The difficult decision has been made to move forward with nursing home placement for your loved one. Once a suitable nursing home has been chosen based on your visitation of facilities and reviews and data such as can be found on Medicare.gov, you may wonder when to begin the process of qualifying financially and applying for Medicaid to help pay for the nursing home costs and protect your loved one’s hard-earned savings. The answer is
During my discussions with estate planning clients, many times the topic of leaving a certain vehicle to a certain beneficiary comes up. Clients will say, “if I still own my RAV4 I want it to go to my grandson who is going to college.” In the past, this could only be noted in their Last Will and Testament. Today we have another straightforward option that is simple, cost effective, and avoids probate. The owner(s) of a vehicle
When clients come to meet me for estate planning and a general review of their affairs, one of the first documents we discuss is a Durable Power of Attorney (“POA”). This document can be used to name a trusted person or company to handle affairs on your behalf, even when you are no longer able to mentally and/or physically handle them yourself. This can avoid a Court being involved to appoint a Guardian. A POA
To avoid a formal estate in the Court system, before July 1, 2022, the probate estate of the decedent must have been less than $50,000 less liens, encumbrances, and funeral expenses. Effective, July 1, 2022, for any Indiana resident who then passes away, this number has doubled to $100,000. Consequently, any probate assets solely in the decedent’s name alone count toward this number. A bank account solely in decedent’s name without a beneficiary listed would
People routinely get the programs and terms Medicare and Medicaid confused; and thinking they have the same coverages with both. However, this is not true. One of the most common misconceptions is Medicare will pay for long-term care. Medicare is an entitlement program. If a person is on disability or is receiving Social Security benefits at age 65, they will receive Medicare benefits. Medicare will only pay, through Part A, up to 100 days of