New York Estate Planning & Elder Law Blog

Casey Kasem’s Daughter Fights for Guardianship Laws

Published on: July 1, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

The daughter of the late iconic radio DJ, Casey Kasem, is fighting for new guardianship laws that would prevent future instances of elder abuse and neglect similar to what her father endured in his final days. Kerri Kasem has gone on record as saying that she feels like her father’s death could have been prevented if she and her siblings were able to see their father and better monitor his care. Unfortunately, at the time that they needed it there was no law in place to help.

Case of Casey Kasem

When Casey Kasem’s health deteriorated, his current wife and stepmother to his adult children decided to move him from the assisted living facility where he was being cared for to an undisclosed location. When his children finally got the court to compel her to release his location, he was found on an Indian reservation in poor health. He was suffering from bed sores, a urinary tract infection, and sepsis.

Red Tape in Medicaid Applications

Published on: June 30, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Medicaid is one of the most utilized government programs for elderly American citizens that are in need of medical assistance that they cannot afford. In order to qualify for the Medicaid program, an applicant must meet a number of criteria and an application can either be filled out online or in paper form. However, many applicants to the Medicaid program have run into issues of red tape and other problems when attempting to apply for benefits.

Online Medicaid Application

The online application for Medicaid can be found on the federal Medicaid program website. For seniors that are tech savvy, the online application can be filled out in about 45 minutes. The website contains all kinds of information like eligibility, benefits, and required documentation needed to be considered for the program. After an online application is submitted, there may be follow-up phone calls by the program to make sure that everything regarding their application is in order, but usually an accepted applicant can receive their benefits card within 45 days of submitting the online application.

Fiduciaries Cannot Transfer Real Property to Self

Published on: June 29, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

The Supreme Court of North Dakota recently ruled on the issue of a fiduciary self-dealing when he was one of the heirs inheriting from an estate. The case highlights the importance of creating clear boundaries when delineating responsibilities of an estate as well as ensuring that all of the proper documents are processed in any type of real property or estate dealings.

Facts of the Case

In the case of Broten v. Broten, James Broten, Louise Broten, and Linda Shuler were all children of Olaf and Helen Broten. The parents owned around 480 acres of farmland, and in 1979 they executed a quitclaim deed that gave Olaf Broten sole ownership in the real estate. He then entered into a contract for deed with his son, James, agreeing to convey the farmland for $200,000 plus six percent interest paid through 2006. The contract was prepared by James’ attorney but never recorded. At the same time, the parents executed a will that placed the farmland in trust, with the mother receiving income for life, and the principal to be distributed to the children equally upon her death.

Florida Rejects Medicaid Expansion

Published on: June 26, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

The Florida House of Representatives rejected an expansion of the state’s current Medicaid system that leaves hundreds of thousands of people caught in the state’s coverage gap. This gap applies to people living in the state who make too much money to apply for coverage but too little to cover the costs of their medical care. It has the possibility of having a serious effect on elderly people who live down in Florida full-time or have made it their primary residence for Medicaid eligibility purposes.

Florida Medicaid Program

Florida currently has 1.3 million people enrolled in the federal exchange for healthcare insurance, more than any other state in the country. Most of these people qualify for subsidies, but if these subsidies were invalidated then they would lose their access to coverage. This is of particular concern now as the U.S. Supreme Court is currently ruling on the case of King v. Burwell, which will determine whether federal tax subsidies that allow for low and middle income people to purchase insurance through the marketplace will be unconstitutional.

Court Approves Easy Probate Avoidance

Published on: June 26, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

A California Court of Appeals recent ruling may provide a way to fund a revocable trust that could provide for easy probate avoidance. Although this case applies specifically to California law, it does also give a template for other states to apply a similar probate avoidance technique for the revocable trusts under their law. By using broad conveyance language in a trust instrument to avoid probate on the trust settlor’s assets, this process can work even if trust funding process was not set up perfectly.

Facts of the Case

In the case of Ukkestad v. RBS Asset Finance, Inc., Larry Mabee executed a trust in December 2012 and died about two weeks later. He had appointed himself as trustee and also enacted a will that which contains a pour-over provision that gave the residue of the estate to the trustees of the trust. At the time of his death, Mr. Mabee owned two parcels of real estate that were titled in his own name.

Back to the Basics – Moving after Retirement

Published on: June 24, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Retirees are acutely aware of the future, and they have usually spent between thirty and forty years saving up for it. While many dream of beach living and travel, current numbers show that most retirees opt instead to continue living in their home. Historically, the biggest move that a retired person makes is from their home to a nursing facility when they are unable to care for themselves anymore, but new trends are coming up in moving after retirement that people should be made aware of.

Trends in Retirement Moving

More seniors today are moving after retirement than in the past. In fact, the likelihood of moving has tripled between the age groups of 1968-1984 and 1996-2011. Interestingly, another trend being noticed by experts is that the average age at the time of the move is considerably lower than it was before. More young, wealthy retirees are choosing to sell their home and move into a retirement community. This is drastically different than past generations, where wealth meant that a person could remain living in their own home significantly longer.

CVS Investing Big in Elder Care

Published on: June 24, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

CVS Health Corp. CEO Larry Melo recently announced that the company is investing billions into the purchase of a nursing home pharmacy operator in an attempt to transform into a dominant healthcare player for senior needs. CVS purchased the company Omnicare, Inc. in its bid to outgrow CVS’ drugstore chain persona into something more all-encompassing for healthcare needs and focus more on the growing population of aging seniors in this country.

Recent Changes to CVS

This is not the first major change that CVS has made to its healthcare focus in recent years. In 2011, the company announced that it will no longer be selling cigarettes in its mission to improve its consumers’ health. It also changed its name from CVS Health to CVS Caremark and aggressively expanded the number of in-store health clinics. By 2017, CVS aims to have another 600 in-store health clinics for consumers and in 2013 the company purchased a drug-infusion company to expand its healthcare competencies.

Annuity Alternative for Estate Planning

Published on: June 22, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

One common estate planning tool for people entering retirement is the use of an annuity for their retirement funds; however, recently a product has emerged on the scene. A retirement spending account has now become an alternative to an annuity by controlling the amount of distributions and simultaneously providing a degree of control over the retirement funds. It is a new way for people to continue to save in retirement while also controlling the amount that they spend.

What is a Retirement Spending Account?

The purpose of a retirement spending account is to combine the benefits of both an annuity and savings account while also minimizing the disadvantages of both. It seeks to resolve the issue of not outliving your retirement savings while not constricting a person’s power over their own money like in an annuity. A retirement spending account is a fund that is managed by an asset management firm. The firm invests the retirement money, manages the account, and provides the retiree with a monthly distribution.

Annual Report Ranks States’ Quality of Elder Care

Published on: June 20, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

The United Health Foundation, a nonprofit organization that is focused on improving healthcare and overall health, published its third annual report earlier this year that analyzes how well each state across the country is taking care of their seniors. Based on thirty-five different benchmarks, the study breaks down each individual state’s strengths and weaknesses for various elder care needs in addition to comparing states as a whole.

Elder Care in the United States

Almost one in seven citizens in the United States is now 65 years old or older, and the need for quality checks on our nation’s elder care system is increasing. By 2030, it is estimated that over one-fifth of the country’s population will be elderly. By 2050, it is estimated that nearly 83.7 million people will be 65 years old or older, more than double the elderly population in 2012.

Court Rules on Statutory Shares of an Estate

Published on: June 19, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

The Supreme Court of Connecticut recently ruled on a case involving a statutory share of an estate. Every state has laws regarding how much of an estate must be given to close family members, which is known as the statutory share. A person must petition for a statutory share of an estate when their spouse, child, parent, or other loved one leaves them nothing in the estate either through the will or by dying intestate.

Facts of the Case

In the case of Dinan v. Patten, et al, Althea Dinan was married to Albert Garofalo. He passed away in 2000 and left behind a will for his estate. The will left everything to his daughter, Anne Patten, and her three children Nicole, Aaron, and Alexis while leaving nothing for Ms. Dinan. After his death, Ms. Dinan petitioned the court for her statutory share of the estate pursuant to Connecticut law. In 2008, after years of being unable to agree upon the proper amount of her share, the executor of the estate asked the court to render a ruling on the issue.