Family Trusts to protect assets for the next generation
Has this happened to you? There is often a point in a person’s life when he looks at his children and grandchildren, starts thinking about how hard he worked to build his house or his business or his savings and investments, and wonders as he ages whether he will be able to still provide a financial legacy for his children. In particular, he may be worried that if he ever develops...
Medicaid penalty imposed when life tenant received no proceeds of the home sale
A “life estate” in property is an interest that has a quantifiable value. If ownership of property can be thought of as giving the owner a “bundle of rights,” the life estate is a partial ownership of that bundle. For instance, the owner of property has the right to sell it, improve it, demolish it, rent it, give away a partial interest, and reside in it. The life...
What if the Medicaid home care services aren’t provided? part II
Previously I blogged about the problems faced by Medicaid-eligible people living in home and community-based settings when there isn’t a sufficient provider network to provide the services needed to maintain them in their residences, or there is substantial delay in getting the services started. The issue is that the government is obligated to provide the services in the...
The NJ Estate tax may be going away, but you can still do important planning with a Will
On October 14th, Governor Christie signed a tax package into law which does away with the New Jersey estate tax and certain income taxes in exchange for a 23 cent per gallon increase in the gasoline tax so that the roads and bridges can be repaired. There’s still no estate tax on any assets that pass at death to your spouse. At the present time, the estate tax exclusion is only...
Behavioral Therapy Techniques Show Promise for Alzheimers’ Patients
If you are caring for a person with Alzheimers’ dementia, you are probably seeing a number of behavioral changes that are difficult to understand and challenging to respond to. These are sometimes called “neuropsychiatric symptoms,” and they span the spectrum from apathy and depression to wandering, disinhibition, irritable verbal onslaughts, agitated pacing, and...
Medicaid applicant gets penalty period for cash transactions
Followers of this blog know that if a person applies for Medicaid to pay for nursing home care (or assisted living or home care), they have to provide five years’ of financial records and prove to the agency just what they spent every dollar on during the five year look-back period which immediately precedes the application. If the applicant can’t prove that the dollars were spent...
Court reiterates the strict standards for “caregiver child” house transfer exception to Medicaid penalty
When a person applies for Medicaid to pay for nursing home care (or assisted living or in-home care), they have to be mindful of whether transfers of assets will result in a denial of benefits. This denial is called the “transfer penalty,” and the 5-year Look-Back rules capture most transfers that occurred within the 5 years preceding the application. There are a handful of...
Payback provisions are required for a qualified special needs trust
Self-settled special needs trusts must have a payback provision to be considered an exempt trust under the federal and state Medicaid program. A Medicaid applicant under 65 can transfer his or her excess resources (assets) into a “special needs trust” and avoid the usual transfer penalties, but only if the trust meets all of the requirements of the federal and state law. Also, if...
The system puts a heavy burden on applicant to prove Medicaid eligibility
In A.T. v. Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services (unpublished non-precedential decision, Appellate Division of Superior Court, 2015, WL 7421647), a Medicaid application was denied for failure to provide requested verifications of assets. The applicant’s grandson (DT) was her Agent under Power of Attorney (“POA”), and his father ST was the alternate Agent. The...
We Respect Our Aging Parents by Helping Them Plan for Future Needs
Could this be you? You’re in your thirties or forties, with several active children and a busy social and business life. You’ve got volunteer activities and school programs to keep track of. Your parents are in their seventies or eighties, have their own home, and appear to pay all their bills when due. You have no idea what your parents’ income or assets are because they don’t want to bother...