Practice Areas
Medicaid Benefits --- Planning Ahead with a Comprehensive Elder Law Asset Protection Plan --- Medicaid Applications and Planning when already in a Nursing Home --- Planning for Dementia --- Guardianships --- Special Needs Planning --- Tax Considerations --- Nursing Home Admissions --- Veterans Benefits --- Caretaker Agreements --- Protecting your Home --- Medicaid Estate Recovery --- Wills, Trusts and Estates --- Probate and Estate Administration
Medicaid Benefits for long term care
Medicaid is how the majority of Americans pay for nursing home care. But before an individual can qualify for Medicaid, he or she must have very few “available assets.” Often this requires “spending down” assets to the point of impoverishment before qualifying for Medicaid. But with proper legal advice, you can qualify for Medicaid without having to first spend the majority of your savings on nursing home costs.
Planning Ahead with a Comprehensive Elder Law Asset Protection Plan
Medicaid eligibility rules are complex and strict. By planning ahead – ideally at least 5 years before long term care is expected to be needed – you or your loved one can qualify more quickly, and thereby save most or all of your life savings from nursing home costs. By using proven strategies, you can simultaneously:
protect yourself from running out of money because of nursing home costs
protect your spouse from impoverishment
protect your home
protect your children’s inheritance
preserve your options to access the best long term care possible – and choose the type of care you want, where you receive it, and who provides it
take advantage of tax breaks
ensure your health care and financial wishes are honored
accomplish all of your estate planning goals
Already in or soon to be in a Nursing Home? Why to contact us right away for help with your Medicaid Application
You don’t have to spend your last dollar on nursing home costs, even once the bills have started to arrive. But the law is complex. We can advise you of your rights and help you implement legal strategies that could save some or even all of your life savings.
Have a dedicated advocate working with you throughout the entire process, beginning to end.
Contact us in order to:
Be informed of asset protection strategies which can save some or all of your life savings
Be informed about your spouse’s right to shield certain assets and income
Be informed of the potential consequences of prior actions on your Medicaid eligibility
Be advised of mitigation strategies that could prevent a costly Medicaid penalty period
Confidently file an accurate and complete application
Reduce the chance of your application’s denial, which could expose your family to financial risk
Get accurate answers to your questions
Planning for Dementia
Sadly, one in five families have a loved one with dementia, such as Alzheimer's Disease. In the next 15 to 20 years, it is estimated that one in two families will have a loved one with dementia. Even if memory issues or other symptoms have not started to appear - and especially if they have - it is important to plan ahead now, before it could be too late.
If you or your loved one loses the ability to make decisions, who will make financial and health care decisions for them? If you plan ahead, you can make informed choices, and you can ensure that your decisions will be honored. Make sure you have the people you want making decisions if you can't make them for yourself, and make sure they have the ability to carry out your wishes. These goals can be accomplished through Financial Powers of Attorney (with special powers necessary to enable elder law planning), Medical Powers of Attorney and Living Wills, and Trusts.
Guardianships
If your loved one didn't plan ahead - and sometimes even if they have - it can be necessary for the court to appoint a guardian to manage his or her financial and medical affairs. Guardians are appointed if an incapacitated family member can no longer make decisions on their own behalf. Court procedures can be complicated and intimidating, and could lead to someone you don't like being appointed as Guardian. Let us guide you through the process every step of the way.
Special Needs Planning
If you have a child or an adult child or family member with special needs, planning ahead takes on extra importance. You may have heard about the need to set up Special or Supplemental Needs Trusts, to protect access to SSI, Medicaid, and other government benefits. Let us help you navigate these complicated waters.
Tax Considerations
No one wants to pay more taxes than necessary. Elder Law planning can raise a wide variety of tax issues, such as capital gains tax, inheritance tax, estate tax, gift tax, realty transfer tax, taxes and tax penalties on IRA and 401(k) withdrawals, employment taxes, income tax withholdings, and medical expense tax deductions. We always take potential tax traps into account when we craft a plan for you - so you don't have to worry that you'll be paying more in tax than you absolutely have to.
Nursing Home Admissions
Entering a Nursing Home is often difficult for families for many reasons. But the business side of a nursing home admission doesn't have to be stressful. Let us advise you through the admissions process so that you can rest assured that your rights are protected.
Veterans Benefits
Those who have served our country in wartime, and are now elderly and need help with basic activities of daily living, may be entitled to cash benefits from the Veterans Administration to help pay for long term care, including in home care. If you or a loved one is a veteran, ask us about qualifying for Veterans Benefits.
Caretaker Agreements
Are you taking care of a loved one, or has your parent or relative has moved in with you so you can help them take care of themselves? You may be able to save tens of thousands of dollars that would otherwise be vulnerable to long term care costs with a Caretaker Agreement.
Protect Your Home - Real Estate in Elder Law
One of the most important items on most clients' agendas is protecting their home from nursing home costs. There are often multiple options available to protect your home. We can help you determine the best way forward for your family's situation.
Medicaid Estate Recovery
If your loved one has benefited from Medicaid to pay for their long term care, when they pass away, the state will come looking to "recover" the expenses they have incurred from your loved one's estate. But what is subject to the state's claims in estate recovery is actually limited by law. Don't pay Medicaid Estate Recovery more than you are required. Dealing with a loved one's passing is stressful enough - let us help you through the Medicaid Estate Recovery process.
Wills, Trusts and Estates
Though it sometimes starts with a Will, estate planning is about more than just a Will. We can help you ensure that your property and possessions will go where you want them to go when you are gone, that your children are taken care of in the way you want them to be, and that your legacy will be the one you want. Every single estate plan we design is personalized for your specific situation, needs, and concerns. Complicated family situation? We can craft a plan that will help you achieve your goals with a minimum of stress on you or your loved ones.
Probate and Estate Administration
When a family member passes away, it can be one of the most difficult and stressful times in a person's life. We can guide you through the probate, estate administration, and inheritance tax process, making sure that at least this part of the picture is stress-free - so you can focus your energy on other things.
Caring for you and your loved ones
When Daniel Baltuch takes on a client, his first question is always what are your goals. His primary concern is the well-being of you and your loved ones. Daniel considers caring about you and your loved ones to be a prerequisite for the services he provides.
