Elder Law is a broad category of legal practice. It encompasses many of the issues that are important to Seniors and to their families. It touches upon several areas and combines them into a unified approach to the way a Senior interacts with her family, with her estate, with the government, with medical care providers, and with her community.

The main areas that we explore with our Senior clients include:

• Wills and Trusts
• Guardianship for Disabled Adults
• Nursing Home and Assisted Living Contracts
• Elder Abuse and Neglect
• Medicare and Long-Term Care Insurance
• Planning for Incapacity
• Understanding a Long-Term Care Resident Contract

Contact me.

My office phone is (773) 905-1193

My office is located at 9924 S. Walden Parkway, Chicago, Illinois 60643

You can contact me by e-mail at: tom@mytrustlawyer.com

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Medicaid is a program that provides health insurance coverage to low-income and disabled persons. Medicaid is paid for jointly by the Federal and State governments. It also pays for nursing home care for people who qualify. Medicaid has become the largest payer of the nursing home bills of middle class Americans.

In most states, including Illinois, Medicaid pays very few of the costs of in-home care. New York stands out as an exception. New York pays for home care to all Medicaid recipients. Home care can cost less than care in a nursing home. A few other states (Wisconsin, Oregon, Hawaii, and Massachusetts) are attempting to show that Medicaid can save money and provide good care to patients without requiring them to leave their homes. Some people receiving Medicaid benefits in Florida have sued the state government saying that their rights have been violated. These changes may, some day, have an effect on the Medicaid program in Illinois.

Each state runs the program for its citizens. Because of this, the rules are a little different in every state. The basic system is the same across country. Be sure to consult an elder attorney in your state before applying for benefits.

Asset Limit

In order to be eligible for Medicaid benefits a nursing home resident may have no more than $2,000 in “countable” assets.

When the person in a nursing home has a spouse living at home the spouse is called a “community spouse”.  The community spouse is allowed to keep the couple’s joint assets up to $109,560 in “countable” assets. This amount is adjusted for inflation each year.

There are some “non-countable” assets which do not count against the Medicaid limit:
*Personal items like clothing, certain pieces of jewelry, and furniture
*A motor vehicle, worth up to $4,500 (no limit to the value for a stay at home spouse).
*The applicant’s home (subject to certain limits).
*A prepaid funeral
*A life insurance policy with a face value of $1,500.
*Prepaid funeral plans and a small amount of life insurance

Penalty for Transfers

There is a penalty for transferring assets. Lawmakers want you to pay your nursing home bills and have Medicaid pick up the tab when you have very little left. In years past a person could enter a nursing home on today, give their money away the next day, and apply for Medicaid by the weekend. Congress put a penalty in place so people who transfer assets can not receive benefits for a period of time after the gift. The penalties have been made tougher with the new rules, called the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA).

The penalty period is calculated by dividing the amount given away by the cost of care.

As an example, the cost of care in Illinois is around $6,000 per month. If a transfer of $6,000 was made then the penalty would be 1 month during which Medicaid would not pay any nursing home bills ($6,000 ÷ $6,000 = 1). If $60,000 was transferred then the penalty would be 10 months ($60,000 ÷ $6,000 = 10). If $600,000 were transferred then the penalty period would be 100 months or 8 years and 4 months ($600,000 ÷ $6,000 = 100).

Some Transfers Do Not Earn A Penalty

Transfers to the applicant’s spouse (for the benefit of that spouse).
Transfers can be made to a blind or disabled child
Transfers can be made to a trust for the “sole benefit of” a disabled person under age 65.

There are special rules for the transfer of a home. The Medicaid applicant may transfer his or her home to certain people without a penalty:

*The applicant’s husband or wife
*A minor child of the applicant (under age 21)
*A blind or disabled child or the applicant
*To a trust for the “sole benefit of” a disabled person who is under 65 years old
*To the brother or sister of the applicant who has lived in the home for a year before the applicant went into a nursing home (if they already owned part of the home)
*To a child of the applicant who has lived in the home for two years before the applicant entered a nursing home and who took care of the applicant so that they could stay out of the nursing home longer.

Contact me.

My office phone is (773) 905-1193

My office is located at 9924 S. Walden Parkway, Chicago, Illinois 60643

You can contact me by e-mail at: tom@mytrustlawyer.com

Technorati Tags: Chicago Law, court, Estate Planning, medicaid, medicaid help, Medicaid Planning, planning, probate

In the past when a person did not want to be revived after a heart attack or when they had stopped breathing they would inform their physician of their decision. A note would then be placed into the patient’s medical chart. This was an informal notice, normally printed on red paper, that served to notify other caregivers.

These type of documents did not have the force of law. Now a law has been passed in Illinois which authorizes a special form. This can be used to tell hospital staff and other care givers of the patient’s wishes that they not be revived in certain situations.

The “Do Not Resuscitate Order” is a formal one page document, printed on bright orange paper, that memorializes the wishes of a patient regarding cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR). This new option is not in wide use yet. It could prove to be usefull when the agent under a Power of Attorney for Healthcare is not close by when end of life decisions must be made. Time will tell whether it gains wide acceptance.

At this time, we do not recommend the use of these new documents. We do not yet have a history of whether they will be honored or of how they will be used.

A much better system is to tell your family what you wish them to do when the time comes. Name one of them as your agent in a Power of Attorney for Health Care.  Let your agent talk with the doctors and make sure they understand what you want.

Contact me.

My office phone is (773) 905-1193

My office is located at 9924 S. Walden Parkway, Chicago, Illinois 60643

You can contact me by e-mail at: tom@mytrustlawyer.com

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Young Legal Scholars Paper Presentations
–Mr. William Baude, Stanford Constitutional Law Center, “Beyond DOMA”
–Prof. Dan Markel, Florida State University College of Law, “Retributive Justice and the Demands of Democratic Citizenship”
–Prof. Andrew Schwartz, University of Colorado Law School, “The Perpetual Corporation”
–Prof. Houman Shadab, New York Law School, “Credit Risk Transfer Governance: The Good, the Bad, and the Savvy”
–Commenter: Prof. Eugene Volokh, UCLA School of Law
–Commenter: Prof. Todd Henderson, University of Chicago Law School
–Moderator: Prof. Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz, Georgetown University Law Center

Omni Shoreham
Washington, DC

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From Deans Blog

http://sovereign-citizen-blog.blogspot.com/

You, Your Rights, The Trust, Courts, Law and More
If you are a slave of the Crown, Yes i know people believe they are FREE but they are NOT, the Birth Certificate is your receipt for your enslavement BUT….. there is another secret that has been hidden in plain sight for a very long time. My land is claimed and under my coat of arms and flag as is the right of all peoples of this world. This is my nation and my embassy of which I am an Ambassador-at-large. My choice is to be at peace with all my brethren on this planet, where ALL are equal under the laws of creation, our birthright absolute to claim. Once you know who you are and only then, will you be free to live your life in abundance with all equally. As a freeman myself, this is by far the simplest and hence most effective explanation

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—————— That from the blog then …

I have some but not all of these videos
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ALL credits to Dean and Everyone who helps us drive back the darkness of night

freemanitoba Please Take a look at this channel for lots more Dean Clifford and watch this space

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upload credits: http://www.youtube.com/user/freemanitoba

Dean Clifford’s You tube: http://www.youtube.com/user/DCDOTCF

FreeManitoba’s website: http://www.freemanitoba.com/

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Expert: Robert Todd
Bio: Robert Todd is the managing partner and president of Robert M. Todd, P.A. and Family Law Solutions.
Filmmaker: Christopher Rokosz

Duration : 0:1:39

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