Elder law expertise can be crucial in planning future

I received permission from Julie Jason to re-publish this article on Elder law. I find it to be very insightful. Hope this helps someone.
This is a second installment of a column which appeared last Sunday on eldercare and its financial challenges.
If a spouse is facing the possibility of needing long-term care, time is of the essence in seeking out an elder law attorney, said Nina A. Kohn, associate professor of law at Syracuse University College of Law.
"There are a number of legal strategies that can be used to protect the community spouses' income and assets, and a qualified attorney can provide very valuable guidance as to how to proceed," Kohn said. "The good news is that federal law provides significant protection to prevent the spouse of nursing home residents from becoming destitute, but the benefit and effect of those protections can depend on the structure of one's financial and legal arrangements."
Attorneys Fisher and Starks, who practice locally agree: You want to address potential planning issues today, not tomorrow. Here is what you can expect the elder law attorney to help you with:
- Review your concerns and address planning issues.
- Review family assets and income.
- Assess whether the family is a candidate for Medicaid.
- If so, address opportunities to protect the community spouse's assets and income. For example, Fisher said that a family may want to improve the home and pay off outstanding debt while maintaining eligibility for Medicaid.
- Review assets transferred during the five-year Medicaid look-back period. Medicaid can recover assets that were divested within five years, according to Paul Moretti, attorney and legal expert on www.justanswer.com.
- Assess other planning opportunities, such as trusts. For example, the "Miller Trust" names Medicaid as the beneficiary, explained Moretti. The trust benefits you during your lifetime; Medicaid gets the remainder after your death.
- Help apply for Medicaid and file appeals if necessary. The Medicaid application process is rather involved and lengthy requiring records covering a five-year period, explained Vic Bible, president of IFFS Eldercare Consultants.
- Prepare appropriate documents. " It's really helpful to a family if the individual has appointed a family member as a health care representative and durable power of attorney for financial matters," said Starks.
Sooner or later, someone in your circle of family, friends and colleagues may need short or long-term nursing care -- something that can be quite costly, whether provided at home or in a facility.
If you are a healthy individual over the age of 65, now is the time to address your own situation. Acting early while you are in good health will help you and your family.
If you are the son or daughter or grandchild, consider what a reader, Dan Greco, shared with me:
"One father can take care of 10 kids, but 10 kids can't take care of one father."
When you're raising kids, parents focus on the children's needs, education, and teaching them how to live. When the parents come to the age at which they need assistance, without planning, there is no organized way for the family to care for the parent. You can change that by doing some research and planning.
For more information on Greenwich Hospital's Center for Healthy Aging, you can call 203-863-4373 or visit the Greenwich Hospital's Web site at www.greenhosp.org. Search for "healthy aging."
You can research nursing centers by going to www.medicare.gov. search for "Nursing Home Compare."
For more information on long-term care insurance, check out the Connecticut Partnership for Long Term Care, which is administered by the state Office of Policy and Management.
For more information go online to www.ct.gov and search for "Connecticut Partnership."
Look for a list of approved insurers that qualify the purchasers to protect some assets from Medicaid eligibility limits. You can also call 1-800-547-3443 to receive a packet of information.
This column only touches the tip of the iceberg on the subject of care for the elderly. If you have would like me to cover this topic in more detail, send me questions that I can address in this column. Email me at readers@juliejason.com.
Julie Jason, JD, LLM, author of "The AARP Retirement Survival Guide: How to Make Smart Financial Decisions in Good Times & Bad," is a money manager and principal of Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. of Stamford. She welcomes questions for consideration in her column. Please e-mail her at readers@juliejason.com or write to her c/o The Advocate and Greenwich Time, 9 Riverbend Drive, South, Building 9A, Box 4910, Stamford, CT 06907. Copyright 2009 Julie Jason.