Unfortunately, many trusts will trap assets and force them to be spent for the medical costs of an ill spouse, when the assets could otherwise have been saved from Medicaid spend down, and could have been used for the well spouse.
Generally once one spouse has qualified for Medicaid, there will be a need for the other spouse to re-do their estate and incapacity planning.
A Medicaid application is generally begun by a call to the local Medicaid Office.
Generally, information about the Medicaid applicant is taken, and a case is opened by the Medicaid staff.
A well spouse can only keep certain assets if their ill spouse needs Medicaid.
The Medicaid application process can seem long and complex. That is because it is.
It can take anywhere from several days to several weeks to gather all the information you need to make a Medicaid application.
When someone purchases real estate, except in very limited circumstances, a 1099-S form has to be issued and filed with the IRS.
This is usually handled by a title company.
If the purchaser does not get title insurance, this is often missed.
Sometimes there is a concern that someone should NOT be notified that a guardianship or a conservatorship is being sought for a person.
For example, there may be a sibling or an adult child with whom the person has fallen out, or from whom the person is estranged.
As part of a good estate plan, most people also do an incapacity plan, so that someone else can manage their affairs if they ever become incompetent
A major component of some incapacity plans is a trust, which many people think of as simply an estate plan.
In addition to the savings in state estate taxes in estates (See Part I) where a couple has assets that total more than a million dollars, including their home, their life insurance, and their retirement assets, if a couple either has no estate plan at all, or has a simple will based estate p
One of the most profitable areas for lawyers involves trying to fix problems that arise after someone has died or become incompetent, when the person has “saved” money by using an inadequate estate or incapacity plan, or has no estate or incapacity plan in place at all.
It can be important to complete a Medicaid application, and to provide all supporting paperwork, have any needed Income Cap Trust in place, and the like before the end of a month.
In Oregon, there are certain statutes and conventions which funeral directors, hospitals, and others look to in determining who can make decisions concerning funerals and the disposition of a body after a person dies.
It is not uncommon for people to buy a house together with an elderly relative.
Powers of Attorney allow someone else to handle business affairs for you when you can not or do not want to handle your own affairs.
One of the most important things to remember, following a divorce, is that there are things that must still be done following the divorce.
Don’t wait to do these things, thinking that you can do them when you get around to them.
Often a person wants to leave property in his or her Will to a child.
Sometimes Judgments of Dissolution were not done as well as they could have been.
A prime example may relate to a car or a piece of real estate, such as a house.
If a person is no longer able to handle his or her own personal affairs, and thereby puts themselves or others in danger, a guardian can be appointed for the person in Oregon.
Although a Judgment of Dissolution may assign certain debts to one former spouse, the other former spouse may also still be liable on these debts.
If you were liable prior to a divorce, you are likely still liable after a divorce.
Generally, it is very difficult to move forward with health care if a person is no longer able to direct their own health care if there is not a valid Advance Directive for Health Care in place.