Resources
- Alzheimers and Dementia
- Caregiver Issues
- End of Life Planning
- Estate Planning
- Financial Products and Issues
- Financing Long Term Care
- Health Care Advocacy
- Medicaid
- Probate & Trust Administration
- Veterans' Benefits
When Should a Senior Stop Driving?
We often speak with families who are concerned about the driving ability of their elderly loved ones. Giving up driving it very difficult because it can signal a great loss of independence. However, a senior need not lose all independence, just because he gives up...
Planning for Potential Incapacity
Have you considered what would happen if an elder in your family had a medical problem which prohibited the elder from being able to make decisions? Do you know if appropriate documents are in place that would empower another person to make decisions? Do you know...
When is Guardianship Necessary
Guardianship is a protective legal proceeding for incapacitated persons who are unable to manage their own affairs. Through the process of guardianship, certain or all of an individual's rights are removed. The law provides extensive procedural safeguards to insure...
When to See an Elder Law Attorney
People often think about speaking with an Elder Law attorney when an older person faces the high cost of nursing home care. Many times people wait even longer...after they have paid most of their nest-egg on care and realize that in a few short months they will have...
Truth and Dementia
Families are often paralyzed when they become aware that a family member is suffering from dementia. But for a number of reasons families must help the loved one take appropriate action as soon as they become aware of the problem. First, it is critical that...
Planning at the Time of a Dementia Diagnosis
Most patients and their family members are not entirely surprised when a diagnosis of dementia is made by a physician. The patient and the family member have probably been noticing subtle changes for some time. However, when these suspicions are confirmed by a...
Earlier Hospice Intervention Provides Better Outcomes
We at Burzynski Elder Law often encourage our chronically ill clients to consider obtaining a hospice consult. We are fortunate in Collier County to have two excellent hospice options: Avow and Vitas Healthcare. Both hospices offer invaluable support for both the...
Set-back in Eliminating Pre-Dispute Arbitration
We have long advised our clients against signing admission agreements with nursing homes or assisted living facilities which require pre-dispute arbitration. We strongly feel that if one of our clients were to have to sue a facility, the case should be heard by a...
“Improvement Standard” Still Misunderstood
In January 2013 a Settlement Agreement was entered between the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and a class of Plaintiffs who sued CMS for denying coverage based upon an erroneous "improvement standard" that Medicare beneficiaries had to be...
Living Trusts Sometimes Impair Asset Protection Planning in a Crisis
Many clients come to us with Living Trusts (also known as “Revocable Trusts”) in place that were prepared 10-15 years ago when the amount that one could pass to beneficiaries without paying estate taxes was significantly lower. Trusts were needed back then to minimize...
Life Care Planning
Life Care Planning is a unique practice model that combines traditional elder law including Medicaid and Estate Planning with care advocacy. A few years ago, I received a call from a financial planner about one of her clients. She started the conversation with “I...
Hiring Home Care Can Be Tricky
Knowing your obligations when hiring home care workers is critical. Complying with the Fair Labor Standards Act is required. Even if you use and agency, you may become personally liable for overtime or minimum wage violations. Most home care workers are actually...
Improvement Standard an Ongoing Problem
Just today I received a call from a family member who is being told by a rehabilitation facility that his loved one will be discharged from Medicare because “she is no longer improving.” I let the man know that “not improving” is not an appropriate reason to deny...
“Plans Are Worthless, But Planning Is Everything”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1957) In our process of Life Care Planning we work with our clients in planning for their long term care needs. The Life Care Planning process involves developing an infrastructure including legal documents and structuring finances that best...
When is Home Care Covered by Medicare?
When certain criteria are met, home care covered by Medicare is available. There is no legal limit on the length of time for which home health coverage is available. Further, Medicare covers home health services in full, with no required deductible or co-payments....
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The Role of the Successor Trustee
All too often I hear stories of family members who are named successor trustee in a loved one's trust who do not seek legal advice about their role as trustee and never trigger the mechanism in the trust in order for them to take over as trustee. They instead help...
Is My Will Valid in Florida if it was Drafted in Another State?
We are often asked this question. The quick answer is that if your will is valid where it was drafted, it will be valid in Florida. So despite the popular belief that you need to update your documents when moving to Florida in order for them to be valid, you do not...
Some Trusts Limit Asset Protection Planning
We have had the unfortunate situation with some married clients over the past year of finding that the revocable living trusts prepared in the past severely limited the possibility of asset protection planning when facing long term care. Many people have been sold...
Multiple Implications of Annual Gifting
As the end of the year approaches, many may be thinking about utilizing the $14,000 annual gift tax exclusion. The annual gift tax exclusion makes it possible to give money to any number of people without having to pay gift or estate taxes. Annual gifting to children...
Informal Estate Plans Fraught with Problems
Many times clients have expressed to me that they have decided to not only name their most responsible child as Personal Representative or Trustee in their estate planning documents, that they have also titled assets in that responsible child’s name or left him as the...
Changes to Florida’s Homestead Law
In 2010, the long standing homestead law in Florida changed. The old law provided that (as long as there was no pre or post nuptial agreement waiving rights) a surviving spouse was entitled to at least a life estate in the home. For instance, if a married couple lived...
Pet Trusts
Have you thought about what happens to your pet when you die? Pet trusts can assure your pet's well being. Many of us have pets who add joy to our lives. But what happens to them after you are gone? Who will take care of them as well as you did? Your children may be...
The Pitfalls of Joint Accounts
Elderly parents often put their children's names on accounts because they want their children to be able to pay their bills if they can't, and so the account goes to the child upon their death. However, joint ownership is seldom the best tool for accomplishing these...
What Your Attorney Needs to Know
A client that I had not seen for several years called me the other day wanting to add a newborn grandchild to her estate planning. I told the client that I would need updated financial information in order to revise her estate planning documents. The client was...
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Advocacy Requires Persistence
Our Life Care Planning service includes advocacy issues that some never contemplate when considering our services. For instance, around six months ago we were hired by a 78 year old woman who was living independently in her home. Several months later, she fell and...
Aid and Attendance
By Daniel A. Burzynski Many Veterans are not aware of the benefits they have access to by virtue of their service. Specifically, Veterans who served during war-time may be entitled to a monthly pension amount to help pay for their unreimbursed medical expenses. The...
Benefits Applications
I recently received this question from a reader of my articles: My wife is in a nursing home and I have applied for Medicaid. Luckily I was able to find a knowledgeable person to help me so I did not have to pay for assistance in applying. We own our home and I...
Court Ordered Support when a Spouse is on Medicaid
When a husband or wife needs Medicaid in a nursing home, the Department of Children and Families allocates to the well spouse a portion of the nursing home spouse’s income. The income allowance brings the “well spouse’s” total income to a range between $1991 and...
Medicaid Misconceptions
We meet with families on a regular basis who face long term care issues who make decisions based upon an incomplete understanding of the laws and rules concerning Medicaid. Sometimes the information is obtained from friends and relatives who have navigated the...
Long Term Care Insurance Partnership Policies
Long term care insurance can provide a source of funds to pay for long term care. Long term care insurance partnership policies are a special type of long term care insurance which help protect the assets of policy holders who subsequently seek Medicaid benefits....
VA Claims
By Daniel A. Burzynski Many Veterans do not realize that they may be eligible for a benefit to help cover the costs of medical care. If you are a Veteran who served in wartime you may qualify for additional monthly pension. This benefit, called "Aid and Attendance"...
Ending Exploitation
As we help seniors find, access and pay for good care, we have found many of our clients have been exploited by insurance salespeople selling inappropriate financial products to elders in the guise of “Medicaid Planning” or “VA Benefits Planning.” We have found...
Reverse Mortgage Options
As of October 4, 2010 there is new option in the area of Reverse Mortgages. Federally insured Reverse Mortgages have been offered under the name of HECM loans, for “Home Equity Conversion Mortgage.” The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the...
Nursing Home Admission and Discharge
The holiday season brings families together. Sometimes when family members arrive in Naples to see their aging parents, they are surprised to find their parents in need of critical medical care. Hospitalizations may lead to nursing home admissions. Family members...
The Montessori Method and Alzheimer’s Disease
The Montessori teaching method holds promise for the care of patients afflicted with Alzheimer's Disease. Developed for small children just learning about their environment, Montessori uses tactile (hands-on) training to manipulate simple, every-day objects to reach a...
Out the Door…Now! Planning for a Hospital Stay
By Barbara Miller, RN Have you ever been in a situation where you needed to go somewhere at the drop of a hat? In most situations you can manage, perhaps a little flustered, but you can get there and do what is necessary. Now think of being at the ready in a true...
Admission to the Hospital
When a loved one goes into the hospital, our concerns are focused on his or her health and making sure that he or she gets better. However, admission to the hospital carries with it legal and financial obligations which are difficult to think about in the midst of a...
Changes to Nursing Home Guidelines
Moving to a nursing home is a life changing event. Last year the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued new guidance for nursing home surveyors emphasizing the importance of resident quality of life and homelike environments. CMS is making clear...
Medicare Improvement Standard
On January 18, 2011 the Center for Medicare Advocacy along with co-counsel from Vermont Legal Aid filed a class action against Kathleen Sebelius, the Secretary of Health and Human services aimed at terminating application of the Medicare “Improvement Standard.” The...
Medicare Benefits–Jimmo Case
Earlier this year, chronically ill persons who had had their Medicare benefits discontinued because they were told that they were not improving filed a lawsuit in Vermont federal court Jimmo, et al vs. Sebelius, 5:11-CV-17, (D. VT., January 18, 2011). Historically,...
End-of-Life Planning
Dear Jill: I am 85 years old. I am married and have no children. What are my options for end-of-life care? Thank you, Margret Dear Margret: When considering end-of-life options for our clients, a number of factors must be considered. It is critical that you receive...
Are You Facing Termination of Hospice Benefits?
The local Hospice providers are facing a crisis. Since the inception of Hospice in 1983 Medicare regulations have included a cap limiting the average annual payment per patient a hospice can receive. If the average payment exceeds the cap amount, the hospice provider...
Seniors Will Be Hurt by House Version of AHCA
Yesterday the House of Representatives passed the AHCA (American Health Care Act). The changes to the healthcare system will significantly hurt seniors. According to the national organization, Justice in Aging, 24 million Americans are in danger of losing their...
Settlement Helps to Allow Medicaid Recipients to Avoid Institutionalization
Nancy Wright, a prominent Elder Law Attorney in Gainesville, was able to broker a settlement which helps to allow Medicaid recipients to avoid institutionalization. Below are her comments about this important settlement. After more than a year of litigation, the...
Misinformation about Medicaid
Misinformation about Medicaid and long term care planning techniques is very common. The other day I spoke at one of our monthly workshops. One attendee told me that she was contemplating deeding her property to her children so that she could get Medicaid if she...
2017 Florida Medicaid Numbers
Every year the eligibility limits change for Medicaid. The 2017 Florida Medicaid Numbers have now been announced. They are as follows: Individual Countable Asset Allowance: $2,000 Spouse Countable Asset: Allowance $120,900 Income Cap/Limit for Individual: $2,205.00...
“I Need a Power of Attorney for My Parents”
I often receive calls requesting that I prepare a Durable Power of Attorney for parents. This question inevitably leads to further conversation. The threshold question is "why are your parents not calling themselves?" If I am going to be able to do legal documents,...
Living Trusts Sometimes Impair Asset Protection Planning in a Crisis
Many clients come to us with Living Trusts (also known as “Revocable Trusts”) in place that were prepared 10-15 years ago when the amount that one could pass to beneficiaries without paying estate taxes was significantly lower. Trusts were needed back then to minimize...
Life Care Planning
Life Care Planning is a unique practice model that combines traditional elder law including Medicaid and Estate Planning with care advocacy. A few years ago, I received a call from a financial planner about one of her clients. She started the conversation with “I...
Improvement Standard an Ongoing Problem
Just today I received a call from a family member who is being told by a rehabilitation facility that his loved one will be discharged from Medicare because “she is no longer improving.” I let the man know that “not improving” is not an appropriate reason to deny...
The Importance of Obtaining the Proper Advice When Planning For Your Elderly Loved One
More and more seniors and their families are seeking the assistance of a senior professional to help guide them through the maze of long-term care planning options. In many situations in which seniors face the prospect of long-term care costs, Medicaid is a necessary...
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