Your Retirement; Estate Planning and Medicaid Planning

Happy retirement ideas are a little different for everyone. For some, it might be relaxing and spending time with family. Others may want to travel the world while others might want to stay in their hometown and work a meaningful part-time job. Regardless of what your retirement plan is, proper estate planning and Medicaid Planning is a must.

Managing Assets; Elder Law Attorneys Cohen & Oalican

Medicaid imposes a period of ineligibility if you transfer assets before you enter a nursing home. This is very complicated and confusing to do without guidance from an elder law attorney. Properly transferring assets will help you protect your spouse and protect your home.

Choosing a Trustee; Estate Planning

A good estate plan will take care of you if and/or when you cannot take care of yourself anymore. If done properly, it will also take care of your family after you die. Family, good friends, banks or trust companies and attorneys are only a few of the routes you can go. There are no perfect choices, but try to choose somebody who is relatively experienced in investments and public health benefits programs and regulations. Elder law attorneys Cohen & Oalican can help with all your estate planning needs.

Attorneys Cohen and Oalican specialize in Elder Law; where protecting your assets and your dignity is their core mission.

Medicaid Law; Making it Hard for Men to Enter a Nursing Home

Recent studies prove that it is a lot harder for a man to find a bed in a nursing home than it is for a woman because of Medicaid law. Most people just don’t think about problems like this coming up when Medicaid Planning.

Nursing Home Population; Elder Law Attorney’s Cohen and Oalican, LLC.

Like the elderly population itself, nursing home residents are mostly female. An Elder Law report in 2010 stated that two-thirds of nursing home residents are women. The problem with that for men is: Medicaid will ONLY cover semiprivate rooms in a nursing home, so since a man can’t bunk with a woman, men are forced to wait for a bed to open up in another man’s room.

Family’s Search for Other Nursing Home Options

These numbers are definitely something you can’t dispute, but they definitely make an already hard process even more difficult. Someone who is leaving from their own home can probably wait for a bed, but what about somebody who’s leaving a hospital or a rehab? You then might have to settle for a place far away from the family or something not as nice as you’d prefer.

Attorneys Cohen and Oalican specialize in Elder Law; where protecting your assets and your dignity is their core mission.

Is Your Spouse Entitled to Your Social Security Retirement Benefits?

Social Security will provide your retirement benefits to your spouse, ex-spouse or surviving spouse in certain circumstances. Here is a breakdown of the circumstances where the spouse would be eligible to collect Social Security benefits:

• If the marriage lasted 10 years your spouse would be entitled to your Social Security benefits
• You must be at full retirement age for your spouse to collect
• Your spouse must have filed for Social Security Benefits for themselves

Social Security will automatically pay your spouse a larger benefit if he/she could receive more based on their own earnings. Your spouse can also elect to take your benefits first before taking their own.

Social Security Benefits for an Ex-Spouse; Elder Law Attorneys Cohen and Oalican, LLC.

Your ex-spouse is entitled to half of your retirement benefits as long as you were married for over 10 years. An ex-spouse can receive benefits before you have even applied for Social Security benefits, unlike your current spouse.

Social Security Benefits of a Surviving Spouse

Your spouse is entitled to your full benefits if they are at full retirement age. Even if you were divorced before you deceased your spouse is still entitled your retirement benefits if you were married for more than 10 years. If your spouse is over 60 but below retirement age, they will receive a reduced amount. If they are under 60 they will only be able to receive benefits for special circumstances such as caring for a disabled child or if they are disabled themselves.

Attorneys Cohen & Oalican specialize in Elder Law; where protecting your assets and your dignity is their core mission.

Millions still working at 70 years old

Medicaid planning is getting more and more difficult these days. Millions of Americans are working a lot longer than their 63rd birthday (the average age Americans claim benefits). The truth is: Social Security benefits are not made to last as long as people are living, as life expectancy is getting longer.

Elderly worker percentages growing fast; no early retirement

Your early retirement is becoming a thing of the past. Erma Paliani finally retires at 92. "I didn’t expect to work this long,” Paliani says, who worked as a secretary for the government for 67 years. (Carole Fleck - AARP Bulletin) The percentage of people over 65 that are still working is growing faster than any other age groups.

Proper estate planning; Elder Law Attorneys Cohen and Oalican, LLC.

The best way to avoid this situation yourself is by proper estate planning. Durable powers of attorney are a critical piece of any estate plan. They will make financial decisions on your behalf if you were to become ill or incapacitated. Elder Law Attorneys Cohen and Oalican can advise you on how to choose an agent and how best to draft your power of attorney.

Nursing Home Rights and Eligibilty

Nursing homes can be very costly. Medicaid is just about the only insurance that will cover nursing home expenses, although some private insurances will pay a certain amount. Nursing Home eligibility rules are not so easy to understand. There are rules that can help protect your home and protect your spouse when using Medicaid.

Nursing Home Resident's Rights; Elder Law

The rights of nursing home's residents are no different than the rights of any citizen. Unfortunately, nursing home residents aren't always treated as they should be. In 1987 laws were passed for elder law by Congress that help protect you or your spouse while in a nursing home.
Here are just a few laws that were passed:

• Resident has the right to see all of their records
• Residents must be informed of services available and how much they will cost
• Residents can share a room with their spouse
• Residents can get up and go to bed whenever they want

Disputes in the nursing home

There are certain steps that can be taken if needed when you feel you or your spouse or loved one has been mistreated.

• Talk to the nursing home staff
• Talk to nursing home supervisor/administration
• Request a meeting with nursing staff
• Talk with the ombudsperson that is assigned

If all else fails contact Elder Law Attorney's Cohen and Oalican, LLC.
Attorneys Cohen & Oalican specialize in Elder Law; where protecting your assets and your dignity is their core mission.