“Filial Support” Laws and Nursing Home Collections
We read an interesting article today, posted on the Elder Law Prof Blog. It includes an interview with the child of a nursing home resident — the child (not the resident) was successfully sued for a portion of her mother’s nursing home bill. We thought it would be of interest to our readers, as well. […]
The ABLE Act — How Will You Be Able to Use It?
DECEMBER 29, 2014 VOLUME 21 NUMBER 47 Last week we told you about the passage of The Achieving a Better Life Experience Act, and tried to spell out some of the important details. But until we can all see actual cases, it might be hard to figure out how to use the new law (and […]
ABLE Act Passes — We’ll Tell You What It Means
DECEMBER 22, 2014 VOLUME 21 NUMBER 46 The Achieving a Better Life Experience Act passed the U.S. Senate last week, and President Obama signed it over that same weekend. But what does it mean for people with disabilities, and for their families? How will you be able to use the accounts authorized by the ABLE […]
Assets Not Held As Part of Trust Pass to Different Successors
DECEMBER 15, 2014 VOLUME 21 NUMBER 45 From time to time we see appellate court decisions dealing with a common estate planning problem: after creation of a trust, changing title to assets is an essential element of completing the estate plan. Once in a while, as appears to be the case in this week’s court […]
New Florida “Trust Protector” Case Shows How the Idea Can Work
DECEMBER 8, 2014 VOLUME 21 NUMBER 44 We’ve written several times about the relatively new concept of “trust protectors.” The idea is that a trust can be much more flexible if someone — necessarily someone who is entirely trustworthy — has the power to make at least some kinds of changes after the trust becomes […]
New Thanksgiving Tradition to Consider: The Conversation
NOVEMBER 24, 2014 VOLUME 21 NUMBER 43 You’ve signed your health care power of attorney and your living will (maybe they were in the same document). You’ve given a copy to your doctor and of course your lawyer kept a copy. Did you think you were done? Because you’re not. Now it’s time to take […]
Nursing Home Arbitration Agreement May Not Be Enforceable
NOVEMBER 17, 2014 VOLUME 21 NUMBER 42 If you have recently signed a family member (or a friend, or yourself) into a nursing home or other care facility, you probably have been presented with an agreement to submit all disputes to arbitration. Such provisions are very popular among the facilities themselves, though most individuals who […]
Medicare Eligibility at 65: What You Need to Know
NOVEMBER 10, 2014 VOLUME 21 NUMBER 41 Almost ten thousand Americans turned 65 today. Almost all of them will be eligible for Medicare coverage. Those who are new to Medicare will need to make some decisions about whether to sign up for Part B, what to do about Part D, whether to choose Medicare Advantage […]
The Developing Law of Trust Decanting
NOVEMBER 3, 2014 VOLUME 21 NUMBER 40 We first wrote about trust “decanting” in this space three years ago. Since then we’ve had occasion to revisit the topic a handful of times — most recently about six weeks ago when we wrote about modifying trusts that no longer seemed to make as much sense, since […]
Lawyer Has Responsibility to Monitor Conservatorship Administration
OCTOBER 27, 2014 VOLUME 21 NUMBER 39 Guardianship (of the person) and conservatorship (of the estate) cases pose special problems for lawyers. Usually, a lawyer involved in such a case will have responsibilities to several different persons. To name three obvious choices, the lawyer will have duties to: the guardian or conservator the lawyer represents; […]