• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Axis Estate Planning

Generational Planning Attorneys in Troy, Michigan

Client Vault (248) 251-1001
  • Home
  • Our Firm
    • About Our Firm
    • Attorney and Staff Profiles
  • Services
    • Asset Protection & Business Planning
    • Estate and Gift Tax Figures
    • Estate Planning Services
    • Family-Owned Businesses
    • Incapacity Planning
    • IRA & Retirement Planning
    • Legacy Planning
    • Pet Planning
    • SECURE Act
    • Special Needs Planning
    • Trust Administration & Probate
  • Elder Law
    • Are You A Caregiver?
    • Coping With Alzheimer’s
    • Guardianship & Conservatorship
    • Hospice Care
  • Webinars
  • Resources
    • DocuBank
    • Elder Law Resources
      • Elder Law Reports
      • Elder Law & Medicaid Definitions
    • Estate Planning Resources
      • Estate Planning Checkup
      • Estate Planning Definitions
      • Estate Planning Reports
      • Incapacity Planning Definitions
      • Is Your Estate Plan Outdated?
      • Top 10 Estate and Legacy Planning Techniques
    • Frequently Asked Questions
      • Estate Planning
      • Gift and Estate Tax
      • Incapacity Planning
      • Legacy Wealth Planning
      • Living Trust
      • Medicaid and Elder Law
      • Trust Administration & Probate
    • Newsletters
    • Special Needs Resources
    • Trust Administration & Probate Resources
      • Bereavement Resources
      • How to Know if You Need Extra Help With Your Grieving
      • Loss of a Loved One
      • The Mourner’s Bill of Rights
      • Things You Need To Do When a Loved One Passes Away With a Trust
      • Things You Need To Do When a Loved One Passes Away With a Will
      • Trust Administration & Probate Definitions
  • Blog
  • Reviews
    • Our Reviews
    • Review Us
  • Contact
Home / Blog

Blog

Medicaid Releases 2021 Spousal Allowances

December 8, 2020 by Victor A. Veprauskas, IV

Medicaid spouse allowancesElder law attorneys always keep a close eye on the Medicaid parameters, because this program is very important for senior citizens. Some people would view this statement as a head stretcher, because everyone knows that most seniors qualify for Medicare when they reached the age of 65.

Why would you care about Medicaid if you are already going to have health insurance through the Medicare program?

This is a good question, and the answer is one of those inconvenient truths.

Medicare will pay for convalescent care after an injury or illness when recovery is expected. However, it will not pay for the custodial care that nursing homes provide, and it does not cover in-home care.

Medicaid will pick up the tab if you can gain eligibility, and this is why it is relevant to seniors that qualify for Medicare.

Don’t Be Overconfident

A lot of people are not too concerned about potential long-term care costs because they assume that they will always be able to handle their own activities of daily living. Plus, many of them know that family members will pitch in to provide assistance if it is ever needed.

It can definitely be hard to wrap your head around a time when you will not be able to take care of your own day-to-day needs. At the same time, it is equally hard to imagine how you will feel when you are in your 80s.

The life expectancy for someone that is 67 is 85 years for man, and it is 67 years for a woman. To put it into perspective, this is your life expectancy if you intend to live long enough to collect your full Social Security benefit.

According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, seven out of every 10 seniors will need some type of living assistance, and 35 percent of elders will reside in nursing homes.

Medicaid Healthy Spouse Allowances

Now that we have set the stage appropriately, we can get to the point of this post. Elder law attorneys help clients create strategies that will lead to future Medicaid eligibility. This takes intelligent planning, because there is a $2000 asset limit.

Some assets are not countable, including your home, but we will get into those details in a different blog post. We are going to focus on the allowances for the healthy spouse here.

When a married person with a healthy spouse is applying for Medicaid, the independent spouse is entitled to a Community Spouse Resource Allowance (CSRA). This is half of the shared assets that are considered to be countable for Medicaid eligibility purposes.

There is a limit that is updated each year to account for the cost of living. In 2020, the limit has been $128,640, and it is going up to $130,380 next year. The minimum allowance has been $25,728, and it is going up to $26,076 next year.

A single applicant must contribute most of their income toward the cost of the care that is being received, but this requirement is waived if the healthy spouse is relying on the income. They can qualify for a Monthly Maintenance Needs Allowance, but there is a limit.

Next year, the limit on the high-end will be $3259.50 a month. The minimum allowance will rise from $2113.75 this year to $2155 in 2021.

Attend a Free Webinar

Our attorney Victor Veprauskas conducts webinars on an ongoing basis, and you can learn a lot if you attend one of these sessions. There is no charge, but we ask that you register in advance we can reserve your spot.

You can see the dates if you head over to our webinar page, and when you identify the session that works for you, follow the simple instructions to register.

Need Help Now?

If you have already learned enough to know that it is time for you to work with an attorney to put a plan in place, we are here to help. You can send us a message to request a consultation appointment, and we can be reached by phone at 248-251-1001.

Filed Under: Elder Law Tagged With: Community Spouse Resource Allowance, Monthly Maintenance Needs Allowance, nursing home asset protection

Address These Three Estate Plan Details

December 8, 2020 by Victor A. Veprauskas, IV

estate planA lot of people reduce the estate planning process to the execution of a will or a trust, and this is definitely at the core of the matter. At the same time, there are finer details that should be addressed, and a failure to do so can yield negative consequences.

Let’s look at three of these details that are easy to overlook.

Letter of Final Instructions

There is a human element that you should take into consideration when you are planning your estate. Someone has to complete a number of different tasks to bring your wishes to fruition after you are gone. If you use a will, this would be the executor, and the trustee is the administrator of a trust.

The administrator cannot do their job if they do not have the necessary practical information. You can provide it in a document called a letter of final instructions.

In this letter, you should provide the contact information for professionals and the personal contacts that should be notified about your death. The location of legally binding estate planning documents and deeds, titles, and other relevant paperwork should be shared.

The executor or trustee should be given the access information for your online financial accounts, social media accounts, and websites and blogs if you have them. You can also provide an explanation of your preferred final arrangements.

These are a few things to think about, but there are no rules to follow, and the document is not legally binding. Just ask yourself what the administrator will need to know and record it in a clear, sequential manner in the letter of final instructions.

Advance Directives for Health Care

Financial matters are definitely important, but you should also prepare for eventualities that you may face toward the end of your life. Many people become unable to communicate due to medical conditions, and you can use advance directives for health care to address this possibility.

One of the directives is a durable power of attorney for health care. This type of power of attorney would remain in effect in the event of your incapacity, so the “durable” designation is significant. You name an agent to make medical decisions on your behalf in this directive.

An accompanying document is a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) release. You can use one of these forms to give the agent the legal right to access your health care records and speak freely with your doctors.

Another directive that should be part of the plan is a living will. In this type of will, you record your life-support decisions. You can itemize each different life-sustaining method that can be utilized if you choose to do so, and you can add organ and tissue donation preferences.

Beneficiary Designations

When you fill out life insurance forms and the paperwork that goes along with your individual retirement account and payable on death accounts, you name beneficiaries. Over the years, things can change, so you should make sure that your beneficiary designations reflect your current wishes.

There is also the matter of successor beneficiaries. The administrators that guide people through the signing process may never mention the concept, but you have the right to name successor beneficiaries. You should take this step, because it would facilitate a smooth transition if the primary beneficiary was to pass away.

Attend a Free Webinar

You are on this site because you are looking for information about estate planning and nursing home asset protection. This is the right place, because we have plenty of written materials, and you can also register for one of our upcoming webinars.

The sessions are offered free of charge, and you don’t have to go anywhere to join us, so this is a great way to invest a bit of spare time. You can visit our webinar page to see the dates, and when you identify the session that works for you, follow the simple instructions to register.

Need Help Now?

If you are ready to work with an attorney to put an estate plan in place, we are here to help. You can send us a message to request a consultation appointment, and we can be reached by phone at 248-251-1001.

 

 

Filed Under: Estate Planning Tagged With: advance directives for health care, beneficiary designations, letter of final instructions

What the 2020 Election Could Mean for Your Estate Plan

December 1, 2020 by Michael Garrisi

The November elections are over. What was the outcome of the election? What changes could come about as a result? What do those possible changes mean for your estate plan? Read on to learn more.

Filed Under: Estate Planning, legal education Tagged With: Biden, Democrats, Election 2020, Republicans, Trump

Reasons an Estate Plan Could Be Challenged: Part 3 – Fraud

January 2, 2020 by Victor A. Veprauskas, IV

An Estate Plan is an essential part of your planning process. But there are ways an Estate Plan can be challenged as being invalid. This is the third part of a series of articles on ways an Estate Plan might be invalid and how to avoid these pitfalls. This article looks at fraud.

Reasons an Estate Plan Could Be Challenged: Part 3 – Fraud

Filed Under: Estate Planning, legal education Tagged With: Estate Planning, fraud, trust, will

Reasons an Estate Plan Could Be Challenged: Part 4 – Lack of Testamentary Capacity

January 2, 2020 by Victor A. Veprauskas, IV

An Estate Plan is an essential part of your planning process. But there are ways an Estate Plan can be challenged as being invalid. This is part of a series of articles on ways an Estate Plan might be invalid and how to avoid these pitfalls. This fourth article in the series looks at testamentary capacity.

Reasons an Estate Plan Could Be Challenged: Part 4 – Lack of Testamentary Capacity

Filed Under: Estate Planning, legal education Tagged With: Estate Planning, invalid, trust, will

  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Blog Subscription

Consultation

Contact Us for a CONSULTATION today!

Office Address

AXIS ESTATE PLANNING
755 W. Big Beaver Road, Suite 410
Troy, Michigan 48084
Phone: 248-251-1001
Fax: 248-244-2244

Office Hours

Monday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Office Map

map for Axis Estate Planning office

Footer

Super Lawyers Best Lawyers State Bar of Michigan American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys
  • Facebook
Axis Estate Planning logo

© 2021 American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc. Privacy Policy | Disclaimer