Wealth Preservation, Trusts and Estates

Many clients prefer to remain in an assisted living setting rather than make the move to a nursing home. The Veteran’s Administration Aid and Attendance Benefit can help extend your or your family member’s stay in an assisted living facility and delay the transition to a nursing home.

Assisted living facilities cannot receive Medicaid payments from the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare (DPW). Therefore, when a resident runs out of money they must move out of the assisted living facility and into a Medicaid eligible nursing home regardless of their health status. In order to extend your ability to privately pay for an assisted living stay, residents should apply for the Veteran’s Aid and Attendance benefit when available. Generally, you or your spouse have to have served in the military in active duty during wartime. Review the Veteran’s Administration Website here for further details. You can also review this Aid and Attendance article on PAElderLawSolutions.com. The benefits for a spouse of a deceased Vet will be less than for the Vet himself or herself, but still likely in excess of $1000/month. The benefits for a husband and wife where one is a qualifying Vet will be close to $2000/month. This is a substantial benefit and one that can help you to stay in the assisted living setting of your choosing.
Please contact Douglas L. Kaune, Esq. at 610-933-8069 to discuss your case further and for assistance as necessary. Mr. Kaune is a partner with the law firm of Unruh, Turner, Burke & Frees, PC, a full service firm with offices in Phoenixville, West Chester and Malvern, PA serving Chester, Montgomery, Delaware, Philadelphia, Bucks and Berks Counties.

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The Family Caregiver Exception is one opportunity available to protect the family home from nursing home spending. Generally, there is a 5 year ineligibility for Medicaid qualification that results from a transfer of the family residence to a child. However, there is no penalty for a transfer of a primary residence if a son or daughter lived with mom or dad for the two years preceding mom or dad moving to a nursing home. Further, the child must prove that he or she provided care that allowed them to stay at home and prevented mom or dad from going to a nursing home during that two year period.

I recently answered a question posed by a reader on AVVO regarding this family caregiver exception and thought you might like to take a look at that commentary here. Here is the relevant federal statutory provision 42 U.S.C. §1396 p (C) (2)(A)(iv). This is an important provision and could provide significant economic protection if utilized properly.

Please feel free to contact Douglas L. Kaune, Esq. any time at 610-933-8069 or dkaune@utbf.com to discuss your particular Medicaid Asset Protection, Nursing Home or Elder law case to determine the appropriate planning for you and your family.
Wills * Trusts * Elder Law * Probate * Asset Protection * Power of Attorney * Estate Planning
Unruh, Turner, Burke & Frees, P.C. his a full service law firm with offices in Malvern, Phoenixville, West Chester and serving surrounding areas such as Royersford, King of Prussia, Wayne, Media, Paoli, Exton, Downingtown, Norristown and other towns in Chester County, Montgomery County, Delaware County, Bucks County, Berks County, Philadelphia County Pennsylvania (PA).

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It is important to keep up with the annual change Pennsylvania (PA) Medicaid Numbers. These key Medicaid figures help us to properly prepare Medicaid applications and to provide proper Elder Law advice to clients. Click this link to review the updated Medicaid numbers. They include, Community Spouse Resource Allowance (CSRA), Monthly Maintenance Needs Allowance, Average monthly cost of nursing home care in PA, Estate Recovery, Home Equity Limit, Medicaid Transfers and Ineligibility for Gifts. These figures and requirements change annually.

Please feel free to contact Douglas L. Kaune, Esq. any time at 610-933-8069 or dkaune@utbf.com to discuss your particular Medicaid Asset Protection, Nursing Home or Elder law case to determine the appropriate planning for you and your family.

Wills * Trusts * Elder Law * Probate * Asset Protection * Power of Attorney * Estate Planning
Unruh, Turner, Burke & Frees, P.C. is a full service law firm with offices in Malvern, Phoenixville, West Chester also serving Collegeville, Royersford, Media, Spring City, Exton, Downingtown, Norristown, Chester County, Montgomery County, Delaware County, Bucks County, Berks County, Philadelphia County Pennsylvania (PA).

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We have many clients searching for information about Medicaid, Medical Assistance and payment for Nursing Home Care. The rising cost of Long Term Nursing Care and longer life expectancies have spurred the desire to protect assets and learn more about the PA Mediciad System. I found the following site for the Pennsylvania Medicaid Policy Center during my recent reading on these various Elder Law topics. Check the site out if you would like a review of some of the pertinent issues facing individuals who need nursing home care, are considering protecting assets or have family members in similar situations.

Please feel free to contact Douglas L. Kaune, Esq. any time at 610-933-8069 or dkaune@utbf.com to discuss your particular Medicaid Asset Protection, Nursing Home or Elder law case to determine the appropriate planning for you and your family.
Wills * Trusts * Elder Law * Probate * Asset Protection * Power of Attorney * Estate Planning
Unruh, Turner, Burke & Frees, P.C. is a full service firm with Malvern, Phoenixville, West Chester Offices serving Collegeville, Royersford, King of Prussia, Spring City, Valley Forge, Downingtown, Chadds Ford, Norristown, Chester County, Montgomery County, Delaware County, Bucks County, Berks County, Philadelphia County Pennsylvania (PA).

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MALLOY v. DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WELFARE (No. 1575 C.D. 2009): A Memorandum Opinion was issued by a three-Judge panel of the Commonwealth Court reported unofficially. Read the facts of the case and unofficial reporting here. This case shows the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue’s (DPW) expanded attempts to recapture overpayment of Medicaid benefits. The DPW relied on the guardians intimate knowledge of the financial transactions, his signature on the Medicaid Application and the Medicaid application verbage that states among other things, “any person enriched as a result of a transfer of assets or income, which would have affected [the recipient's] eligibility, will be liable for repayment of those benefits issued incorrectly.” It further highlights just how imortant it is to have proper legal counsel through all phases of the Elder Law Planning and Medicaid application process.

Please feel free to contact Douglas L.
Kaune, Esq. any time at 610-933-8069 or dkaune@utbf.com to discuss your particular Medicaid Asset Protection, Nursing Home or Elder law case to determine the appropriate planning for you and your family.
Wills * Trusts * Elder Law * Probate * Asset Protection * Power of Attorney * Estate Planning
Malvern, Phoenixville, West Chester Offices serving Collegeville, Royersford, Media, Exton, Norristown, Chester County, Montgomery County, Delaware County, Bucks County, Berks County, Philadelphia County Pennsylvania (PA).

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Wills * Trusts * Elder Law * Probate * Asset Protection * Power of Attorney * Estate Planning                                   Douglas Kaune, Esquire Attends 11th Annual Pennsylvania (PA) Elder Law and Estate Planning Symposium.  It is great to get an update regarding the law changes, new cases and politics that shape Elder Law, Estate Planning, Trust Planning and Probate.  Here is a link to this Pennsylvania Bar Institute (PBI) course and the interesting topics covered.  I will be providing much of the interesting information in upcoming Unruh, Turner, Burke & Frees Estate and Elder Law Blog postings.  

Stay tuned for updated information on the following topics and more: 1. How to make sure joint accounts actually pass to the person you intend.  2.  How to insure the tax clause in your last will actually confers tax lability on the correct beneficiary or your estate.  3.  How to make use of annuities to protect assets in Medicaid and Nursing Home Planning.  4.  How to take advantage of the Medicaid Gifting exceptions to allow assets to pass to certain loved ones and family members.  5.   How to properly plan your estate in a second marriage or where there are children from different relationships.   6.  Is a Special Needs Trust right for you or for a member of family, if so how can we make sure it properly protects assets and government benefits?

Please feel free to contact Douglas L. Kaune, Esq. any time at 610-933-8069 or dkaune@utbf.com to discuss your particular Estate Planning, Probate, Trust, Asset Protection or Elder law case to determine the appropriate steps for you and your family. Unruh, Truner, Burke & Frees, P.C. is a full service law firm with offices in Phoenixville, West Chester and Malvern and providing legal representation in the Chester County, Montgomery County, Delaware County, Bucks County, Berks County and Philadelphia County. Among the many towns served are Phoenixvile, Malvern, West Chester, Royersford, Collegeville and King of Prussia.

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by Douglas L. Kaune, Esquire
Estate Planning & Administration, Wills,
Trusts, Asset Protection, Elder Law
Unruh, Turner, Burke & Frees
Phoenixville, Malvern, West Chester PA
Pennsylvania Attorney
dkaune@utbf.com PH: 610-933-8069
 A special needs trust (SNT) (or special needs trust provision in a Will or in another trust) is an important planning option if you are considering a significant gift to a beneficiary who is considered ”disabled” or “incapacitated” and either has or is likely to qualify for government benefits such as social security disability (SSI) or Medicaid.   Generally, the SNT or Supplemental Needs Trust is intended to supplement the government benefits at the sole and absolute discretion of the named Trustee, but you can review this link for some more indepth discussion of the trust options.
The SNT frequently comes under attack by the government entity providing the benefit.  It may be argued that the SNT should be expended for the care of the beneficiary and the government benefits be suspended until the Trust fund is exhausted.   It is our job to make sure that your Special Needs Trust stands up to the scrutiny.  One planning tip is naming multiple income beneficiaries, not just the “disabled” or “incapacitated” beneficiary.  This allows us to argue that the trust is not just for the beneficiary receiving the SSI, Medicaid or other benefit, but is also for these additional income beneficiaries.  Therefore, a complete expenditure of trust assets would be considered to “injure” the income beneficiaries and increases the likelihood that the SNT remains intact to supplement the needs of the intended beneficiary for his or her lifetime.  This is just one of many strtegies we employ to increase the success of these trusts.   We will be reviewing others in the weeks to come.
Please call or email me for further discussion on this and other estate planning topics.
Douglas L. Kaune
dkaune@utbf.com
610-513-2288

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