Elder Law

Financial and Estate Planning Houston Parents

Published on: March 3, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

While not all encompassing, these guides serve as a starting point to help your parents. There are many family dynamics at play when these types of planning conversations arise, so you need to be cognizant of patterns and relationships. Starting earlier will reap dividends for everyone; delaying these conversations can cause more anxiety and tension.

Do your parents have all of their financial and estate plans in order? How do you have “the talk” without causing hurt feelings?

A recent article in The (Manchester, NH) Union-Leader, titled “Helping parents navigate their finances as they get older,” recommends a proactive approach as the best way to broach this delicate subject. Starting the conversation can be difficult for some, but waiting can cause even more headaches. For example, there are an increasing number of scams targeting our seniors. You want to be ahead of the curve to protect their nest egg and your time.

Elder Abuse Is Real, and Houston Needs a Solution!

Published on: March 2, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

How big a problem is impossible to say, because hard data is scarce. “The reality is that we don’t even have national data on the scope of the problem,” Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), said at the hearing.

It has been found that much of the financial abuse involving seniors goes unreported. According to a New York State Elder Abuse Prevalence Study, only one in 44 cases is reported. And knowing that makes for a real problem when reviewing some of the data we do have.

It’s a problem that Kathleen Quinn, Executive Director of the National Adult Protective Services Association, called “rampant, largely invisible, expensive and lethal” at a recent Senate Special Committee on Aging hearing on the subject. In fact, as reported in a recent Forbes article titled “Why Elder Financial Abuse Is Such A Slippery Crime,” a new study asserts that financial elder abuse costs $36.5 billion annually—more than 12 times the figures that MetLife has published in the past few years.

Finances and Medicaid Planning: What Houston Seniors Need to Know

Published on: February 27, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

In continuation of the series on estate and life planning, this column focuses on how Medicaid factors into financial planning for long-term care.

Seniors need to have a plan in place for long-term care, should they need care assistance in the future. A recent article in The Victoria (TX) Advocate titled “How does Medicaid factor into financial planning?” recommends that seniors need a strategy to pay for the costs of long-term care. In some instances, however, some individuals may have to rely on Medicaid if they don't have enough income to purchase long-term care insurance, the assets to pay for care themselves, or they are uninsurable.

Medicaid planning was often thought of as a viable tool for long-term planning. However, estate planning attorneys are now rethinking this strategy. Medicaid planning—which was, in essence, planning to make asset transfers, used to be the primary tool used by seniors considering long-term care costs. However, law changes and the advent of new financial products and plans will work better, they say. Medicaid "planning" is actually a misnomer as most seniors don’t plan to go on Medicaid, but rather experience an urgent care need, and there aren’t any other options. A better alternative is to obtain a long-term care insurance policy.

Elder Abuse Accusation in DJ Casey Kasem’s Estate Feud

Published on: February 26, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

"Detectives are still actively investigating the elder abuse case," LAPD spokesperson Jane Kimtold THR. "They want to be as thorough as possible before a case is presented to the DA's office."

The hits just keep coming in DJ Casey Kasem’s estate battle.

The Hollywood Reporter quoted private investigator Logan Clarke in its recent article titled Casey Kasem's Daughter Demands LAPD Arrest Widow for Elder Abuse. "

Massachusetts is Behind on Dementia Care Compliance

Published on: February 24, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Arlene Germain, president of Massachusetts Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, said the new rules, once implemented, could substantially improve the lives of nursing home residents. But, she said, “strong oversight and greater nursing home participation are critical to ensure that the law’s benefits are meaningful and widespread.”

The process for dementia care compliance checks in Massachusetts has been slow, as the state handed out its dementia special care checklist for inspectors in December—almost six months after the rules were adopted.

The Boston Globe article, titled “Dementia care lacks oversight in Mass., data show,” says that despite the delays, state regulators are not conducting spot checks for compliance—they’re already just too busy with routine monitoring of more than 400 nursing homes. However, the state health department recently announced that its inspectors would now review dementia care during their annual visits to each facility. But this means some nursing homes may not be subject to these compliance checks for months.

Houston Families: Money-Makers (or Money-Savers) for NOW

Published on: February 20, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Here are money tasks to do this week that will help 2015 be more prosperous. Most can be done in about an hour.

As reported in a Chicago News Service article titled “Got an hour? Tackle these money tasks,” a recent survey from the National Endowment for Financial Education found 64 percent of U.S. adults will make a financially focused goal in 2015. The article also notes that in making those goals, you should be specific and make individual tasks to keep the job manageable.

The first question you might ask is “Where the heck do you get the money to fund these goals?”

Houston Seniors: Beware of Scammers!

Published on: February 18, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Seniors make up about one-fifth of financial abuse victims nationwide, Commerce Commissioner Mike Rothman said Thursday. They're tempting prey for scammers because old age often comes with reduced cognitive abilities. Financial scammers who target elderly or vulnerable Minnesotans would face stiffer penalties under a law Gov. Mark Dayton included in his two-year budget proposal.

As of late, seniors are falling victim to financial scams more than ever before. They make a tempting target for scammers when their cognitive abilities decline, making it easier for scammers to take advantage of their vulnerabilities.

As reported in a recent Minneapolis Star Tribune article titled “Dayton wants new financial protection law for elderly, vulnerable to protect from scams,”Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton has a plan to combat scammers. Dayton has proposed a plan that would add a $1 fee to insurers for every life insurance or annuity product they sell, which would help hire outreach employees, a senior ombudsman, and an investigator.

Shoot for an “Ace” in Retirement Planning in Houston

Published on: February 13, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

You wouldn't play golf without a full set of clubs. Don't go into retirement without a fully equipped retirement toolbox. Retirement brings the freedom to explore a new stage of life. But for many, after years of working for others, it also means assuming responsibility for generating a paycheck for decades. Having a few basic resources at hand can make it easier to navigate the challenges that come with retirement.

A recent Wall Street Journal article, titled "Have the Right Tools for Retirement," says you need a full set of golf clubs to play the game as intended. Similarly, you need a full set of retirement tools to ensure that you are planning wisely. These should include all of the following:

a realistic budget and an efficient plan for withdrawing money from savings;

Guardianships Used by Nursing Homes to Collect from Residents

Published on: February 12, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Lillian Palermo tried to prepare for the worst possibilities of aging. An insurance executive with a Ph.D. in psychology and a love of ballroom dancing, she arranged for her power of attorney and health care proxy to go to her husband, Dino, eight years her junior, if she became incapacitated. And in her 80s, she ended up in a nursing home as dementia, falls and surgical complications took their toll. He sings her favorite songs, feeds her home-cooked Italian food, and pays a private aide to be there when he cannot. But one day last summer, after her husband disputed nursing home bills that had suddenly doubled Mrs. Palermo's copays, and complained about inexperienced employees who dropped his wife on the floor, Mr. Palermo was shocked to find a six-page legal document waiting on her bed. It was a guardianship petition filed by the nursing home, Mary Manning Walsh, asking the court to give a stranger full legal power over Mrs. Palermo, now 90, and complete control of her money.

A New York Times article titled "To Collect Debts, Nursing Homes Are Seizing Control Over Patients" states that few people are aware that a nursing home can do this. Guardianship cases are usually confidential, but the Palermo's situation isn't uncommon.

More than 12 percent of guardianship cases are brought by nursing homes. Many of these may have been brought as a means of bill collection, which was never intended when the New York legislature enacted the guardianship statute. Some courts have ruled that this legal tactic by nursing homes is an abuse of the law, but these petitions—even if unsuccessful—make families spend time and money in costly legal ordeals.

Can You Get Out of Dodge?

Published on: February 10, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

One attorney calls it the "Get out of Dodge plan"—the best way to keep your assets intact before applying for Medicaid to cover nursing home costs. New Jersey is one of the most restrictive states when it comes to permitting residents to preserve assets for their benefit while Medicaid pays for nursing home care. In the Garden State, there are steps that should be taken before applying for Medicaid, the government insurance program for people of all ages who are too poor to afford health care including long-stay nursing home care. Nursing homes can cost $120,000 a year in New Jersey, sometimes more.

Even though Medicaid is a federal program that's regulated by each state, the way in which the money is distributed can vary. Restrictive states are siding with protecting public money over letting individuals and their spouses keep assets, the Asbury Park Press article titled "Protecting assets: Three things to know before Medicaid" explains. So your retirement strategy can be quite different based upon your state of residence. Not everyone can Get Out of Dodge, meaning not everyone can move into a second home in Florida.

But do-it-yourself planning may not be the way to go. Elder law and Medicaid planning is constantly changing, and your assets can easily be wiped out by nursing home costs without careful planning. For example, when a husband places his wife in a nursing home, their home may be excluded from assets that must be spent for nursing home care before Medicaid pays for it. So the husband is still able to live there. However, if the husband dies before the wife enters the nursing home, it gets complicated: the house could be lost to the nursing home for the cost of her care.