Press Releases Distribution, Article Publishing

Gene L. Osofsky of the law firm Osofsky & Osofsky weighs in about some helpful sensors.

For a lot of our elders, living alone isn’t what it used to be, especially in the sense of devices and technologically-advanced sensors placed in the home for safety reasons.

When Malcolm McGill, 94, slipped on a wet floor in his Bayonne, New Jersey home without wearing his emergency alert pendant, and could not phone for help, he felt desperation.

Fortunately, a tiny wireless sensor beneath Mr. McGill’s bed detected that the nonagenarian had gotten up. Motion detectors in his bedroom and bathroom registered that he had not left the area in his typical pattern and relayed that information to a central monitoring system, prompting a call to his telephone to ask if he was okay. When he did not answer, more calls were triggered – to a neighbor, to the building manager, and finally to 911, which dispatched firefighters to break through his door. He’d been on the floor less than 30 minutes when help arrived – courtesy of a system known as eNeighbor.

“It’s amazing some of the technology that’s available even for isolated elders living alone,” asserts Gene L. Osofsky of the law firm Osofsky & Osofsky, “That man might have died in similar circumstances a generation ago.”

Technologies such as eNeighbor offer a surprisingly high standard of care – and are backed by corporate giants such as Intel and General Electric – the latter a household word for most elders. But the devices can be expensive, remain largely untested, and are seldom covered by the government or private insurance plans. Doctors are not trained to treat patients using remote data and no mechanism exists for them to receive compensation for doing so. In fact, many such devices – including motion sensors, pill compliance detectors and wireless devices that transmit data on blood pressure, weight, oxygen and glucose levels – can have unintended or even adverse consequences.

“It’s difficult to substitute electronic measurements for face-to-face contact with doctors, nurses, and family members,” Osofsky explains.

Mr. McGill, who has congestive heart disease and suffered a broken hip five years ago, said he could not live on his own without the system that probably saved his life, built and distributed by a Minnesota company called Healthsense.

“Despite their limitations in 2010, in a few years I predict a lot of these sensors will become more practical and pervasive,” Osofsky concludes.

To learn more about elder law and The Law Offices of Osofsky & Osofsky, visit http://www.lawyerforseniors.com/.

Should you allow a large bank to help care for your elderly parents?

Baby Boomers are aging fast, their parents even more so if they’re still around. Caring for an elderly parent can be a big responsibility. Boomers might even be realizing the pitter-patter of their own quickening years.

Large banks are realizing this trend too. Some are betting on enriching their client base – and adding to their receivables while they’re at it – by providing financial elder-care services. Can a bank be effective at helping you care for the elders you cherish?

Sources such as the Wall Street Journal, in a recent article, assert that the larger banks have received positive initial reviews when it comes to such everyday necessities as sorting out medical bills, hiring in-home care, or perhaps administering the sale of a home. Flush with such successes, banks are beginning to delve into more in-depth services such as estate planning; establishing power of attorney subsequent to a crisis (the proverbial “break a leg” comes to mind, or more aptly a hip); health and home care assessments; selecting Medicare coverage and claims management – even scouting long-term living options like retirement communities and assisted living facilities.

Is rushing down to your nearest apparently elder-friendly bank getting you psyched? Advice might be similar as for riding a spirited steed when you’ve never sat in a saddle – Whoa! Treat a bank like you would any other attorney or professional advisor. While a horse might be guileless, a bank probably isn’t. By targeting the elderly population and their family caregivers, from a bank’s perspective seeing their asset management annual fees jingle out of their clients’ pockets might be reason enough for their foray into elder-care services –no matter how convenient their plans might sound.

Even if a particular bank does offer in-depth options worth trying when it comes to elders and their care and also financial legacies, careful investigation and research – as well as asking all the key questions – is essential before choosing any advocate for your beloved elder – be it a bank or otherwise. The person or institution to hire should truly know their stuff, especially the ins and outs of the law and the care-giving industry. A mere dabbler you don’t want. In fact, seeking out the advice of an Elder Law attorney before and not after you make a decision may help you choose the best bank – if that’s truly a direction you still want to go.

Gene Osofsky is an East Bay elder law attorney in California. Gene Osofsky specializes in Medi-Cal planning, wills, probate, trusts, nursing home issues, special needs planning, and disability planning. To learn more about elder law and The Law Offices of Osofsky & Osofsky, visit Lawyerforseniors.com.

It seems attractive on the surface. But elder law attorney Gene L. Osofsky of Osofsky & Osofsky advises that buying a limited-duration long-term care insurance policy entails inherent risks.

Consumers are increasingly buying shorter-duration insurance policies as a remedy for making long-term care insurance an option. 2009 highlights the trend nicely. That year 32% of individual consumers purchasing a long-term care policy opted for a three-year benefit window, according to a report published by the American Association for Long-term Care Insurance. Will such purchases ensure sufficient coverage to the policyholder or allow benefit dollars to keep on keeping on?

“Actually, the risk of running out of benefits on a three-year policy is quite modest,” asserts Gene L. Osofsky, an elder law attorney with the firm of Osofsky & Osofsky, “particularly for men.”

Osofsky’s perspective is supported by empirical evidence. According to a consumer’s guide published by the industry trade association, the risk of “running on empty” as far as benefits are concerned is small, especially for men. For those purchasing policies longer than three years who made a claim for long-term care, only 13.1% required that care for 3+ years. As the insurance window grew longer, only 7.6% of those with a policy that paid out 4+ years actually required care longer than four years and a mere 4.5% of those buying policies with a payout window of 5+years needed care beyond that threshold.

Osofsky is also accurate when gender is considered. Men with a three-year policy who begin a long-term care claim at age 82 (a prevalent indicator) have a 12.4% probability of exhausting their benefits, compared to almost twice that number (23.5%) for women.

“The research is showing that the cost savings is substantial too,” adds Osofsky, “less and less people are buying unlimited long-term care policies nowadays.”

There is, however, a caveat. “If you do happen to be one of those individuals whose claim extends beyond the actual number of years stated in your policy, you can expect to need care for several additional years,” advises Osofsky, “Even a year of actually needing long-term care but facing such a necessity without coverage in place can be devastating to both lives and legacies. Prior to buying this type of insurance, consumers should be informed of the real risks involved.”

To learn more about elder law and The Law Offices of Osofsky & Osofsky, visit http://www.lawyerforseniors.com/.  

Many elders would love to spend their retirement traveling, or even living overseas. But can you get your social security check sent to Timbuktu?

You’re retired, reasonably healthy, and love to travel. Can you still get your Social Security benefits in a place like Andorra? The short answer is yes. While you aren’t eligible to receive Medicare when you leave the country, Social Security benefits are available to retirees in other countries. If you leave the United States for another country, and have been outside U.S. borders for 30 days consecutively, a retiree is considered “outside the United States” and the rules for collecting benefits apply as if you were still in Bayonne, or even Akron.

There are some exceptions. The Social Security Administration (SSA) is not allowed to send checks to Cuba, or North Korea, for instance. Even in a forbidden place, however, you’re not entirely out of luck. If you’re living in Cuba, or North Korea, you can still receive any withheld checks if you go to a country where paychecks can be sent, to pick them up. Also, for your information, the SSA doesn’t typically send checks to Cambodia, Vietnam, or areas of the former Soviet Union (other than Armenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, or Russia), but eligible retirees may be able to apply for an exception – which are occasionally granted. In these instances, retirees may have to agree to certain conditions. Appearing in person at the U.S. Embassy each month to receive benefits may suddenly become very do-able if it’s the only way to receive your Social Security benefits.

If you are a retiree, and also a U.S. citizen, you are entitled to continue receiving benefits for as long as you’re living abroad. That said, citizens of other countries who receive Social Security may have restrictions placed upon their eligibility regarding the length of time they can continue to receive monthly benefits. In these cases, the rules can become quite complicated and a relevant Social Security publication Your Payments While You Are Outside the United States should be obtained. The SSA website also makes available to beneficiaries a payment screening tool that lets them know about their eligibility status if they remain outside the U.S. for longer than six months.

If there is any doubt, a more hassle-free option is for a retiree to use direct deposit into a U.S. bank account. Direct deposit is also available in certain countries and has the additional advantage of avoiding check-cashing and currency-conversion fees.

Gene Osofsky is an East Bay elder law attorney in California. Gene Osofsky specializes in Medi-Cal planning, wills, probate, trusts, nursing home issues, special needs planning, and disability planning. To learn more about elder law and The Law Offices of Osofsky & Osofsky, visit Lawyerforseniors.com. 

Gene L. Osofsky, of the law firm Osofsky & Osofsky, is excited about the current trend among elders to use their electronic devices.

U.S. elders, even the extremely aged, are becoming increasingly attracted to the same gadgets and gizmos that younger folks have been using for a while. It’s no longer too surprising to learn that Grandpa is in the habit of texting and that Grandma is becoming fond of certain “apps” on her Smartphone.

“Just because we age, doesn’t mean that we should shut down opportunities to enjoy new technologies,” asserts Gene L. Osofsky, of the law firm Osofsky & Osofsky, “they’re intended to be enjoyed.”

While long lines waiting to buy the newest iPhone incarnation or video game consoles that stream movies for TV are becoming more of the rule than the exception, this may not be a bad thing. “The more tech-savvy an elder is, the better,” explains Osofsky, “and like NASA’s Space Program, the idea of knowing more can have useful spin-offs, especially when it deals with a person’s affairs.”

In the contemporary marketplace, elders need to be aware of a lot more of what’s new – just to stay safe. “A lot of the scams out there victimize elders, even while employing advanced technologies – everything from emails to texting to streaming videos to Skype,” Osofsky argues, “Now is not the time to be an ostrich with your head in the sand.”

Being tech-savvy can also be fun. “Life is meant to be enjoyed,” he says, “Why shouldn’t an elder get to watch a streaming movie online, or text a grandchild?”

The more technologically-competent one is might also equate to better investment decisions in a fast-paced environment, or even help to produce attractive legacies such as family histories, digital wills and electronic diaries composed of a myriad of blog entries. Osofsky also mentions social networking. “Participating in a social networking site like Facebook can enhance an older person’s life by giving it an intriguing new dimension, and also offer exciting opportunities for contact with others who have like interests,” Osofsky says, “It’s a way for elders to stay connected.”

In actuality, even centenarians are increasingly utilizing the newest mass consumer technologies. Up to 12% of 84,000 U.S. centenarians recently surveyed have listened to music on an iPod, for instance. “Why does our sense of wonder have to end as we age?” Osofsky concludes.

To learn more about elder law and The Law Offices of Osofsky & Osofsky, visit http://www.lawyerforseniors.com/.

A techno-blizzard of new gadgets and gizmos are proving attractive to elders too.

Mildred Jones, 87, is the last person you’d expect to see ogling her Smartphone. A native of Oxnard, where she grew up “by the wharves” during the Great Depression, she hadn’t paid much attention to technology—except for an occasional science fiction movie – until lately. “My granddaughter is a high school senior, and she showed me her Smartphone,” Mrs. Jones says, “I couldn’t get enough of it, so I bought my own.” Her Smartphone is purple and came with “a jillion apps,” asserts the more techno-savvy elder, “and even the ring tone’s nice; it’s meant to sound like Darth Vader.”

Elders all over America are waiting in line for Smartphones and iPads and kindling newfound appreciation for their Kindles. “We don’t have to be left behind,” explains Mrs. Jones, “after all, we’re not gone yet.”

In fact, advisors to America’s elders, everyone from attorneys equipped to practice elder law, to financial consultants, to those involved in routine care & interactions with U.S. older populations – are supportive of the newfound awareness and enthusiasm toward electronic devices suddenly becoming manifest.

For those newly infatuated with electronic devices and the latest gizmos, a good website to check out might be ElderGadget.com, a site intended to nurture this nouveau intrigue. At that site, readers are submitting a growing amount of feedback. Gadgets that are most popular appear to be those with big screens, easy to use, and are pleasant looking and lightweight. A growing number of devices fit such a bill. “The key to a lot of the technology out there is that it has senior-friendly features,” says marketing guru Geraldine C. Davis, “and even those over age 100 are becoming enthused about many of these products.”

Of more than 84,000 U.S. centenarians interviewed recently, a surprising percentage (8%) have sent someone a text message or instant message, 12% say that they have listened to music on an iPod or similar device, 11% have used YouTube, 2% Facebook, 5% have used TiVo to watch a TV program at their convenience, 4% have used Google, 1% have used an “app” on an iPhone or similar device, and 1% have used an online dating service.

Gene Osofsky is an East Bay elder law attorney in California. Gene Osofsky specializes in Medi-Cal planning, wills, probate, trusts, nursing home issues, special needs planning, and disability planning. To learn more about elder law and The Law Offices of Osofsky & Osofsky, visit Lawyerforseniors.com.

Elder law attorney Gene L. Osofsky of the law firm Osofsky and Osofsky suggests putting on “your thinking cap” when it comes to obtaining additional social security income.

Every year, more than $10 billion in Social Security benefits go unclaimed. Asserts attorney Gene L. Osofsky of the law firm Osofsky & Osofsky, “This is primarily because married couples do not know how to optimize their social security benefits.”

Much of this unclaimed bonanza does consist of spousal benefits that most people don’t even know they’re entitled to receive. “These benefits can increase your income and solve the riddle of whether it’s more advantageous to get immediate monthly income at age 62 or wait until you’re age 66 and get a bigger check – maybe significantly bigger,” Osofsky says.

If you do wait until age 66, which the U.S. government considers full retirement age, for people born between 1943 and 1954 the monthly benefit will be one-third greater than if you take it at age 62. If you wait until age 70, the check will be 76 percent larger. The longer you live, the more it will matter, and chances are, you’ll live a long time. The typical 65-year-old can expect approximately an additional twenty years of life. Within that pertinent group of 65-year-old elders, 41 percent of women and 28 percent of men will live to age 90 – and half of those women will make it to age 95, as will one-third of the men.

Spousal benefits offer a way around the potential conundrum. “If you’re married – or if you’re divorced after ten years of marriage and haven’t remarried, you can claim a benefit not only on your own work record, but also on your spouse’s,” explains Osofsky. No, you can’t collect those benefits simultaneously. But you might be able to get them consecutively. “You can file first to get a spousal benefit, and then later to get your own benefit after it has grown as large as possible. It just has to be done in the right order,” Osofsky says.

Being astute about these spousal benefits and how they work, can result in increased social security income for a married couple. “You may be able to increase your household income substantially over time,” Osofsky concludes, “You just have to be smart about it.”

To learn more about East Bay elder law lawyers, East Bay elder law attorney, Medi-Cal planning, Medi-Cal planning lawyers and The Law Offices of Osofsky & Osofsky, visit Lawyerforseniors.com.

Divorce seldom fails to up the complexity quotient when you add stepparents into the caregiving and estate planning equations, explains Elder law attorney Gene L. Osofsky of the law firm Osofsky & Osofsky.

Attorney Diane Fener, based in Virginia Beach, Virginia, has family duties when she travels to New England to visit her parents. Her mother lives in the dementia unit of an assisted living facility in Rhode Island. She then meets with her father at his apartment about a half-hour drive away in Massachusetts. Her father’s second wife, Ms. Fener’s stepmother, lives nearby in a nursing home and she too, has dementia. She last visits her stepfather – the man who was her mother’s second husband for more than two decades.

“I’m sure that Ms. Fener doesn’t get to spend as much time as she might like with each of her parents,” says attorney Gene L. Osofsky of the law firm Osofsky & Osofsky, “but her situation is typical of many blended families today.”

During the 1970s, there was a spike in U.S. divorce rates. In the aftermath of that spike, states liberalized their divorce laws and working women became less inclined to remain in unsatisfying marriages, the cultural stigma of divorced lessened, and grown children of these broken marriages are dealing with the unintended consequences. “A new layer of complexity has been added to an already complex and emotional situation, especially for caregivers,” Osofsky explains.

In fact, the added stresses of divorce, family upheaval, and tighter finances can be so detrimental to your health that the effects can linger for years into the future. Because Osofsky & Osofsky is frequently engaged to help divorced or remarrying couples update their estate plans to protect their newly blended families, Ms. Fener’s plight struck an empathetic chord with Osofsky. “Divorce can have poignant and practical effects 20 or 30 years down the road,” he explains, “not just on the couple but also on their grown children now acting as caregivers.”

Adult children of aging parents can find themselves caring, not only for mom and dad, but also for stepmom, stepdad, and sometimes even extra sets of stepparents from an additional or current marriage. “Dividing time and often finances between so many parents with new and special needs can quickly take its toll,” Osofsky concludes.

To learn more about East Bay elder law lawyers, East Bay elder law attorney, Medi-Cal planning, Medi-Cal planning lawyers and The Law Offices of Osofsky & Osofsky, visit Lawyerforseniors.com.

The recent death of Massachusetts Senator Edward M. “Ted” Kennedy might provoke some insightful thought about the nature of trusts – and how comprehensive and versatile they can be.

Joseph P. Kennedy, the patriarch of the Kennedy Family, left behind a labyrinth of blind trusts to manage the millions he had earned from scratch. He put his wealth into trusts with a long-term strategy in mind, to manage the family’s holdings for several generations of Kennedys. These blind trusts are run by financial experts whose goals are to invest conservatively and maintain the principal. Small amounts of profit are doled out to members of the Kennedy family annually. This network of blind trusts has maintained their overall wealth during the recent recession and in some instances they have flourished, even though the family can at times be hard pressed for ready cash.

In 2006, the recently-deceased Ted Kennedy could count as holdings five distinct family trust funds worth a minimum of $45 million to possibly as much as $150 million. Kennedy estimated that the family’s multiple trusts distributed $500,000 to $5 million in annual income. Before 2006, Senator Kennedy’s filings listed assets at less than $20 million. As only the family’s financial advisors were privy to details about the primarily blind trusts, it’s difficult to determine what made them double in value during the course of a single year. One thing for certain: Edward M. Kennedy passed away near the peak of his family’s net worth.
Trust instruments possess a unique nature. The Kennedy Trusts are excellent examples of how comprehensive and versatile trusts can be. First established as a single trust in 1926 by Joseph P. Kennedy, the Kennedy patriarch followed with successive trusts in 1936 and 1949. Each was “entrusted” with its own purpose; for instance, the 1926 trust was intended for Rose and their children, and the 1949 instrument was intended for his grandchildren. Each trust was established as a blind trust, in that it acted independently from any other trust.

The Kennedy trusts had staying power and were built to last, with each ensuing trustee active in providing for the beneficiaries while simultaneously protecting the principal for future generations. It was sad and tragic that Ted Kennedy has been taken from us as Americans. His stature as a voice in the U.S. Senate is beyond dispute. But the Kennedy trusts are a legacy for all of us, an excellent example of how trusts can be designed to protect and build even a relatively modest estate.

Gene Osofsky is an East Bay elder law attorney in California. Gene Osofsky specializes in Medi-Cal planning, wills, probate, trusts, nursing home issues, special needs planning, and disability planning. To learn more about East Bay elder law lawyers, East Bay elder law attorney, Medi-Cal planning, Medi-Cal planning lawyers and The Law Offices of Osofsky & Osofsky, visit Lawyerforseniors.com.

While Obama might be procrastinating about what to do about the estate tax, you’d better not.
President Barack Obama was supposed to tackle the thorny issue of the estate tax from the get-go, considering that the expiration date was already set for 2010.

Mr. Obama is at heart a cautious man. During his 2008 campaign, he pledged to raise income tax rates for top earners, but has since reneged, as advisors have told him that such an elimination of high income “tax cuts” as Republicans like to call them – would have an adverse effect on a chronically ailing economy during a deep recession.

Despite the “Death Tax Repeal” movement’s best efforts, it looks like the estate tax is here to stay.
Democrats seem determined to act with deliberate speed to prevent the estate tax’s scheduled repeal. A prior levy on large inheritances was first approved by Congress under President George W. Bush in 2001. Rollbacks were phased in, albeit slowly, with a full elimination in place for next year.

The Senate Finance Committee is expected to propose legislation to reverse the scheduled elimination in lockstep with a likely announcement of the Obama Administration’s detailed estate tax preservation proposal in his October 2009 budget. This anticipated “swift action” by Democrats was associated with a rationale that it would be politically more difficult to initiate their plan to resuscitate the estate tax once it was gone.

Under the Obama plan detailed during the campaign, the estate tax would be locked in permanently at the rate and exemption levels that became law in 2009. Estates of up to $3.5 million (twice that for couples) would be exempt from any taxation. The value of estates above that would be taxed at 45%. If the tax were restored to Clinton-era levels, the first $1 million would be excluded from being taxed and the remainder taxed at 55%.

Nearly a year has gone by since candidate Obama’s campaign promises were initially voiced regarding the estate tax. But despite the procrastination of our elected leaders, a version of the estate tax will likely be still in place next year, although the sort of permanency that estate planners might have wished for may remain elusive. So despite the fact that uncertainties exist and are likely to linger, it’s not the time to “sit on the fence” when planning your estate. Contact your elder law attorney or estate planner at your earliest opportunity to review your personal situation.

Gene Osofsky is an East Bay elder law attorney in California. Gene Osofsky specializes in Medi-Cal planning, wills, probate, trusts, nursing home issues, special needs planning, and disability planning. To learn more about East Bay elder law lawyers, East Bay elder law attorney, Medi-Cal planning, Medi-Cal planning lawyers and The Law Offices of Osofsky & Osofsky, visit Lawyerforseniors.com.