Most people think of their estate plans as expressions of their legacy to loved ones. The last thing they want to leave is family conflict.  The first step in avoiding a family fight over your estate should be obvious, but it bears repeating: have a clear and comprehensive estate plan. A good plan includes a will or trust that outlines who will receive your assets and property, and how they will be distributed. It is also important to name a trusted executor or trustee to carry out your wishes and manage your estate. It is also essential to have clear communication with your family membe ..read more

If you are retired and want to minimize financial risk, ensure financial security, and preserve your wealth, you may want to consider an asset protection trust. An asset protection trust is a great way to keep your assets safe from unnecessary nursing home spend-down, lawsuits, scam artists, and other potential losses. What Is an Asset Protection Trust? An asset protection trust is a type of irrevocable trust designed to protect a person’s assets. The trust is created when someone – the “grantor” – transfers ownership of their assets to a “trustee” who then manages these assets for the benef ..read more

This blog post is the fourteenth and final chapter of a series entitled “How to Qualify for Medicaid in Pennsylvania.” This blog post focuses specifically on Medicaid Planning. Qualifying for Medicaid can be confusing and complicated, but this guide helps explain it easily. You can order a copy of the complete guide here. What is Medicaid Planning? “Financial planning is inherent in the Medicaid scheme….” – U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (Zahner v. Secretary 2014) Like tax planning or financial planning, the practice of Medicaid planning has arisen to meet the needs of consume ..read more

This blog post is the thirteenth chapter of a series entitled “How to Qualify for Medicaid in Pennsylvania.” This post focuses specifically on Pennsylvania’s estate recovery program. Qualifying for Medicaid can be confusing and complicated, but this guide helps explain it easily. You can order a copy of the complete guide here. Estate Recovery – What Happens After Death? Estate recovery is Pennsylvania’s program for recovering Medicaid costs from the estates of recipients who have died. For example, if Aunt Martha spent a year in a nursing home receiving Medicaid and then died owning a ..read more

3 Tips to Beat Income Tax on Retirement Accounts When doing estate planning, can you get more out of your retirement accounts for your heirs? These days clients commonly have large portions of their estates in retirement accounts. Many have contributed to their accounts during their working years, and have enjoyed employer matching contributions and decades of tax-free growth. Unlike with a Roth account, distributions from a traditional account are taxed as ordinary income. Compounding this problem in recent years was the passage of the SECURE Act in 2019, which eliminated the ability of most ..read more

This blog post is the eleventh chapter of a series entitled “How to Qualify for Medicaid in Pennsylvania.” This post focuses specifically on what happens after Medicaid approval. Qualifying for Medicaid can be confusing and complicated, but this guide helps explain it easily. You can order a copy of the complete guide here. Once an applicant is approved for Medicaid benefits and becomes a recipient, the Medicaid program will pay for the recipient’s nursing home care and all reasonable related expenses. Certain other things occur as well. Patient Pay Amount A portion (often most) of the r ..read more

This blog post is the ninth chapter of a series entitled “How to Qualify for Medicaid in Pennsylvania”. This post discusses whether a Medicaid applicant’s children may be liable for care costs. Qualifying for Medicaid can be confusing and complicated, but this guide explains it in plain English.  If you would like to order a copy of the complete guide click here. You may be surprised to learn that Pennsylvania law provides that the spouse, parent, or child of an indigent person has “the responsibility to care for and maintain or financially assist” that person, and that this responsi ..read more

This blog post is the eighth chapter of a series entitled “How to Qualify for Medicaid in Pennsylvania.” This post focuses specifically on how to qualify by spending down. Qualifying for Medicaid can be confusing and complicated, but this guide helps explain it easily. You can order a copy of the complete guide here. Many nursing home residents need to “spend down” to qualify for Medicaid because their countable assets exceed their applicable limits. Now that you know what assets are countable, and what the limits are, you should be able to calculate how much you are over the limit. Getti ..read more

This blog post is the seventh chapter of a series entitled “How to Qualify for Medicaid in Pennsylvania” that focuses specifically on gifts and the look-back period. Qualifying for Medicaid can be confusing and complicated, but this guide explains it in plain English.  If you would like to order a copy of the complete guide click here. NOTE: The Medicaid numbers used in this post are those in effect in February of 2022. Before learning how to spend down to qualify for Medicaid, you need to know the rules about how the state penalizes the gifting away of assets. What is a gift? In the Me ..read more