Articles
Useful Articles for Seniors and Caregivers
2025
- Has the No lookback for Home Care Medicaid in New York Run its Course?
- Can Medicaid Pay for My Stay at an Assisted Living Facility?
- A Warm Gift Is Better Than a Cold One!
- Can I Qualify for Medicaid by Making an Exempt Transfer?
2024
- Trusts & Mortgages Are Not Mutually Exclusive
- Do I have to put ALL of my Assets into an Irrevocable Medicaid Asset ProtectionTrust?
- Can a Home Subject to a Mortgage be Transferred to a Trust?
- Liquidity Without Loss: The Beauty Of The Irrevocable Life Insurance Test
- When Should You Engage in Elder Law Planning?
- The Best Gift You Can Give!
- Does a Transfer On Death Deed Live Up to the Hype?
- What to do After you have signed Estate Planning Documents?
- Estate Planning For College Students: Why it is important and how to get started
- Home is Where the Heart is: The Medicaid Home Care Alternative
- The Perils Of The Online “Diy” Will
- A Recipe For Asset Protection: Long Term Care Insurance And Medicaid
- Use It Or Lose It: Time Is Running Out To Avoid The Federal Estate And Gift Tax – Part Two
- Long Term Care Insurance Is Not the Only Way to Pay for the Cost of Long term Care!
- Sharing is Caring? Pros and Cons of Communicating Your (Estate) Plan
- THE ABC’S of a DNR
- How to relay your medical preferences in a health care proxy
- States are actively asserting their Medicaid claims/liens against A Decedent’s Estates!
- The Titling of an “In Trust for” Account at a Large Bank May Pose a Challenge!
- Six Factors to Consider Prior to Commencing a Guardianship Proceeding Under Article 81 of the MHL
- Is the Consumer Directed Personal Assisted Program (CDPAP) Right for You?
- Being Proactive in Retirement
- Why Regular Reporting by the Agent Under a Power of Attorney Is the Best Practice
- New Year’s Resolutions- Estate Planning Edition
- USE IT OR LOSE IT: Time is running out to avoid Federal Estate AND Gift Tax – Part One
Halston Media Columns
2023
- Aging In Place: How can I pay for the cost of a Home Care Aid?
- Planning for your Loved One with Special Needs
- Why Do I need a Revocable Living Trust?
- Protecting your home for the cost of Long-Term Care
- Tis the Season to Consider Gifting
- Have You Kept Your Loved Ones in the Dark?
- The Era of No Lookback Periods for Medicaid Homecare Is Finally Coming to an End In New York!
- The Importance Of A Third Party SNT For A Disabled Loved One
- Aging Alone Does Not Need To Be Lonely: Estate Planning Tips For “Solo-Seniors”
- Single Parents: Protect your children with a proper estate plan
- Avoid These Common Estate Planning Mistakes
- Issues Small Business Owners Need to Address When Implementing an Estate Plan
- What Is a QPRT and How Can I Utilize It to My Advantage?
- 2023 Brings Changes to Medicaid Eligibility Requirements & Estate/Gift Tax Exemption
- Which is Best for Me: A Revocable or Irrevocable Trust?
- First Steps to Take when a Loved One Passes Away
2022
- How to Avoid the “Double Whammy”
- Merely Creating an LLC Doesn’t Automatically Give You Personal Protection Against Potential Claims and Creditors of the LLC
- How to Stay in Control of your Affairs after an Alzheimer’s or Dementia Diagnosis
- How Can I Protect My Home with Minimal Impact on My Life?
- Estate Planning for Digital Assets
- Making Sense of the 2022 Changes to the Medicaid Home Care Program
- Can New Yorkers Afford Medicaid Homecare & Nursing Home For All?
- Brady Bunch Marriage? Estate Planning Basics for Blended Families and Second Marriages
- The “Last Call” for Medicaid Homecare Without a Look-Back Period for Transfers has Perhaps Arrived!
2021
- Understanding the Consequences of not having a Last Will and Testament
- Top Lawyers: Anthony J Enea of Enea, Scanlan & Sirignano On The 5 Things You Need To Become A Top Lawyer In Elder Law
- Factors that Help Determine Whether a Senior Is a Victim of Elder Abuse
- How Silver Divorce adds a Wrinkle to your Estate Plan
- The Decision to Transfer One’s Residence to Loved Ones or a Trust Requires Consideration of Many Factors
- The Consequences of Being in Denial About a Loved One’s Deteriorating Condition
- Heightened Anxiety for Parents of Children with Disabilities
- Time to Re-focus on Protecting One’s Home From the Cost of Long Term Care
- Probate and Its Problems
- Is This an Opportune Time to Gift Your Commercial Real Estate Holdings for Estate and Gift Tax Planning Purposes?
- You Don’t Have to be Rich to Have a Trust!
- If Covid-19 Is Not Enough to Motivate You to Get Your Estate and Elder Law Planning and Affairs in Order, What Is?
2020
- To Gift or Not to Gift? Tis the Question for the Season!
- Seniors and the Disabled Get a Needed Reprieve from the Imposition of the new Penalty and Lookback Period for Community Medicaid
- What Impact Will the Pandemic and The Presidential Election Have on Federal and New York Estate Tax Exemptions?
- Don’t Worry Honey, You Will Get My Diamond Ring When I Die: Steps you can take to Ensure it Actually Happens!
- If I Want to Protect My Home For Long Term Care Purposes What Are My Options?
- The Importance of a Proactive Approach to Estate Planning
- New Medicaid Eligibility Rules Make Asset Protection Planning an Urgent Need!
- The COVID-19 Pandemic’s Long Term Impact on Assisted Living Facilities and Nursing Homes
- Pandemics and Planning: Lessons Learned
- What is an “ADL” and Why is it so Important to Medicaid Home Care Applicants?
- Why the Secure Act of 2019 May Not Make You Feel Very Secure
- Can I still Protect My Assets If I Need Long Term Care in the Immediate Future?
2019
- When Am I Going Home?
- What is a Pooled Community Trust and How Does it Help Keep New Yorkers in Their Homes?
- Is it Time for You to Have the Long-Term Care Planning Talk with Your Parents?
- The Basics of Hospice Care
- 2019 Elder Law and Trusts & Estates Update
- Factors to Consider When Naming a Health Care Agent
- Four New Year’s Resolutions You Can Actually Keep
2018 and Earlier
- Owning Bitcoin May Complicate Your Estate Plan and Income Taxes
- The Do’s and Don’ts of Writing a Will
- Think Twice Before Shredding Your Account Statements
- How the Use of a Revocable or Irrevocable Trust Can Simplify the Conveyance of a Second Home Located in Another State Upon Death
- Am I Too Young to Have a Last Will and Testament?
- Should You Consider a Hybrid Long-Term Care Policy as Part of Your Long-Term Planning?
- Is Medicaid Home Care an Option Available to Me or My Loved Ones?
- Honey, I Want You to Have My Rolex When I Die: What Steps Can You Take To Ensure It Actually Happens
- Is it Too Late for Me to Protect My Life Savings from the Cost of Long Term Care?
- Why Tax Reform Makes Long Term Care Planning Even More Important
- Is this the Season for Gifting?
- The Importance of Beneficiary and Contingent Beneficiary Designations for IRAs, 401ks, Life Insurance Policies and Annuities
- Death During a Car Lease Can be Very Expensive!
- How to Prevent Family Conflicts in the Event of Incapacity
- Transfer of a Primary Residence: The Tax and Long Term Care Consequences
- Protecting Your Loved Ones and Friends from Elder Abuse
- The Rights of a Nursing Home Resident
- To UMTA or Not to UMTA?
- Factors to Consider When Selecting an Executor, Trustee, or Agent Under a Power of Attorney
- Think Twice Before Discarding Those Account Statements
- What is an Assisted Living Facility and is it the Right Place for You?
- How To Avoid Five Common Estate and Elder Law Planning Mistakes
- How Will a Trump Administration Impact Estate Taxes and Medicaid Benefits for Long Term Care?
- The Problems with Probate
- The NY ABLE ACT: A Primer
- Peter Falk’s Law Becomes a Reality in New York
- Should You Have a Third Party SNT for a Disabled Loved One?
- Is a Do Not Resuscitate Order (DNR) Appropriate for You?
- Is a Trust for my Pet a Viable Option?
- Update – New York’s Medical Aid in Dying Act: What You Should Know
- Does a Joint Bank Account Automatically Contain a Right of Survivorship?
- When is a Crisis a Medicaid Crisis?
- New York’s Proposed Aid-in-Dying Bill: What You Should Know
- A New Chapter In Health Care Decision Making
- Home Is Where the Heart Is: The Medicaid Home Care Alternative
- Is America Prepared for an Alzheimer’s Crisis?
- Separated But Not Divorced: The Long Term Care Planning Implications
- Not all Powers of Attorney are Created Equally
- Revocable or Irrevocable Trust
- Why the Failure to Plan for Your Long Term Care Can Have Devastating Consequences
- The Cost of Long Term Care Remains the Greatest Threat to the Financial Well Being of New York Seniors
- Why Being Classified Under “Observation” While in a Hospital Means Seniors Pay Thousands More
- To Love, Honor And Cherish Until Medicaid Is Needed
- The Repeal of DOMA Makes Estate and Long Term Care Planning Critical for Same Sex Married Couples
- Protecting Your Home From The Costs Of Long Term Care
- Finally Some Estate Tax Relief for New Yorkers
- Factors To Consider When transferring A Residence For Elder Law And Estate Planning Purposes: A Primer
- Are You Absolutely Sure You Want to Get Married/Re-Married?
- Life insurance can be an underused part of estate planning
- Revocable Living Trusts: The Facts and Fiction
- Are You Ready for the Elder Years?
- The Basics of Business Succession Planning
- Utilizing Article 81 Guardianship in New York for Those Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder
- The Basics of Business Succession Planning
- The Importance of Knowing the Rights of a Nursing Home Resident
- How to Prevent Family Conflicts in the Event of Incapacity
- Mom and Dad (Grandparents), Can you Please Lend Me Some Money ?: The Unintended Consequences.
- Protecting Your Home From The Costs Of A Nursing Home
- Two Years of Estate and Gift Tax Nirvana!
- The Family Health Care Decision Act: A New Chapter in Health Care Decision Making
- The Do’s and Dont’s of Administering a Special Needs Trust
- Protecting the Primary Residence From The Cost Of a Nursing Home In A Post-DRA World
- The ABCs of SNTs
- Will the Economic Recovery Act Help Protect Your Home From The Cost of Long Term Care?
- New Transfer Of Asset Rules Makes Advanced Planning For Medicaid Eligibility Imperative!
- Ladies and Gentlemen Please Start Expressing Your Burial Wishes!
- Why Mom And Dad May Be Coming To Dinner And Not Leaving
- Medicaid Planning in an Article 81 Proceeding
- The Use of Article 81 of the Mental Hygiene Law as an Effective Medicaid and Estate Planning Tool: A Primer
- Clients’ Rights And Responsibilities
- Planning For Families With Disabled Loved Ones
- The Revocable Living Trust: The Facts And The Fiction
- Planning To Protect Real Property From The Cost Of Long Term Care
- To Deed Or Not To Deed: Revisited
- What Financial and Insurance Professionals Should Know About Elder Law: A Primer
Useful Articles for Attorneys
2021
2020 and Earlier
- Separated But Not Divorced: The Long Term Care Planning Implications
- Medicaid Expands Definition of Estate
- Review and Analysis of the AIP’s Real and Personal Property
- Is the Commencement of a Guardianship Proceeding Necessary?
- How to Distinguish Yourself From Those Dabbling in Elder Law
- The Case for Making Home Care the First Option for Seniors
- Have Your DRA Proofed Your Power of Attorney
- The Devils is in the Details: How the Legal Title of Assets can Sabotage One’s Inter Vivos and Testamentary Estate Plans
- Definition of “Estate” Expanded for Medicaid Recovery Purposes
- The New York Court of Appeals Rules Personal Representative of and Estate May Sue Estate Planners for Malpractice: The Practice Management Issues
- What Is An Estate Planner To Do Without The Protections Of Strict Privity?
- Seven Factors to Consider Prior to Commencing a Guardianship Proceeding Under Article 81 of the MHL
- Court of Appeals Rules Personal Representative of an Estate May Sue Estate Planners for Malpractice
- Mom and Dad (Grandparents) Can you Please Lend Me Some Money? The Unintended Consequences
- Special Needs trust – A Primer
- When Is A Gift Not A Gift For Medicaid Eligibility Purposes?
- The Treatment of Joint Accounts In An Article 81 Guardianship Proceeding
- What Every Attorney Should Know About the New Durable Power of Attorney Form
- Will the Economic Recovery Act Help Protect Your Home From The Cost of Long Term Care?
- Ladies and Gentlemen Please Start Expressing Your Burial Wishes!
- The Deficit Reduction Act Of 2005 And Its Effect Upon Medicaid Eligibility
- New Transfer Of Asset Rules Makes Advanced Planning For Medicaid Eligibility Imperative!
- Punishment For The Procrastinators: The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005
- The Deficit Reduction Act Of 2005 and Its Effect Upon Transfers Of Real Property For Long Term Care Planning Purposes
- Utilizing Article 81 For Medicaid And Estate Planning Purposes After The Deficit Reduction Act Of 2005
- Why Mom And Dad May Be Coming To Dinner And Not Leaving
- The Use of Article 81 of the Mental Hygiene Law as an Effective Medicaid and Estate Planning Tool: A Primer
- Article 81 Of The Mental Hygiene Law Amended Effective December 2004
- Basics of Medicaid Eligibility
- A Summary Of The Birnbaum Commission’s Report On Fiduciary Appointments
- Medicaid Planning in an Article 81 Proceeding
- Estate Tax and Business Succession Planning
- Network of Bar Leaders Legislative Breakfast
- Is It Ever Too Late To Do Medicaid Planning?
- What All Attorneys Should Know About Elder Law
- Tips for Working with Attorneys
- Avoid these four common estate planning mistakes
- Is Your Power of Attorney Ready for the Digital Era?