What is a little more surprising is that we often have to educate other financial planners and CPA’s on the different types of trusts, how they work, and their benefits.  Occasionally, we get push back from the other professionals, but after walking them through the trusts, analysis and case law they always come back and say “Chris, why haven’t I been sending people your way before??” because they are blown away at the possibilities to help protect their clients from unnecessary taxes, law suits, and long-term care costs.  I have no problem with this.  In fact, I appreciate it, because it shows a willingness to learn and take the extra step to help their clients.

Estate Planning Attorneys are often Unaware of The Best Asset Protection Trusts

Other attorneys not knowing the best, most cutting edge, most beneficial trusts to provide their clients…that’s what’s surprising.  I find that a majority of estate planning lawyers are really doing their clients a disservice by not continuing to educate themselves on the best legal tools to meet their clients needs.

For example, I’d say 95% of the estate plans I review are basic revocable living trusts that say outright distributions at age 25, 30, or 35.  What an opportunity of protecting your children you’re missing with this type of trust.  You are throwing a pillow case of money at your children that (even if they have a good head on their shoulders) could be lost to bankruptcy, divorce, creditor action, or death.  Do you want your hard earned legacy lost because your daughter got divorced?  Instead, what if you could leave it to them in a way that they can control it, serve as trustee, and empty the trust at anytime? It’s possible, legal, and court tested.  Why more attorneys are taking advantage of the lifetime asset protection opportunity to protect their client’s children from creditors and divorce is beyond me.

Lifetime Asset Protection For You

Another form of trust, sometimes called a Lifetime Asset Protection Trust or iPug (irrevocable pure grantor trust) can build in asset protection for you, during your lifetime, from lawsuits and nursing home costs.  Why don’t I see more of these types of trusts around?  I think it’s laziness on the part of other estate planning lawyers to search for the best solutions for their clients.

On occasion, I’ve had clients get a second opinion from another lawyer, and invariably the other lawyer isn’t familiar with the planning strategy we’re recommending and says “that won’t work!”  Their response isn’t from a position of knowledge, however, it’s from a position of confusion and lack of knowledge.

Which Lawyer is Right?

It’s surprising to me when other estate planning or elder law lawyer’s are not familiar with some of planning options we recommend.  Then I have to prove to my client the validity of our planning or of our expertise in the area.  Just like doctors have different levels of knowledge on areas of medicine, so do lawyers have different levels of knowledge in areas of law.

For example:

• I am one of a handful of Certified Elder Law Attorneys (the gold standard in estate planning and elder law) in the state of Michigan and the only one in Livingston County.
• I am an adjunct professor of law at WMU Cooley Law School where I teach second and third year law students estate planning, elder law, and the very techniques I use in my practice.
• I teach other attorneys estate planning and elder law across the nation through NBI as well as my own consulting practice.
• My trusts have been tested in court, with the top CPA firms in Michigan, with the VA Administration and with DHHS who administers Medicaid in Michigan.
• I wrote the Caregiver’s Legal Guide to Planning for a Loved One with Chronic Illness

I share that not to impress, but to impress upon you that estate planning, elder law, long-term care, and retirement planning is what we do…and we do it very well.  These are things we share when the general family lawyer questions some of our planning techniques.  Who do you trust, the attorney who does a little bit of everything, the general estate planning lawyer, or a Certified Elder Law Attorney/Author/Professor?

The post What Your Estate Planning Lawyer Doesn’t Want You to Know about Irrevocable Asset Protection Trusts appeared first on Michigan Estate Planning.

Mom is Going to Be Discharged, Now What?

The first step is to have a care plan.  Often we’ll bring in an Elder Care Coordinator to assist with putting together a discharge plan because often, the hospital or rehab facility will just say “Mom’s being discharged next week, you figure it out…”  We need to find a community for mom, and find one as soon as possible.  There are a lot of factors that go into finding an appropriate care facility.  One of those factors includes how will the family pay for the long-term care. For example, if its a skilled nursing home, do they have Medicaid beds available, or do they play the game of not having beds available until your private pay for a period of time?

Michigan Nursing Home Medicaid Explained

First it is important to understand what Michigan Nursing Home Medicaid is.  Michigan Nursing Home Medicaid is a jointly funded, Federal-State health care program for persons who are financially eligible. Medicaid provides care for acute medical needs, rehabilitation, and long-term care mainly in skilled nursing facilities.

Michigan Nursing Home Medicaid Asset Limit and Look back Period

Medicaid has an asset limit where a individual can only have $2,000 in countable assets if they want to qualify.

Most people think that they have to give all their assets away to qualify for Medicaid in Michigan, however, that is not the case.  While there is a 5 year look back, meaning Michigan looks back 5 years to see if you moved money around and will penalize you if you did; there are a variety of “crisis” plans available to Certified Elder Law Attorneys where they can help families protect money well inside that 5 year window.

How To Protect Mom’s Assets from Michigan Medicaid Nursing Home Spend down

When we met with the family to talk about protecting their mother’s assets, we reviewed a plan that would protect over half of her assets.  She had roughly $150,000 in countable assets at this point and was entering a nursing home within a week with a $8500 per month bill.

Option 1.  Spend $8500 a month until their mother ran out of money and ran out of options.  There would be no funds to improve her quality of life, pay for additional caregivers or services.  She’d be flat out of options.

Option 2. Engage in a Medicaid Crisis plan where we would shelter over half of her assets, while the other half would have to goto the nursing home over a period of months to cover her divestment penalty.  By engaging in the is planning the family was able to keep over $80,000 in assets that would not have to go directly to the nursing home and qualify for Medicaid within half the time by submitting a Medicaid application immediately.  Also in this situation, their mother was the surviving spouse of a veteran and we were able to bring in an additional $1,120 per month, tax free, to help pay her cost of care during the private pay period.

The Next Step if You Have a Loved One in a Nursing Home

If you have a loved one in a nursing home and are concerned about them running out of money, have them contact our Michigan Medicaid Planning Lawyer office immediately at (888) 390-4360, because every month you wait your family is losing thousands of dollars a month.

The post How To Protect My Mom’s Assets From Nursing Home Spend down in Michigan? appeared first on Michigan Estate Planning.

This was driven home the other week, when a friend referred one of his friends to The Elder Care Firm.  We scheduled a free phone consultation and he had a sad story to tell.

His sisters had hired another elder law attorney in Brighton and had been charged over $13,000 to do Medicaid planning for their parent. Unfortunately, not much was done, the case dragged on, and the family didn’t get the results they had paid so much money for.

While this story was about a Brighton elder law attorney, it could be about any elder law attorney in Livingston County, Howell, Novi, Milford, South Lyon or surrounding communities.  Any attorney can say they do elder law, but how can you tell a “quality” elder law attorney from a run-of-the-mill general practitioner.

Not All Elder Law Attorneys are Created Equal.

Elder law attorneys can put together slick marketing and reports on elder law.  We have some nice reports.  But just because an attorney has a report on a subject, doesn’t mean they are an expert or that they even wrote the report in the first place.  Maybe that attorney is great at marketing, that doesn’t mean they are a great elder law attorney.

Is Your Attorney a Certified Elder Law Attorney?

There is really only one “gold standard” in estate planning and elder law.  That is the Certified Elder Law Attorney (CELA) designation.  The National Elder Law Foundation is the only national certifying program for elder law and special needs planning in the nation and is approved by the American Bar Association.

The National Elder Law Foundation first certified elder law attorneys in 1994, and now over 20+ years later there are over 400 CELAs across the nation.  There is only 17 in the State of Michigan and only one in Livingston County, including Brighton, Howell, Hartland and the surrounding areas.

Why Work with a Michigan Certified Elder Law Attorney (CELA)?

It’s important to work with a Certified Elder Law Attorney because when you’re working with a Michigan Certified Elder Law Attorney you know you’re working with the cream of the crop when it comes to elder law.  Think of CELAs as the top 1% of estate planning and elder law attorneys.

You have the confidence of working with an elder law attorney who has completed a riggorous full day examination and demonstrated that their law practice is actually focused on estate planning and elder law.  Once certified, your Certified Elder Law Attorney must continue to practice primarily elder law and complete continuing education specifically targeted to advanced practitioners.

Is Your Livingston County Elder Law Attorney at Thought Leader Among his Peers?

Most of the thought leaders across the nation in estate planning and elder law are Certified Elder Law Attorneys.  In my own practice, as a CELA, attorneys across the nation pay to learn from me and co-counsel with my firm.

You Deserve the Best Elder Law Attorney

It’s hard to judge quality, so let the National Elder Foundation certification process do it for you.  You deserve the best, you deserve to work with a Certified Elder Law Attorney.  To learn more about the National Elder Law Foundation or the Certified Elder Law Attorney (CELA) designation, click here nelf.org.

The post Brighton Elder Law Attorney…Gone Bad appeared first on The Elder Care Firm.

Brighton’s only Certified Elder Law Attorney

As the only Certified Elder Law Attorney in Brighton, Michigan, I’m excited to be at the Livingston County Caregiver Fair on Saturday April 5th, 2014.  The Livingston County Caregiver Fair will be held at Brighton High School, 7878 Brighton Rd., Brighton, MI 48116.

The Livingston County Consortium on Aging is one of the sponsors, with over 60 exhibitors providing information on transportation, nutrition, medical, financial assistance, home safety, respite, and home care.

There are many attorneys that say they do elder law, however there are only 15 Certified Elder Law Attorneys (CELA) in Michigan.  The CELA designation is the gold standard in elder law.  Before you hire a Brighton elder care lawyer to help your family with VA Benefits, Aid & Attendance, Medicaid planning or just navigating the long-term care maze for your family, make sure to check out their credentials.

Are they a Certified Elder Law Attorney?

Only a Certified Elder Law Attorney has been peer reviewed, shown the requisite amount of experience, and demonstrated that knowledge by passing an exam on 12 different topics of elder law.

Certified Elder Law Attorneys have specialized knowledge to help seniors, veterans, and their families navigate the long-term care legal maze.  For example, in our office we have unique legal planning strategies to help our clients qualify for the VA Benefit even when the Department of Veterans Affairs say that the veteran or surviving spouse may not qualify.

I help families through the special use of trusts and other legal documents to protect and shelter resources against the catastrophic cost of long-term care.

If you are a senior, veteran of have a loved one who is concerned about the cost of long-term care and has questions on how to qualify for the VA Benefit or Medicaid, give our office a call and we’ll be happy to assist you.  You deserve the best representation possible, and there is only one Certified Elder Law Attorney serving families in Brighton Michigan.

Christopher J. Berry is a Michigan elder law attorney Dedicated to helping seniors, veterans and their families navigate the long-term care maze. To learn more visit http://www.theeldercarefirm.com/ or call 248.481.4000

Brighton’s only Certified Elder Law Attorney

As the only Certified Elder Law Attorney in Brighton, Michigan, I’m excited to be at the Livingston County Caregiver Fair on Saturday April 5th, 2014.  The Livingston County Caregiver Fair will be held at Brighton High School, 7878 Brighton Rd., Brighton, MI 48116.

The Livingston County Consortium on Aging is one of the sponsors, with over 60 exhibitors providing information on transportation, nutrition, medical, financial assistance, home safety, respite, and home care.

There are many attorneys that say they do elder law, however there are only 15 Certified Elder Law Attorneys (CELA) in Michigan.  The CELA designation is the gold standard in elder law.  Before you hire a Brighton elder care lawyer to help your family with VA Benefits, Aid & Attendance, Medicaid planning or just navigating the long-term care maze for your family, make sure to check out their credentials.

Are they a Certified Elder Law Attorney?

Only a Certified Elder Law Attorney has been peer reviewed, shown the requisite amount of experience, and demonstrated that knowledge by passing an exam on 12 different topics of elder law.

Certified Elder Law Attorneys have specialized knowledge to help seniors, veterans, and their families navigate the long-term care legal maze.  For example, in our office we have unique legal planning strategies to help our clients qualify for the VA Benefit even when the Department of Veterans Affairs say that the veteran or surviving spouse may not qualify.

I help families through the special use of trusts and other legal documents to protect and shelter resources against the catastrophic cost of long-term care.

If you are a senior, veteran of have a loved one who is concerned about the cost of long-term care and has questions on how to qualify for the VA Benefit or Medicaid, give our office a call and we’ll be happy to assist you.  You deserve the best representation possible, and there is only one Certified Elder Law Attorney serving families in Brighton Michigan.

Invalid block ID.

The post Brighton Michigan Elder Law Attorney appeared first on Elder Care Firm.

As one of the few Certified Elder Law Attorneys in Michigan, give our office a call if you have a loved one who needs help paying for nursing home costs.  (248) 481-4000.

To qualify for the veterans benefit, sometimes called Aid & Attendance, in Michigan, a veteran or surviving spouse of a veteran must meet certain requirements.

1) The veteran must have served 90 days active duty,

2) The veteran must have served one day during a period of war,

3) Cannot be dishonorably discharged,

4) Paying more in long-term care costs then income coming in from social security or pension

5) Pass the resource test

If the veteran or surviving spouse meets all of the above requirements then they can qualify for over $2,000 per month, tax free, to pay their long-term care costs.

However, there are some things to keep in mind.

First, with the resource analysis, many times prior to coming into our office a family will be over the asset limit to qualify for the VA Benefit.  In situations like this, typically we put together a Veterans Asset Protection Trust where the family can retain control of the assets, however still qualify for the VA Benefit under the resource test.  Plus, this Veterans Asset Protection Trust helps the family also qualify for Medicaid if they should wish to bring in that governmental benefit as well.

Next, it is important to understand that your loved one needs to have long-term care costs that exceed their income.  The veteran or surviving spouse needs a doctor to say that they need the assistance of daily living activities and that they are now willing to pay to receive that assistance.

Last, keep in mind that the veterans benefit maxes out at just over $2,000 per month.  This benefit is great for paying for assisted living costs or home care costs, but when you’re paying over $10,000 per month in nursing home costs, Medicaid may be a better answer.  Medicaid can pay almost the entire cost of nursing home care, minus the private pay.

Do you have veterans benefits or Medicaid questions?  Call our office at (248) 481-4000 and we’ll be happy to answer your questions.

Invalid block ID.

The post VA Benefits for Nursing Home Costs in Michigan appeared first on Elder Care Firm.

Michigan Veterans Benefits For Seniors

Many Michigan families do not realize that there are Veterans Benefits available to pay for home care, care contracts and assistance in the home for seniors.  As one of the few Certified Elder Law Attorneys in Michigan, my practice is devoted to helping seniors, veterans and their families navigate the long-term care legal maze.

A common mistake I see families make is that they wait to long to try to secure their Aid & Attendance veterans benefits.  It’s unfortunate because many times if they would have come into our Bloomfield Hills law office years ago, we could have had their VA Benefit turned on this whole time.

This means that families could literally be leaving thousands of dollars on the table.

For example, let’s say Joe is a senior veteran living in Troy, Michigan.  He’s living on his own, however his daughter helps him with some activities of daily living a few times a week for a couple hours a day.  Plus, he receives a couple hours of private duty home care from a commercial Oakland County home care company.

Let’s assume Joe receives $1500 per month in Social Security and has $300k in savings and a house.  He is paying the commercial home care company $1000 per month.

If Joe or his family were to go to a local veterans service organization, chances are they would tell him that he will not qualify for the full benefit (or any benefit) because he does not meet the income or asset tests.

However, if he were to come to our office, as a VA accredited attorney, I would counsel the family in setting up a Veterans Asset Protection Trust, Care Contract and submit the VA application on his behalf.  In the end I would be able to turn on a $1,700+ monthly tax free benefit.

It’s unfair that it is all in who you talk to and where you get advice from.  That is why you should seek advice from VA Accredited Certified Elder Law Attorneys.  There aren’t many of us in the state.

The post Michigan Veterans Benefits for Home Care appeared first on Elder Care Firm.