On behalf of The Elder and Disability Law Firm, APC on Wednesday, July 24, 2013. The jury is still out as to what the effect will be of the Medicaid expansion that is called for within the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ("PPACA"). The expansion was originally to be required of all U.S. states, but, after the Supreme Court held that expansion could only be made voluntarily, the impact of the expansion was deflated considerably.With an effective date of ...
On behalf of The Elder and Disability Law Firm, APC on Monday, July 22, 2013. It's doubtful that you'd want a doctor you've never met to make decisions about whether you live or die, or how you live or die. In fact, you may even to shudder to think about certain family members making those choices. Most people would rather make end-of-life decisions for themselves. Especially since in some cases, you may have moral or religious objections to medical treatments.These are hard questi...
On behalf of The Elder and Disability Law Firm, APC on Thursday, July 18, 2013. When it's time to create an estate plan, you might feel confident in your own skills to draft a DIY estate plan. After all, you can find just about anything on the internet, including estate planning documents and how-to guides. While it is obviously cheaper to go this route, you may want to think twice before creating your own estate plan. For some common reasons why DIY estate plans fail, read below.S...
On behalf of The Elder and Disability Law Firm, APC on Wednesday, July 17, 2013. One common misconception is that you can only apply for the Improved Pension Benefit Program (IPB) if a veteran or a veteran's spouse has a service-related injury; however this is not the case.If your loved one's health is declining and you have not yet begun the estate planning process the IPB program will aid in easing the financial burden and offer some respite to you and your family.The eligibility...
On behalf of The Elder and Disability Law Firm, APC on Tuesday, July 16, 2013. If you are prone to procrastination when it comes to estate planning one thing that may motivate you to take action is to ask yourself who will suffer if you were to die without making any preparations in advance.The fact is that your loved ones will be left behind to fend for themselves if you pass away without making provisions for them.You may think that you are still relatively young and that you hav...
On behalf of The Elder and Disability Law Firm, APC on Friday, July 12, 2013. When you are planning your estate you have to a lot of things to consider, and one of these would be the personal proclivities of the individuals who will be receiving inheritances after you pass away.You may have someone on your inheritance list who is not the greatest money manager. When you are preparing for the distribution of your assets after your death you may take pause before you give this indivi...
On behalf of The Elder and Disability Law Firm, APC on Thursday, July 11, 2013. Wading through all the terminology that is utilized in estate planning circles can be somewhat confusing to the uninitiated. With this in mind we would like to take a look at living wills, last wills, and living trusts.Everyone knows what a last will is used for. This is the most widely executed estate planning document, and of course it facilitates the transfer of your financial assets to your loved on...
On behalf of The Elder and Disability Law Firm, APC on Wednesday, July 10, 2013. While there are some rather complicated legal instruments that are used in the field of estate planning there are some relatively simple solutions that can be implemented as well. One of these would be the utilization of payable on death or transfer on death accounts, but you have to be aware of the limitations of these accounts.When you create a payable on death account at a bank or a brokerage you in...
On behalf of The Elder and Disability Law Firm, APC on Wednesday, July 3, 2013. One of the issues that is a source of great concern within the elder law community is that of access to long-term care. Perhaps the most striking demographic statistic of our time is that people who are at least 85 years of age are the fastest growing age group in the country. Clearly, when you reach an advanced age it is very possible that you are going to need living assistance.Many people go forward ...
On behalf of The Elder and Disability Law Firm, APC on Tuesday, July 2, 2013. The estate tax is something that is not fully understood by a lot of people, but when you find out the facts you can't help but be a bit taken aback by just how harsh it can be.At the present time the maximum rate of the estate tax is 35% and the exclusion is $5.12 million. These figures are in place due to a tax relief measure that was passed at the end of 2010. This piece of legislation is going to suns...
