Caregiving

Ways to Avoid Being “Squeezed” as an Elderly Caregiver

Published on: January 23, 2021 | by Ettinger Law Firm

The term, sandwich generation, was created to refer to a generation of individuals who were taking care of their parents while also having their own children. As the baby boomer generation ages, younger individuals are moving into a similar situation and in many cases are doing so at a younger age than their parents did. While this can be a complex process, adequate planning can help.

A recent AARP study found that approximately one in four family caregivers is a millennial, which refers to individuals born between 1980 and 1996. One reason why younger caregivers are becoming more common is that many baby boomers decided to wait until later in life to have children. Another reason for the increase in millennial caregivers is that divorces are more common and millennials are often acting in the caregiver role that a spouse would have filled.

Caregiving for an elderly loved one is not an easy process. For one, providing care to an elderly loved one is a time-consuming process. Young caregivers also have less secure jobs and are hesitant to discuss caregiving obligations with the previous generation. Even in the best situation, acting as a caregiver while juggling employment and other obligations can be overwhelming. Through adequate planning, you can fortunately avoid some of the stress associated with caring for your loved one. As a result, this article reviews some important support systems that you should make sure to have in place if you are caring for an elderly loved one.

Lessons Learned After New York Mail Fraud Case

Published on: January 19, 2021 | by Ettinger Law Firm

The Department of Justice recently indicted four men including two individuals who are located in Canada and two in the state of New York for a mass-mailing scheme that robbed thousands of senior citizens of tens of millions of dollars.

Based on the Canadian indictments, the accused fraudsters sent mail to thousands of elderly individuals whose names and addresses were obtained from mailing lists. The mail promised cash prizes in exchange for a fee of anywhere from $19.95 to $39.95 and included a return envelope to mailboxes across the United States that were rented using fake identities.

Based on the New York indictments, the accused fraudsters sent mail to hundreds of thousands of elderly individuals in the guise that they could win millions of dollars in cash rewards if they paid a fee between $19.99 to $24.99. Many of the people who sent money in response were elderly. These alleged fraudsters obtained the names and addresses of victims through mailing lists and netted $7.5 million per year.

4 Things To Appreciate About Theft and Nursing Homes

Published on: January 14, 2021 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Placing a loved one in a nursing home is one of the most difficult decisions that many people make. It isn’t easy for a person to make the transition from living at home to living in a nursing home. To make the place feel more in common, it’s common to bring personal belongings to the nursing home to make your loved one feel more at ease. Unfortunately, however, items can sometimes go missing. As a result, this article reviews some critical things about nursing home theft as well as how to deal with it.

# 1 – What Type of Property Goes Missing Most Often

Any item can be stolen from a nursing home. Some objects, however, tend to go missing more often than others. Some of the most frequently stolen items include:

4 Things to Understand about Nursing Homes and Bed Sores

Published on: January 10, 2021 | by Ettinger Law Firm

An elderly individual or person who is receiving care at a nursing home should not be required to live with bed sores. In many situations, bed sores are a good indicator that a person is being neglected. These sores can lead to infections that can jeopardize a person’s health and even lead to death. Sometimes also referred to as “pressure sores”, if you see these on your loved one you should not hesitate to speak with an experienced elder abuse lawyer. It also helps to understand some important details about the nature of bed sores.

# 1 – The Names for Bed Sores

Bed sores are injuries that occur when the pressure of a person’s weight reduces the blood supply to certain points on both the skin and underlying tissue. If not adequately treated, skin and other issues eventually die and leave an open wound. Bed sores occur among individuals who are unable to move to relieve that pressure, which is most common among the bedridden. While they’re frequently referred to as bed sores, these injuries are also sometimes referred to as pressure sores, pressure ulcers, or decubitus ulcers.

3 Pieces of Advice on Selecting a Trustee

Published on: January 2, 2021 | by Ettinger Law Firm

If you decide to establish a trust, you will likely need to select someone to make sure that the trust is administered in accordance with your wishes. A trustee is a person who assumes the position of managing a trust’s assets. The regulations to which the trustee must comply are contained in the terms of the trust. While trustees are often the trust’s creator when the trust is formed, trustees can also be the beneficiary of a trust. Following the death or incapacity of the trust’s creator, a person or institution is named as the successor trustee to manage the trust’s assets. The person or entity named in a trust as a successor trustee should also be carefully appointed because an unreliable trustee can both mismanage and waste assets. Also, because trustees have substantial powers, a risk exists that an incorrect trustee might end up harming a beneficiary. While selecting a trustee is a critical aspect of estate planning, too many people appoint a trustee without sufficient planning or thought. As a result, this article reviews some important qualities to look for when selecting a trustee.

# 1 – The Ability to Perform the Job

To successfully administer and manage a trust, trustees must be capable of performing various tasks. These individuals must have an understanding of both trust terms as well as the applicable law. Trustees should also know how to successfully manage assets as well as be able to diplomatically deal with beneficiaries. While a trustee does not need experience with areas like finance or trust management, whoever is appointed as trustee should be able to show financial responsibility as well as successfully resolve matters with others. The person appointed as trustee should also be able to make ethical decisions and act in the best interest of the trust creator and beneficiaries.

4 Important Things to Remember about Guardian Ad Litem

Published on: December 27, 2020 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Estate planning disputes can arise in countless ways. One of the most common types of disputes involves individuals who cannot successfully represent themselves or argue for what is in their best interest like mentally incapacitated adults or unborn beneficiaries. In these situations, a New York judge will often appoint a guardian ad litem to act in the position as a surrogate decision-maker. If you find yourself in such a situation, it helps to consider some important things about guardian ad litem, which are reviewed in this article.

# 1 – Reasons to Consider a Guardian Ad Litem

Guardian ad litem can be utilized whenever disputes have arisen involving custody, visitation, or any other issues addressing the subject. In the case of an older individual, a guardian ad litem is often utilized to make sure that the subject is receiving the best care possible. In accordance with New York’s Appointment of Guardian ad Litem statute, the topic comes before a court as the result of a motion by a party to a divorce action, a conservator, a guardian, or the court itself.

3 Ways Life Insurance Policies Play Vital Roles in Estate Plans

Published on: December 18, 2020 | by Ettinger Law Firm

The best types of estate planning involves a multi-faceted approach, which both addresses financial as well as health concerns. While many people are aware of the benefits provided by estate planning tools like wills and advance healthcare directives, one helpful but commonly overlooked estate planning tools are life insurance policies. As a result, to widen the types of estate planning tools that you can consider utilizing as you plan for your incapacity or death, this article reviews the role that life insurance policies can play in estate plans.

# 1 – The Primary Purpose of Life Insurance Policies

Life insurance is often viewed as an income replacement for dependants. For people who are the primary or significant income providers in households, income replacement is not optional. Similarly, if a person is a homemaker or the primary caregiver of a minor or disabled child, it is critical to remember that the cost associated with hiring a replacement caregiver is substantial.

Protecting Assets With Caregiver Agreements

Published on: November 15, 2020 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Family members as caregivers overwhelmingly provide for elderly and disabled loved ones at home. Although a labor of love, taking care of ailing loved ones also has a market value, meaning that caretakers may be paid as a way to protect assets.

Through the use of a Caregiver Agreement, also known as a Personal Services Contract, the disabled or elderly person may transfer money to family members as compensation rather than as a gift. Gifts to family members made in the last five years before applying for Medicaid to pay for nursing home costs disqualify the applicant from receiving Medicaid for a certain period of time, known as a “penalty period.”

For example, mom depends on daughter Janice for her care. If mom gifts $100,000 to Janice, then goes into a nursing home in the next five years and applies for Medicaid, the gift to Janice will result in about a ten month penalty period. Janice will have to give the $100,000 back to mom to pay nursing home costs during the penalty period, or mom will have to use other resources to pay.

Assisted Reproductive Technology and Estate Plans

Published on: April 27, 2020 | by Ettinger Law Firm

In-vitro fertilization, also known as IVF, has its origins in the 1890’s when the first known case of embryo transplantation occurred in rabbits in Great Britain. By 1973, scientists were able to transplant a human embryo into a woman. The first human IVF pregnancy occurred 47 years ago in Melbourne, Australia. In addition to IVF there are other assisted reproductive technologies, commonly called ART for short, that have changed human conception, such as artificial insemination and surrogacy that have made parenthood possible for people who are unable to reproduce naturally.

Significant changes are afoot in the area of estate planning of such families as more children are born from ART methods for reproduction. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 1.8% of all infants born in the United States were aided by ART methods. In the context of estate planning, there are two main issues ART families should tackle. First, how parentage and descendants are defined for legal purposes, such as maintenance and inheritance. Second, is who controls the disposition of stored genetic material that has not been used.

Are all children descendants, legally speaking, of course?

How much can you receive in divorce benefits?

Published on: April 15, 2020 | by Ettinger Law Firm

If you’re eligible for divorce benefits from the Social Security Administration (SSA), you can collect up to 50% of the amount your former spouse is eligible to receive by claiming your benefits at his or her full retirement age (FRA).

Your FRA is either 66, 66 plus a few months, or 67, depending on the year you were born. The earliest you can claim Social Security benefits is 62. If you claim benefits before your FRA, your Social Security benefits will be permanently reduced by as much as 30%. You can only receive your full Social Security benefit amount if you claim benefits at your FRA.

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