As an Indianapolis senior move expert who helps Indy seniors sell their homes and downsize into smaller homes, I have the opportunity to come across many excellent professionals in the elder care arena. That’s why I asked Clifton Dennis, an elder care attorney with the law firm of Melissa Winkler-York LLC in Indianapolis, to supply us with a guest blog on issues boomers and senior citizens should consider.
Estate Planning Tips For Middle-class Couple
Risk of Long Term Care
Elder Law Attorney
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Provide
as broad Power of
Attorney authority
as appropriate to permit transfer of assets between spouses and
investment in Medicaid-exempt assets, such as income-producing real
estate.
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Assure
you have an appropriate legal
backup for the caregiver spouse.
Multiple challenges and high stresses face the caregiver. Many
nursing home placements occur when a health crisis overtakes the
caregiver. Who is prepared to respond in that circumstance?
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The
caregiver spouse can, and generally should, have a testamentary
special needs trust
to provide for a surviving disabled spouse. Moving assets to name
of caregiver spouse can facilitate Medicaid qualification planning
and provide special needs protection for the disabled spouse if the
caregiver spouse dies first. In some cases, wills with trusts for
each spouse and appropriate division of assets provides best
protection for uncertain order of death.
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Timing
and strategic use of non-exempt assets is critical to maximizing
protection of assets and income under Medicaid Spousal
Impoverishment protections. Early evaluation of assets, effect on
Medicaid qualification permits the planner to identify
of probable course action for Medicaid qualification even though
execution of the plan will often be delayed until the point of need.
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Begin
early to plan for
non-exempt assets that are difficult or expensive to liquidate.
Examples: tax-deferred retirement accounts, annuities and other
assets with early withdrawal penalties, non-income-producing real
estate.
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A
Retirement Community or Assisted Living for the Community Spouse
may prevent her/him from also becoming an institutionalized spouse.
Planning with the Spousal Impoverishment protections in Medicaid law
can help make this possible through the “excess
shelter allowance,”
and maximizing the assets protected for the Community Spouse.
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Since
assets must generally be moved to name of non-recipient spouse after
Medicaid is established, second marriages, his, her and/or our
children situations, and differing legacy plans present special
challenges for legacy planning in relation to Medicaid-wise
planning. Consider family agreement or other devices that will
permit fidelity to
each spouse’s legacy plan despite Medicaid requirements.
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Caution
clients against simplistic solutions. Doing
what the neighbor did, transferring the house to the children or
buying what the “single-solution” annuity salesperson offers can
be disastrous.
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Assure
that clients understand that gifts
by the well spouse can disqualify the disabled spouse for up to five
years.
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Protect
the well spouse with
long term care insurance or a Medicaid contingency plan.Visit the Website of Clifton A. Dennis for More InfoClifton A. Dennis on FacebookIndianapolis Home for Sale: Ft. Benjamin Harrison Area