White Plains Long-Term Care Planning Law Blog

Medicaid provides invaluable assistance for nursing home care. Dealing with the 5-year look-back rule is an important part of Medicaid planning and preserving assets for family members. Most asset transfers that are made within five years start a penalty period that disqualifies that person from coverage. This rule is intended to prevent an applicant from giving away their assets or selling them at discount prices to fall within Medicaid's asset limit. In New York, this rule applies only to nursing home coverage.

The penalty is calculated by dividing the value of the asset transfer by Medicaid's nursing home average cost for a specific time such as a day or month. The look-back period begins on the date of the Medicaid application. There are many examples of disqualifying asset transfers. These include money given to a grandchild for their graduation, a house transferred to a relative or a car donated to a charity. Violations even include payments to a personal care assistant without a formal agreement or assets that were transferred as gifts, transferred or sold below their fair market value.

Filling the role of caretaker to an older adult who you love, such as a parent, can sometimes be a difficult job. Needs vary, but you might find yourself driving to medical appointments, handing out medication or even providing mobility assistance and daily grooming care.

No matter how much you love the older adult in your life, the responsibility that comes with their care can be difficult to manage while also balancing your personal life and career. There are often unexpected issues that can arise, such as the cognitive deterioration of your loved one or an intense disagreement about treatment options for a medical condition. Partnering with an elder law attorney can help you provide the best care for your loved one.

Some readers of this New York estate and long-term care planning legal blog may perceive a contradiction in the world of wills and probate. On one hand, it is often advocated that individuals should create and execute wills so that their testamentary wishes are enacted. However, they are also advised to find ways of avoiding the probate process. Since a will is handled in probate, it seems as though it may be impossible to fulfill both of these important end-of-life planning goals.

To better understand this apparent legal conundrum, readers are asked to remember just what wills do. They offer information about the intentions of their creators as to how those individuals wanted their property distributed upon their deaths. Not all property can be probated since it is subject to its own distribution rules. Therefore, probate only handles the property is eligible and all other property may be rightfully kept out of its realm of authority.

Children can be incredibly precocious and capable of understanding complex themes and ideas. However, most children develop on a relatively regular schedule wherein their ability to manage their own needs and affairs is not possible until they are nearing adulthood. Since children cannot be trusted to take care of their own interests, they are generally not afforded the same rights as adults.

Generally, children cannot own property and cannot vote in elections for public officers. A child cannot be sued by an allegedly aggrieved party, and a child cannot enter into many types of contracts. Children cannot engage with many legal processes on their own, and in many jurisdictions that also means that they cannot draft and execute their own wills.