Blog

"When the parents are gone, there’s all kinds of unforeseen stuff they leave us with, stuff they never intended.” – Ira Glass, in This American Life, Episode 763: “Left Behind” If you grew up with siblings, you probably remember some sibling rivalry. That rivalry can continue well into adulthood, especially after the parents are gone. In many families, parents are like the glue that keeps the family together. Once their gone, old issues can resurface, especially when it comes to dividing the parents’ personal property. That’s why it’s important to have a plan for how you want your personal, sentimental property distributed to the people that you love. If you don’t, that can make an already tough situation so much worse. This American Life, a popular podcast, recently featured a family with such a story. Eleven adult siblings needed to divide their dead parents’ stuff. But they didn’t all get along. Although their parents (who were both attorneys) had wills, they didn’t list in their will which child would get which items. They left all that to the kids, saying simply, everyone should get an equal amount. So the siblings…Read More

Living in the digital age, having online access to investments is a great convenience. But the downside is that they can create a very difficult situation for a surviving spouse or executor trying to find the deceased’s assets. What is the first thing you are told about any password? Don’t write it down. This can create unintended consequences for an executor who needs access to each account in order to marshal the assets and eventually distribute those assets to the heirs or trustees based on the language contained in the will. When the founder and CEO of a Canadian cryptocurrency exchange, QuadrigaCX, died unexpectedly, nobody else had the password to the exchange’s cold storage locker. That cut off access to investors’ $190 million in cryptocurrency. Those investors may never see their funds again. This is a an eye-opening example of how the security system designed to keep hackers out of an account can work against the owners of funds. Here are some strategies to safely share passwords to your computer, email and online accounts. Option #1 Give Your Passwords To A Trusted Family Member This is probably the easiest, but…Read More

Medicare covers preventative care services, including an annual wellness visit. But confusing a wellness visit with a physical could be very expensive. As part of the Affordable Care Act, Medicare beneficiaries receive a free annual wellness visit. At this visit, your doctor, nurse practitioner or physician assistant will generally do the following: Ask you to fill out a health risk assessment questionnaire Update your medical history and current prescriptions Measure your height, weight, blood pressure and body mass index Provide personalized health advice Create a screening schedule for the next 5 to 10 years Screen for cognitive issues You do not have to pay a deductible for this visit. You may also receive other free preventative services, such as a flu shot. The confusion arises when a Medicare beneficiary requests an “annual physical” instead of an “annual wellness visit.” During a physical, a doctor may do other tests that are outside of an annual wellness visit, such as check vital signs, perform lung or abdominal exams, test your reflexes, or order urine and blood samples. These services are not offered for free and Medicare beneficiaries will have to pay co-pays…Read More

The number of older Americans with student loan debt – either theirs or someone else’s — is growing. Sadly, learning how to deal with this debt is now a fact of life for many seniors heading into retirement. According to by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the number of older borrowers increased by at least 20 percent between 2012 and 2017. Some of these borrowers were borrowing for themselves, but the majority was borrowing for others. The study found that 73 percent of student loan borrowers age 60 and older borrowed for a child’s or grandchild’s education. Before You Co-sign A Student Loan For A Child Or Grandchild, You Need To Understand Your Obligations The co-signer not only vouches for the loan recipient’s ability to pay back the loan, but is also personally responsible for repaying the loan if the recipient cannot pay. Because of this, you need to carefully consider the risk before taking on this responsibility. In some circumstances, it is possible to obtain a co-signer release from a loan after the loan recipient has made a few on-time payments. If you are a co-signer on a loan…Read More

Choosing a beneficiary for your life insurance policy isn’t as easy as you might think. That’s because naming someone as your life insurance beneficiary really has nothing to do with you. Why? Because you should consider how that money will affect your beneficiary’s life once you’re gone. If you’re not careful, you might create problems for your loved ones. Here are a few important questions you should ask yourself when choosing your life insurance beneficiary: 1. What Are Your Goals? Ask yourself: what do you ultimately intend to accomplish with your life insurance? For example, are you trying to replace income for your spouse and kids? Are you just trying to cover your funeral costs? The real reason you’re investing in life insurance is something only you can answer. And that answer will put you in a better position to choose your beneficiary. 2. What Are Your Beneficiary Options? Your primary beneficiary is your first choice. If you don’t name a beneficiary, then your life insurance goes to your estate. That means that your life insurance will end up in Probate. Your insurance company will ask you to name your…Read More

Paying for day care is one of the biggest expenses faced by working adults with young children, a dependent parent, or a child with a disability. But there is a tax credit available to help working caregivers defray the costs of day care (for seniors it’s called “adult day care”). In Order To Qualify For The Tax Credit, You Must Have A Dependent Who Cannot Be Left Alone And Who Has Lived With You For More Than Half The Year Qualifying dependents may be the following: A child who is under age 13 when the care is provided A spouse who is physically or mentally incapable of self-care An individual who is physically or mentally incapable of self-care and either is your dependent or could have been your dependent except that his or her income is too high ($4,150 or more) or he or she files a joint return. Even Though You Can No Longer Receive A Deduction For Claiming A Parent (Or Child) As A Dependent, You Can Still Receive This Tax Credit If Your Parent (Or Other Relative) Qualifies As A Dependent This means you must provide more…Read More

A California daughter and granddaughter’s fear of losing their home to Medicaid may have contributed to a severe case of elder abuse. If They Had Consulted With An Elder Law Attorney, They Might Have Figured Out A Way To Get Their Mother The Care She Needed And Also Protect Their House Amanda Havens was sentenced to 17 years in prison for elder abuse after her grandmother, Dorothy Havens, was found neglected, with bedsores and open wounds, in the home they shared. The grandmother died the day after being discovered by authorities. Amanda’s mother, Kathryn Havens, who also lived with Dorothy, is awaiting trial for second-degree murder. According to an article in the Record Searchlight, a local publication, Amanda and Kathryn knew Dorothy needed full-time care, but they did not apply for Medicaid on her behalf due to a fear that Medicaid would “take” the house. It Is A Common Misconception That The State Will Immediately Take A Medicaid Recipient’s Home Nursing home residents do not automatically have to sell their homes in order to qualify for Medicaid. In some states, the home will not be considered a countable asset for Medicaid…Read More

Although A Nursing Home Cannot Require A Child To Be Personally Liable For Their Parent’s Nursing Home Bill, There Are Circumstances In Which Children Can End Up Having To Pay This is a major reason why it is important to read any admission agreements carefully before signing. Federal regulations prevent a nursing home from requiring a third party to be personally liable as a condition of admission. However, children of nursing home residents often sign the nursing home admission agreement as the “responsible party.” This is a confusing term and it isn’t always clear from the contract what it means. Typically, The Responsible Party Is Agreeing To Do Everything In His Or Her Power To Make Sure That The Resident Pays The Nursing Home From The Resident’s Funds If the resident runs out of funds, the responsible party may be required to apply for Medicaid on the resident’s behalf. If the responsible party doesn’t follow through on applying for Medicaid or provide the state with all the information needed to determine Medicaid eligibility, the nursing home may sue the responsible party for breach of contract. In addition, if a responsible…Read More

A new report that combines nursing home quality data with a survey of family members ranks the best and worst states for care and paints a picture of how Americans view nursing homes. The website Care.com analyzed Medicare’s nursing home ratings to identify the states with the best and worst overall nursing home quality ratings. Using Medicare’s five-star nursing home rating system, Care.com found that Hawaii nursing homes had the highest overall average ratings (3.93), followed by the District of Columbia (3.89), Florida (3.75), and New Jersey (3.75). The state with the lowest average rating was Texas (2.68), followed by Oklahoma (2.76), Louisiana (2.80), and Kentucky (2.98). Care.com also surveyed 978 people who have family members in a nursing home to determine their impressions about nursing homes. The surveyors found that the family members visited their loved ones in a nursing home an average six times a month, and more than half of those surveyed felt that they did not visit enough. Those who thought they visited enough visited an average of nine times a month. In addition, a little over half felt somewhat to extremely guilty about their loved…Read More