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We are planning our 1st Elder Law Forum: The Challenges of Home, Hospital and Facility-Based Care.
This will be a forum for diverse professionals with a common interest and will feature a unique array of presenters from health care, insurance, government, law and consumer advocates who will address critical questions facing seniors and people with disabilities living in Florida. We will focus on home and community based care initiatives to provide a vision of the future that includes rapid changes in health care and responses to budget cuts. | |
We provide The Elder Law Update to our clients and our colleagues who make up a wide range of service providers for seniors and people with disabilities to facilitate the dissemination of helpful and accurate information. We thank you for letting us share our knowledge with you. We continue to welcome your comments and questions. You may send them to Info@ElderLawAssociates.com.
 The response to our 1st Annual Elder Law Forum for Professionals has been fantastic! Click for the Invitation and Registration Form. All of our presenters and their bios are listed.
Information Alert for Floridians: You can now go online and associate two emergency contacts with your Florida Drivers License (electronically) which can only be retrieved by a police officer. This came about as a result of one woman's teenage daughter being in a car accident and it taking over 5 hours to locate the mother to inform her. If you enter your emergency contacts online, the police can use your drivers license number to find your emergency information ASAP. Click here to complete the form. |
Advocates Filed Federal Lawsuit Seeking Class-Action Status on Behalf of Institutionalized Floridians
We've all known for a long time that the State of Florida has failed its obligations to provide seniors and people with disabilities access to long term care in the least restrictive setting and, if possible, in the community rather than in a nursing home. We're pleased to see that there are some who are doing something about it. Take a look at this Associated Press article from September 20, 2008, Florida Medicaid Recipients Want Out of Nursing Homes, by Matt Sedensky for details.
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New Law Makes Changes to Reverse Mortgages
A reverse mortgage allows a homeowner who is at least 62 years old to use the equity in his or her home to obtain a loan that does not have to be repaid until the homeowner moves, sells, or dies. The new law, which goes into affect October 1, 2008, increases the borrowing level on reverse mortgages. The national limit on the amount a homeowner can borrow will be $417,000. The limit can be increased to $625,000 in areas with high housing costs. The amount a homeowner can actually borrow depends on the home's value, location, interest rates, and the age of the borrower. Currently, the range in loan limits is between $200,160 and $362,790.
The new law also offers some protections for seniors. High fees and aggressive marketing have been cited as problems with reverse mortgages. Under the new law, fees will be capped at 2 percent of the first $200,000 borrowed and 1 percent on the balance, with a maximum of $6,000 in fees. In addition, the law prevents lenders from requiring borrowers to purchase insurance, annuities, or other products as a condition for getting a reverse mortgage. Lenders are also prohibited from working with other professionals who are trying to sell seniors financial products as part of the lending process.
To read the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, click here.
For a U.S. News and World Report article on the reverse mortgage provisions in the new housing law, click here.
For more information on reverse mortgages, click here. |
So, You've Been Appointed Trustee of a Trust? Here are the Do's and Don'ts
 Whether it's an honor or a burden (or both), you have been appointed trustee of a trust. What responsibilities have been thrust upon you? How can you successfully carry them out?
Here are do's and don'ts to get you started:
- Do read the trust document. It sets out the rules under which you will operate, so you need to understand it completely.
- Do create a checking account for the trust. All income and expenses should go through this account. While you can and should invest the money, a checking account will enable you to make distributions and payments and keep track of them.
- Do keep the best interests of the beneficiaries in mind at all times. You have what's called a "fiduciary" duty to them, which is an extremely high standard.
- Don't have any personal financial dealings with the trust. For instance, you cannot borrow money from the trust or lend the trust money to anyone.
- Do provide the beneficiaries and anyone else indicated in the trust with an annual account of trust activity. This can be a copy of the checking and investment account statements or a more formal trust account prepared by an accountant or attorney.
- Do invest the trust funds prudently and productively. You cannot simply leave the trust funds in a savings account. And you can't put them all into a promising new company. You need to diversify the trust portfolio among stocks and fixed income securities. It is wise to get professional investment advice.
- Do keep in regular contact with the beneficiaries to understand their needs.
- Do be aware of any public benefits the beneficiaries may be receiving and make sure you do not jeopardize the beneficiaries' eligibility.
- Do file annual income tax returns for the trust.
- Don't fly solo. Get professional advice to make sure you are correctly fulfilling your role.
For a brief overview of a trustee's duties, click here.
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Book Review- On Your Own: A Widow's Passage to Emotional and Financial Well-Being
 Alexandra Armstrong, CFP, and Mary R. Donahue, PhD. On Your Own: A Widow's Passage to Emotional and Financial Well-Being. 4th Edition. Armstrong, Fleming, & Moore, Inc., Washington, DC. 2006. 415 pages.
$17.95 at Amazon (click on book to order)
Becoming a widow at any age is one of the most difficult crises any woman has to face. Not only is there the emotional loss of a husband, but also the task of handling all the finances without the help of a spouse. On Your Own provides a guide to achieving emotional and financial well-being after the loss of a husband.
The authors, a financial planner whose mother was widowed at 48 and a widowed psychologist, have extensive experience assisting widows and believe that emotional recovery is connected to financial knowledge. The authors provide assistance with emotional issues, such as how to cope with the loss, find support groups, and identify needs. With regard to financial matters, the authors explain how to get organized, work with financial advisors, find the appropriate resources, and develop a budget. In addition, chapters discuss how to develop a long-term financial plan and protect assets, as well as explaining investment options and guidelines.
Each chapter includes the stories of four widows of different ages and circumstances to illustrate each stage of recovery. Written with compassion and understanding, On Your Own is an invaluable resource for any woman who has lost a husband. |
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Senior Move Managers Help Make Moving Easier
 Moving can be stressful for anyone and especially so for seniors. On top of hiring movers, packing, and setting up the new home, there is the emotional toll of leaving a house the senior may have lived in for years. If the move seems overwhelming, a senior move manager may be able to help.
Senior move managers help seniors with all the emotional and physical aspects of moving. The following are some of the tasks a move manager can assist with:
- Developing a move plan
- Sorting through belongings and arranging the sale or donation of unwanted items
- Packing belongings
- Hiring and overseeing movers
- Drawing up floor plans of the new home to help plan the new space
- Unpacking and setting up the new home
- Helping to prepare the old home for sale
- Removing waste, cleaning, and shopping
Move managers can also help seniors who wish to stay in their own homes, but need assistance organizing their homes to allow them to age in place.
Move managers, many of whom have backgrounds in gerontology, social work, health care, nursing and psychology, charge either an hourly fee or a flat rate, depending on the manager. In addition, if just a little extra help is needed, it may be possible to hire a move manager to assist with just one part of the move (e.g., packing) rather than the whole move.
To find a move manager near you, contact the National Association of Senior Move Managers (NASMM) at www.nasmm.org or 877.606.2766. To join NASMM, senior move managers must provide recommendations and prove they have insurance. |
New Rules Spell Out Rights of Medicare Hospice Patients
 The federal government has published new rules that outline the rights of Medicare beneficiaries who have elected the hospice benefit.
To be eligible for Medicare's hospice benefit, a beneficiary must be certified by a physician to have a life expectancy of six months or less if the illness runs its expected course. Hospice care offers a team-oriented approach to medical care, pain management, and emotional and spiritual support tailored to the dying patient's needs and wishes. Medicare pays for this kind of comprehensive end-of-life care delivered at home or in a hospice facility, and the hospice benefit includes many services not generally covered by Medicare.
The new hospice rules include explicit language on patient rights that had not been part of previous regulations, and all Medicare-approved hospice programs must comply with the new rules, which take effect December 2, 2008.
Patients who choose hospice or palliative care over curative treatment are entitled to:
- Participate in their treatment plan
- Receive effective pain management
- Refuse treatment if they wish, and
- Choose their own physicians.
In addition to the new patient rights section, the regulation updates a number of other hospice provider rules.
About 1.3 million people received hospice services in 2006 from about 4,500 hospices nationwide.
The new rule was published in the Federal Register on June 5, 2008, and is available online in PDF format here. (If you do not have the free PDF reader installed on your computer, download it here.)
For a detailed summary of the new regulation from the Center for Medicare Advocacy, click here.
For more from ElderLawAnswers on Medicare's hospice benefit, click here. |
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We always appreciate referrals from our satisfied clients and business partners to friends, family members or business contacts. We welcome the opportunity to serve the people you care about. Click on the blue Forward Email at the bottom of the page to send this newsletter to someone who will benefit from our insights. | |
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Elder Law Associates PA is a boutique elder law firm that practices exclusively in Medicaid and long term care planning including long term care insurance, Medicaid applications, home and community-based Medicaid waiver services, diversion program benefits, nursing home benefits, spousal refusal applications, and Medicaid fair hearings and appeals; nursing home and assisted living facility residents' rights litigation; asset preservation planning with a special focus on planning in light of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, including personal service agreements, the purchase of life estates, income producing real estate and spenddown planning; disability planning, including special needs trusts and guardianship; estate planning, including wills and trusts and advance directives; and probate, which encompasses estate and trust administration as well as litigation.
We assist clients in planning for the possibility of disability, incapacity, home health care, assisted living and/or nursing home placement. Our firm enables clients to avoid impoverishment caused by the escalating cost of long term care, to maintain their right to make health care decisions and to avoid unnecessary medical treatment.
We hope you have enjoyed The Elder Law Update. If you have questions about something you read, elder law matters or issues concerning persons with disabilities, we would be delighted to hear from you. We serve as an elder law resource to many professionals and organizations and want to become your elder law resource as well. You can reach us at Info@ElderLawAssociates.com.
Warm regards,
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Ellen S. Morris, Esq. & Howard S. Krooks, Esq., CELA
Elder Law Associates PA
phone: (561) 750-3850 / (800) 353-3752
fax: (561) 750-4069
This publication is intended for general information purposes only. It is not intended to constitute individual legal advice to any specific client. |
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