Michigan Elder Law Today ©

In my last post, I wrote about how Mike had purchased a power of attorney for elderly father, Robert, who has dementia, from a legal forms website, Legal Whirl.

Mike, age 56, was upset.  He had just gotten off the telephone with the realtor who was handling the sale of his parents’ home.  The realtor told him the title company refused to accept the power of attorney that Mike had gotten for his father, Robert.

Susan was upset.  She had just gotten off the telephone with adult protective services.  Someone made a report that Ted, her 82 year old father, was being neglected.  Adult protective services had then visited Ted’s home unannounced and without notice to Susan.  

As an elder care attorney, a phrase I hear from time-to-time is that an annuity is “Medicaid friendly.”  

Certain types of trust may be used by seniors who want to protect their savings and other assets from creditors and long-term care costs.  These trusts are referred to as “income-only trusts” or “Medicaid Asset Protection Trusts.  

Often, senior wartime veterans or their surviving spouses can no longer live on their own in their home anymore, but they do not yet need the level of care provided in an assisted living facility or nursing home.  Independent living facilities for seniors are a great option in these situations . . .

Individuals I consult with as part of my elder care practice frequently wonder when they should submit the Medicaid application for a patient in a nursing home?  The patient they are consulting about is usually their elderly parent or their spouse.

I have been practicing law since 1996 and there have been a lot of changes in that time.  One of the biggest changes has been in the federal estate tax.  When I was a new lawyer, the estate tax applied to estates over $600,000.  

For years, seniors with long-term conditions and age-related frailty who have needed rehabilitation care in nursing homes have been denied Medicare coverage for their care based on an “improvement standard.”

It appears that wartime veterans and their surviving spouses who are receiving the United States Department of Veterans Affairs Aid and Attendance pension will receive a cost of living adjustment in their pension rate in 2013.  While the official numbers have not been released yet, the 2013 pension rates should be close to the following:

• $1,732 per month for a single veteran
• $2,054 per month for a married veteran
• $1,113 per month for the surviving spouse of a wartime veteran

While that is good news for people currently receiving this benefit, storm clouds loom on the horizon in terms of changes to law that would affect people applying for the benefit in the future.  A look-back period is being considered and the VA and Congress is also considering restricting the program to make it a poverty-level program.  If a senior citizen who is a veteran or their surviving spouse could qualify for Aid and Attendance, it would be wise to have one’s long-term care planning done sooner rather than later so an application can be submitted under the current laws and regulations.

Lawyer Andrew Byers advises older veterans and their families on Aid and Attendance as part of his elder law practice.

In my last post, I wrote about how individuals can irrevocably assign the death benefit of life insurance policies in order to obtain a funeral plan.

Some elders who need to qualify for Medicaid nursing home benefits in Michigan do not have life insurance, but may have savings that would disqualify them from Medicaid.