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Articles Posted in Elder law estate planning

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SPECIAL NEEDS TRUSTS AND GOVERNMENTAL BENEFITS

CERTAIN LIMITATIONS ON SPECIAL NEEDS TRUSTS Last year a case out of the Western District of Massachusetts Federal District Court dealt with the interplay of a special needs trust and eligibility for certain governmental benefits that the special needs trust was supposed to address. The case of DeCambre v. Brookline…

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LONG TERM CARE THROUGH LIFE INSURANCE POLICY

CONVERSION OF LIFE INSURANCE DURING LIFE OF COVERED INDIVIDUAL As this blog discussed in the past, long term planning insurance is something that many consumers are reluctant to purchase for a number of reasons One of the main reasons for this reluctance is the long term cost may not financially…

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TOOLKIT TO HELP PREVENT SENIORS FROM FALLING

SIMPLE GUIDELINES, EASY TO UNDERSTAND AND FOLLOW The Center for Disease Control (CDC) released guidelines to help prevent and mitigate falls among senior citizens in 2012. The CDC program is called STEADI, an acronym coming from the full title Stopping Elderly Accidents, Deaths and Injuries. Research shows that falls are…

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PERSONAL INJURY AND MEDICAID: WHY WOULD STATE GET INVOLVED IN PERSONAL INJURY SETTLEMENT?

It is a fortunate state of affairs that it is happening less and less, with the requirement for every American obtain health insurance under the Affordable Care Act (often called Obamacare), that some people do not have proper health insurance coverage for a catastrophic injury. It is still unfortunate that…

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SPECIAL NEEDS, THIRD PARTY AND SELF SETTLED TRUSTS – WHATS WITH ALL THE NAMES?

LEGAL DISTINCTIONS THAT MATTER When a person applies for Medicaid eligibility there are many pitfalls that an unsuspecting or unsophisticated applicant can run afoul of. To help them retain the benefit of certain monies that they would normally have access to third parties or the applicant themselves can create a…

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PLANNING FOR YOUR SPECIAL NEEDS LOVED ONES

CREATE A GLOBAL PLAN TO GO INTO EFFECT TODAY If you are a parent, stepparent, grandparent or caretaker of a special needs child you need to prepare for the day when you are no longer able to physically and financially care for your special needs loved one. While it is…

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VETERANS ADMINISTRATION PENSIONS – AID AND ATTENDANCE PENSION

The Veterans Administration has a program that allows for a large subset of the veterans population to qualify for certain benefits that pay for costs associated with caring for a veteran or their spouse. This Aid and Attendance pension may be in addition to any pension that the service member…

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FILE AND SUSPEND STRATEGY IS NO MORE – NEED TO REASSESS PLANS

For over a decade it was sound and perfectly legal advice for financial advisors and elder law practitioners to advise their married clients to file and suspend their social security benefits, thereby maximizing their financial returns.  The basic advice was to advise a married couple to have the spouse who…

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MORE ON ELDER ABUSE – FEDERAL GOVERNMENT RESPONSE

        Throughout the twentieth century, the Federal government took various legal steps to positively impact the lives of senior citizens, the disabled and the elderly in general.  Throughout the 1930s a variety of retirement and pension programs were enacted, most significantly social security.  1952 saw the funding…

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BANKRUPTCY AND MEDICARE – A FRAUDULENT TRANSFER IS A FRAUDULENT TRANSFER

The Eastern District of Virginia Bankruptcy Court issued an opinion on a case with a unique factual scenario almost three years ago, on February 6, 2013 in the case of In Re Woodworth, (Bankr. E.D. Va., No. 11-11051-BFK, Feb. 6, 2013). The case is important because it speaks to the…

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