Services

Elder Law and Estate Planning

Thanks to improved medical care and life style changes, many Americans are living longer and healthier lives than ever before.  As a result, many people are taking advantage of Elder Law and Estate Planning to ensure that their families' needs and wishes are respected long into the future.

What Does Elder Law Entail?
Elder Law is a holistic approach to estate planning, which includes protective economic strategies like Wills, Living Trusts, Nursing Home and Medicaid Planning. Other important aspects of estate planning involve Powers of Attorney, Health Care Representative Appointments and Living Wills. With a thorough evaluation of your situation, Eash can determine how to make these tools work for you and your family.

Why Elder Law is Invaluable
Planning for the possibility of a sudden illness or care requirement is important and difficult. But a prepared family is a protected family. As an attorney who practices Elder Law, Eash focuses specifically on the legal needs of older individuals and their families, ensuring that his clients maintain independence and control. Eash has successfully implemented plans that have met the needs and wishes of his clients in Elkhart and St. Joseph Counties.

The Importance of Medicaid Planning
Statistically, one-half of us, disproportionately women, will require some form of long-term care during our lifetimes. This means that nursing home care is a very real possibility for many Americans. Because of this, one vital aspect of estate planning involves preparing for Medicaid. Many families cannot afford to cover nursing home costs without help. In fact, most individuals and families that implement Medicaid Planning have assets totaling between $3-$500,000. With the average nursing home cost approximately $4,000 to $5,000 per month, a family’s life savings can be consumed in only a few short years by unexpected nursing home requirements.

Often the first question is how many assets can you and/or your spouse and/or your parent(s) keep and still qualify for Medicaid? There are several ways to prepare. "Spending down" one’s estate through methods of gifting and converting assets into assets that are exempt from consideration is an important concept. However, if not done precisely within the rules, efforts may be nullified by Medicaid regulations. For instance, the three-year "look back" period allows Medicaid to consider any gifts or transfers, aside from those between spouses, for up to 36 months after the transaction took place and possibly penalize the applicant.

Eash simplifies the process of estate planning by listening to your individual and family goals, evaluating your estate and establishing a customized strategy that works.

The Medicaid Process
The process of applying for Medicaid includes filing a formal application, which results in a review and investigation of the applicant’s financial eligibility.

If not done precisely correct, incomplete preparation can mean a coverage denial difficult to overturn later.  Proper planning, with an accurate knowledge of current regulations, can avoid this scenario. Also, gifting, in the precise proper amounts, along with other tools, facilitate the maximum preservation of assets of a nursing home resident.

Eash knows the applicable Medicaid regulations and keeps close watch on regulation changes. He can develop and implement a sound strategy focused on protecting the spouse of the nursing home resident, the beneficiaries, and the hard-earned savings of the nursing home resident should extended care suddenly be required. Eash also practices Business Law, which is a valuable service for his older clients who are also business owners.

Elder Law Legal Tools Defined
Power of Attorney
A Power of Attorney is a document that gives a person of your choosing — not the court’s — the right to make decisions on your behalf should you be unable. The agreement can take effect immediately, or only under certain conditions and allows for as many or as few powers as you wish. You should not automatically assume your spouse would be able to step in and make important decisions on your behalf. For instance, your spouse will not be able to sell jointly owned property or property owned only by you without your signature. By assigning a Power of Attorney, transactions are easier and more cost-efficient. Further, should you become mentally incapacitated, a Durable Power of Attorney will extend this power past your incapacity to assure your intent is honored.

Living Will
When you are no longer able to express your intention regard to life-prolonging procedures, this document may express your intent for you. A Living Will is effective if you become terminally ill and will die in a short period of time without artificial life prolonging procedures. A Living Will states that, if such a situation is reached, you request life prolonging procedures to cease and that you then request whether or not you want artificial nutrition and hydration provided or withdrawn, or if you want your
Health Care Representative to make the decision.

Health Care Representative Appointment
This is a written appointment that you make of an individual of your choosing who can make medical care decisions for you should you become unable to make such decisions on your own behalf due to your health condition.

Probate
Probate is the legal process of implementing your will in court after you die. Even if an individual does not leave a will, their estate will still be processed in the probate courts.

Will
A will is an essential document that you create to control whom will receive your property, guardianship of your children and management of your estate upon your death.

A scary statistic: nearly 70% of American adults do not currently have a Will. The result should you die? The courts — not you — determine who will gain guardianship of your children and how your estate will be divided among your survivors. Preparing a Will ahead of time can protect your family from this unpleasant, sometimes costly and time consuming, experience.

Living Trusts
For some individuals, the Living Trust can be the single most important tool they’ll ever need. A Living Trust is a legal document that allows you to gather all of your significant property into one place and assign a Trustee, usually yourself or a trusted individual. During your lifetime, you maintain complete control of the Trust and the assets held in the Trust, and also retain the use of any income and principal from the assets. You are free to transfer assets in or out, or to change any of the details of the Trust at any time.

Why do people find the Living Trust so appealing? The Living Trust allows you to transfer control of your assets to a trusted individual or corporation of your choosing should you suddenly become unable to make important decisions regarding your estate. Also, when you die, a Living Trust ensures your Trust assets are quickly and easily distributed to those you choose upon your death, to help your family avoid probate costs. The assets in a Living Trust, at your death, are distributed to whom you direct in your Living Trust, just like a Will. However, before assets can be transferred pursuant to a Will, probate has to be opened and administered in court. Assets owned by a Trust are distributed by the Trustee to the beneficiary(ies) without input from court. You should supplement your Living Trust with a simple pour-over Will so that assets that have not been titled to your Living Trust during your lifetime are transferred by a probate court to the Living Trust for distribution, according to the direction of the pour-over Will.

A Business Law Services description will be added in the near future.