
There are other steps people can take to protect elders. If a sibling or other caregiver is handling a parent’s financial affairs, and if there might be abuse, an attorney can help to pursue a legal case and protect an elder person’s rights. 

With the change to Florida Statute Section 765.202, health care surrogates can immediately make health care decisions and gain access to medical records. Prior to the statute change, a health care surrogate could not act without a medical determination that the surrogacy was needed (i.e. the patient could no longer make their own medical decisions). Due to changes in lucidity, this caused issues based on the stability of the patient. Resulting in the potential for the need of multiple incapacity determinations and gaps in care. With the change to the statute, a surrogate can access medical records and make health care decisions prior to a determination of incompetency, but while the patient has capacity, their decisions controls. 

Section 765.2035 of the new law also removes any confusion around if parents and/or guardians could name surrogates for minor children.

Contact us today to discuss making changes to your current plan or if you have any questions regarding the change in law.