Articles

Test your knowledge about nursing homes and the Medicaid-Long Term Services and Supports (MLTSS) program that pays for nursing home care, assisted living and part-time home care for eligible people. Does  a person’s monthly income have to be less than $2,829 to apply for Medicaid-MLTSS? Will the State take the house if a married person moves into a nursing home and their spouse is still at...

Maintaining a house can be expensive. The property taxes — even with senior freezes — plus insurance, utilities, water, sewer, trash collection and repair and maintenance can really add up. If home health care is required and the person isn’t receiving Medicaid-funded care, that will be an additional substantial expense. People are living longer and longer. We have worked...

Two years ago we wrote about the new requirements for background checks in New Jersey guardianship cases. This post discusses duties of Guardians and reporting obligations. There is a Guardianship Monitoring Program in each County Surrogate’s office, and the County Surrogates are making a point of following up after the Judgment is entered. If you are being appointed as a Guardian you...

Poorly written Wills (or revocable trusts) can create enormous headaches for the Executor (or successor Trustee) who has to track down Beneficiaries and interpret what the document requires. “Simple Wills” that don’t address the details can lead to expensive legal troubles later. Here are some issues to think about when you are designing your estate plan,  so that your lawyer...

I had a meeting recently with a client whose spouse had set up an irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT).  The client is the beneficiary of the Trust. The Trust owned a substantial life insurance policy on the spouse. The spouse died 15 years ago, and the insurance policy was promptly paid to the Trust. The client is the Trustee, and established a brokerage account with the funds. The client...

The Medicaid program which pays for nursing home costs and for care in the community is called MLTSS – Medicaid Long Term Services and Supports. An applicant has to meet the specific financial requirements for income and assets (resources). These financial limits get updated every year. Some numbers go up in January, and others in July.  This post reviews the numbers that are changing...