Posts By: Gene Osofsky

Alzheimer’s disease affects as many as 5.3 million people in the United States; which means it affects as many as 5.3 million families, because Alzheimer’s is a disease that affects everybody it touches—husbands, wives, children and grandchildren—they all bear witness to their loved one’s slow demise.

Sadly, emotional stress is not the only stress that accompanies Alzheimer’s disease; those loved ones serving as caretakers may carry a huge amount of financial stress as well. According to this article by Denise Bonilla the cost of caring for an Alzheimer’s patient can run anywhere from $64 a day to $77,380 a year, and because Alzheimer’s disease can be such a long-lasting disease (a person can suffer from Alzheimer’s for up to 20 years) the costs of care can end up being astronomical. It’s obvious that people can’t do it alone.

Some of the options to help Alzheimer’s patients pay for medical expenses are long-term care insurance or Medicaid [Medi-Cal in California] (Medicare doesn’t cover the cost of long-term care). Long-term care insurance can be very helpful… if you’ve thought ahead and purchased the policy before you or your spouse began suffering from symptoms of Alzheimer’s.  As for the government programs, those also can be helpful… if you fall in the right category and know how to navigate the complex system.

Unfortunately, learning how to navigate the system is not something you can do in an hour or two. Because your experience will depend on a number of unique factors,  we cannot give you an easy set of instructions to follow. The best advice we can give is to say that right now, the best way to navigate the Medicaid/Medi-Cal system is to find someone who knows the system to assist you.  It is in this endeavor that Elder Law attorneys help their clients on a regular basis. If you wish to ensure that you and your loved ones will be cared for no matter what the future may bring,  seek out the advice and counsel of an experienced Elder Law attorney.  In doing so, you may just find that your financial security can be secured and a payment source for your loved one’s care expenses found.  Free of financial worry, you may then relax and devote more of your energies to supporting your family and loved one.  If you wish more information, we invite you to download your own copy of our “Consumer’s Guide To Medi-Cal Planning”.

Posts By: Gene Osofsky

Caring for elderly relatives is always a team effort. Sometimes the team consists of the entire family, sometimes the team is a man and wife, and sometimes the team consists solely of the elderly person and their primary caregiver; but no matter how you look at it, elder care is a complex, difficult, and expensive job, and one made 10 times easier if you have a knowledgeable and trustworthy expert on your team.

There are many knowledgeable elder care experts out there: doctors, lawyers, social workers; but few of them can straddle ALL of the elder care issues (medical, legal, residential, financial) to help you look at the big picture. A geriatric care manager is someone who can do just that—look at any given situation from all angles and advise your elder care team on the big picture. This article in the New York Times describes geriatric care managers as assessors, counselors, mediators… and sometimes someone to play “bad cop” in a tough situation.

Of course, because most insurance companies won’t yet pay for the services of a geriatric care manager, hiring one is going to be an extra expense; but it is the business of a GCM to know the ins and outs of the elder care system, and the money they save your family by helping you research experts and options, and avoiding bad situations can more than make up for the expense.

A geriatric care manager cannot replace a doctor or a lawyer on your elder care team, but they can help all of the team players work together effectively toward a common goal: ensuring that your loved one is well taken care of in the best situation possible.

Posts By: Gene Osofsky

The recent verdict by a New York jury finding Anthony Marshall guilty of stealing from his aging mother,  Brooke Astor,  while she suffered from Alzheimer’s disease is a sad reminder that abuse of elders does occur.  Elder abuse is an issue that is all too common in our society, but one that rarely gets much attention. And it isn’t only the very wealthy who fall victim to elder abuse. According to the National Center on Elder Abuse “between 1 and 2 million Americans age 65 or older have been injured, exploited, or otherwise mistreated by someone on whom they depended for care or protection.”

Financial abuse of elders in particular goes under-reported in our culture, mainly because it leaves no visible scars to tip off friends and family. It is disheartening to discover that in most cases of financial exploitation of elders the perpetrator is a family member, often the victim’s own son or daughter.

When mom or dad begins to show signs of dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, the child who lives closest is often the one who ends up serving as caretaker—both physically and financially; but that may not be the child best suited to the purpose, and it may not be the child mom or dad would have chosen had they been able. One way to prevent this from happening is to make your own decisions about who your physical and financial caretakers will be by executing a nomination of conservator, health care directive, and durable power of attorney. These three simple documents can allow you to choose the best person to care for you, and for your finances, when you are unable to care for yourself.

Don’t let someone you know become a victim of elder abuse. If you suspect a situation of elder abuse please call your local elder abuse hotline for help. If you want to do everything you can to prevent getting into a situation of financial elder abuse yourself, call our office.

Posts By: Gene Osofsky

Losing a spouse is one of the most difficult experiences life has to offer. Even continuing to take one day at a time seems almost impossible when you’ve lost your partner, your mate, the love of your life. Many people who have lost a spouse describe feeling as though the rug has been pulled out from under their feet; they feel like a child again, having to re-learn how to interact in the world without their other half.

The emotional loss is only part of this confusion, especially if—like most partnerships—you and your spouse ran your household and finances with a division of labor, each partner taking on the responsibilities that they most enjoyed and were most suited to perform… this includes the financial responsibility. The emotional impact of losing a spouse is hard enough, but in today’s complex financial world what do you do if the spouse you’ve lost was the family “Chied Financial Officer” ?

The first and most important step, according to this article from the Chicago Tribune, is organization. Knowing what your bank balance is, what your expenses are, and where important documents are located is absolutely key to getting through the rough patches. The second step—and this one may be the hardest—is taking stock of your new financial situation and adjusting your lifestyle and spending. Losing a portion of your family’s income is a shock, and people often go through the motions of their previous lives because they simply can’t yet face the reality of their loss. In addition, death comes with its own set of expenses which can make a substantial dent in your savings.

If you feel you just don’t have the strength or focus to deal with financial issues immediately following the death of your spouse,  ask someone to help you temporarily. Eventually, when the grieving process has run its course, you will surface again; and when that happens you don’t want to find that the life you knew has been buried under debt.

Posts By: Gene Osofsky

In an ideal world elderly parents and their adult children always get along, and when those parents pass away their children quietly and respectfully follow their wishes regarding the distribution of their estate. Unfortunately, we don’t always live in an ideal world, and inheritance and estate planning can often cause tension between parents and children before the parents have even reached retirement age!

What are your options when you know your kids won’t like what you’ve put in your will or trust? Many people choose to simply keep their wishes secreted away in a safety deposit box until they’ve passed away and then let everyone fight it out on their own; but this only puts off the bad feelings and can often cause lasting rifts among siblings. This strategy of secrecy also doesn’t address what happens if you become incapacitated and need one of your trustees or agents (in all likelihood one of your children) to take over your affairs.

A better option than secrecy may be to invite your children to your final meeting with your estate planning attorney.  If the attorney is willing, and if you have good relationships with your children, this may be a good move.  It could give you an opportunity to share your plans in the presence of a knowledgeable professional who is on your side; it also gives your children the opportunity to ask questions and get clear and immediate answers. More often than not tension about mom and dad’s estate plan stems from a lack of understanding, or a worry that mom or dad have been taken advantage of.  

Such a meeting might be especially valuable where you have remarried and plan to provide for your new partner in your plan, before providing for children, either yours or your new spouse’s.  A meeting might help explain your wishes.  Ask your attorney for his or her view on this when you discuss your plan.   While a family meeting is not for every familiy, still for many it can be reassuring, educational, and put everyone one the same page while moving into the future.

Posts By: Gene Osofsky

We may acquire many assets over the course of our lives now—bank accounts, stocks, real property, life insurance, retirement, and more—it’s almost impossible to know what has to go through probate and what doesn’t.

The answer to the question in the title, above,  is “no”; life insurance and retirement benefits do not have to go through probate if the account has a named beneficiary. Benefits from life insurance accounts can be paid directly to the named beneficiary, and money from IRAs, Keoghs, and 401(k) accounts transfer automatically to the named beneficiaries of those accounts as well. The persons named as beneficiary, however, will most likely want to consult with a financial advisor before drawing these benefits, as there may be tax ways of handling these accounts which minimize tax to the beneficiary.

Yet another type of account that is not subject to probate is a “pay on death” (or POD) account, the money from which can pass directly to the named beneficiary upon the death of the owner.

Probate laws vary from state to state, so contact our office—or your own local attorney who specializes in probate—for more information.

Posts By: Gene Osofsky

The subject of inheritance is one that most people studiously avoid for a number of different reasons: superstition, fear, lack of knowledge, or—as this article by Gordon Powers points out—they don’t want to appear greedy. Furthermore, many older adults were raised to believe that money was a private affair, and that talking about it was inappropriate, almost dirty. The difference in how the older and younger generations view money and its place in “polite conversation” has become so great in some cases that it’s no wonder they avoid any mention of it.

An unfortunate side effect of this disconnect is that a refusal to talk about money or your estate plans with you children means that they may have a difficult time following your wishes in regards to inheritance. According to Mr. Powers (and most of the adult children who come into our offices to create their own estate plans) “most middle-aged adult [children] really want to fulfill their parents’ last wishes, regardless of how much money they might or might not see in the end.”

So the answer to the title question is, yes, you should talk to your children about inheritance if you can. Talking about it will not only make it easier for them to follow your wishes, it may even help you determine how you would like to make a difference in the lives of your heirs.

Posts By: Gene Osofsky

“The death of a loved one imposes cruel demands on the closest survivors.” The truth of that statement from this article in moneywatch.com is known to anybody who has lost a close friend or family member. We’ve written a lot on our blog about going through the probate process when a loved one dies, but probate isn’t the only thing you have to think about; in fact, it may not even be the first thing you should think about. At a time when you are bombarded by as many emotional demands as you are mundane demands, how can you know what to do first?

The article mentioned above contains a helpful guide for those who are dealing with loss. It includes well-known items such as “contact close friends and family” and “make funeral arrangements” as well as items that may not come to mind as naturally, such as “write an obituary” and “contact the deceased’s employer.” Few people think about these things when under emotional strain, which is why this list is an excellent resource to file away for a time when it may be needed.

If you are having a particularly hard time with the grieving process don’t be afraid to ask others to help with the more difficult items, or to hand the list over entirely to someone else. This is when your own probate or estate planning attorney (or the deceased’s attorney, if they had one) can be especially helpful.

Although it sometimes feels as if time should stand still when someone we love passes away, life does go on, for better or worse. But the world is full of caring and knowledgeable people to help you through the process… if you only know where to look.

Posts By: Gene Osofsky

What is your estate plan all about? Is it about saving your assets from estate tax, or is it about leaving an inheritance for your children? Or is it something even beyond that—providing for your own financial security during your life, thus enabling you to leave a lasting legacy for your family?

Estate planning—or what this article from Investors Insight likes to call “legacy planning” —can help you achieve all of these goals. The article outlines four goals an estate plan can help you achieve. In our firm, we add a fifth:  Long Term Care Planning.  You and our firm can work together to make your plan more than merely a tax savings tool, by addressing the following:

  1. Financial Security
  2. Estate Care and Management
  3. Protecting your Estate
  4. Minimizing the Tax Burden and Probate Expense, and
  5. Long Term Care Planning

Tax planning is sometimes an important part of your estate planning process, but tax laws have a tendency to change, and with a new estate tax law expected in 2009 or 2010 it is essential to remember your other goals as well when you plan your estate.

For many of our clients, planning to help fund the cost of Long Term Care without depleting the estate is a primary goal; if these costs are not considered, they can drain the estate you leave to your spouse or children.  Our firm may be able to help minimize the impact of these costs by creating an estate plan that coordinates your wishes with available government long term care benefits.  Pre-planning is the best approach. 

Posts By: Gene Osofsky

When clients come into our office to design their estate plans one of their biggest concerns is how to dispose of their tangible personal property. Sometimes clients spend more time determining how to dispose of these personal mementos than they do the big ticket items such as bank accounts, real property, and investments. This is completely understandable when you consider that it is these personal items that carry our history and our memories, and in many ways make up the fabric of our lives.

One of the questions we are often asked is if these personal items should be included in the will or trust or if there is an easier way to dispose of them. The answer is that although major items such as the crown jewels should be listed in your will or trust, smaller mementos such as a baseball card collection or grandma’s china (things that are not required to go through probate) can be listed on a much less intimidating document called a personal property memorandum.

A personal property memorandum is a written statement which lists your various tangible personal items along with the people who should receive these items upon your death. (Tangible personal items do NOT include bank accounts, stocks, money, securities, or trade or business properties.) The nice thing about the personal property memorandum is that you can edit and update it yourself, whereas any changes to a will or a trust should be made by a qualified attorney. You must, however, be sure that your will or trust refers to your personal property memorandum if you have one, to ensure that there is no confusion about distribution of property.

A personal property memorandum can be typed up, handwritten, or can be a standard template that you get from your attorney to fill out at home—so long as it clearly expresses your wishes and is signed and dated. It is best to store your personal property memorandum in a safe place with the rest of your estate planning documents; but if you find yourself making frequent changes to the document it can be kept at home, so long as your trustees or executor know where to find it if something happens to you.

For more information about how to leave personal property to your heirs please contact our office.