In your power of attorney, you state what powers your agent has, and what he or she can or cannot do on your behalf. With a “general” power of attorney, give your agent as broad of powers as you can. The goal of a general power of attorney is to enable your agent to do anything that you could do. The general power of attorney is useful because if you are incapacitated you are relying on power of attorney to manage your affairs. Caution must be exercised, however, when giving a general power of attorney because the powers are so broad. You should only appoint someone as a general power of turning if you are comfortable with him or her being able to walk into a bank and you anything that you could do with your money, for example. Most often, a general power of attorney with broad powers is used when a spouse or close family member is named as the agent.
Does a will avoid probate?
Many people think they need a will to avoid probate. Actually, a will must be filed with probate, and passing assets to loved ones with a will requires opening a probate estate. A will is better than nothing, because without any estate planning assets will pass on death according to the default rules created by Missouri law, which can be quite different from what a person might want. For avoiding probate, however, there are many estate planning alternatives that will accomplish the same goals of the will, but in less time and for less cost. These estate planning tools can include a trust, beneficiary designations, PODs and TODs, and a beneficiary deed.
Does Medicare pay for the Nursing Home?
No! A common misconception is that Medicare will pay for nursing home care. Medicare is similar to private insurance that pays for hospital admissions and doctor visits. Medicare does not pay for long term nursing home care.
This can be confusing because there are limited scenarios where Medicare will pay for a brief stay in a nursing home. Medicare pays for treatment that is intended to heal a person, or improve their condition. Medicare will pay for up to four months of in-patient rehabilitation in a nursing home if it is ordered by a physician after a hospitalization of at least three days. Even then, payments by Medicare are limited. Medicare will only pay the full cost of the nursing home for twenty days. The amount Medicare will pay decreases after the first twenty days. Finally, Medicare will pay for hospice care, which applies to someone who is terminally ill and has less then six months to live.
Medicare will not pay for nursing home care for chronic conditions (i.e., when the person is not receiving care to get better, but simply to manage their condition). Medicaid is one of the only government benefit programs that does pay for long term nursing home care.
What is an inventory in probate?
Preparation of the Inventory
Once letters of administration are issued to the personal representative, the first step is for the personal representative to provide an inventory of all the known assets of the estate. This process can take months depending on the complexity of the assets, and the difficulties the personal representative can encounter when dealing with banks or finding assets. The personal representative files an Inventory and Appraisement, which is a list of all the known assets with account information and other supporting documents. This Inventory is supposed to be filed within 30 days of Letters of Administration being issued, but often additional time is necessary to complete the Inventory.
The inventory identifies assets for the court, but also potential heirs and potential creditors of the estate. Often, as the personal representative learns more about the estate over time additional assets may be discovered. When this happens an amended inventory should be filed identifying the newly discovered assets. When the probate estate is ready to be closed the Inventory will be compared with a final statement showing what happened to all the assets.
What is the five-year look back period in Medicaid?
Medicaid is a “safety net” program designed to cover the cost of nursing home care for seniors. The program is only available for individuals who meet strict financial requirements. To protect the resources of the program, Medicaid prohibits potential applicants from simply giving away their assets to qualify for Medicaid. To “keep millionaires off Medicaid,” federal law mandates a sixty month “look-back” period for any applicant. The Medicaid application requires the applicant to disclose whether “anyone in your home [has] sold or given away money, vehicles, or property within the last five years.” Transfers are fine – transfers for less than fair market value are not. When Medicaid determines a transfer has occurred within the five year lookback period, a “penalty period” will be imposed based on the difference between the amount of the transfer and the fair market value of the transfer.
What is a personal care contract?
Did you know there is a way for family members to provide in-home care for their parents, get paid to do it, and help their parents qualify for Medicaid if they need to go into the nursing home? Under Medicaid rules, if a parent transferred money to a child this could create a penalized transfer that would impact Medicaid eligibility. Medicaid makes an exception when the child is being paid to provide in-home care to the parent that helps keep him or her out of the nursing home. Naturally, a parent transferring money to a child is open for abuse, so Medicaid imposes rules that must be followed before this will qualify – including the need for a written personal care contract BEFORE the services begin. This both a powerful planning tool, and an area where someone can easily fail to dot the “i’s” and cross the “t’s.” If you think you or your loved one’s situation may benefit from a personal care contract you should contact an elder law attorney immediately.
How long do you have to open a probate estate?
In Missouri, you have one year after a person dies to open a probate estate. The estate can be opened at any time during that year. Since the probate process can be long and slow, the probate estate should be opened as soon as reasonably possible. If an estate is not opened within one year, then a determination of heirship may need to be filed to resolve any questions about ownership of property owned by the person who passed away.
What is the difference between “guardianship” and “conservatorship” in Missouri?
In Missouri, when someone lacks the ability to make decisions for him or herself, either a guardian, a conservator, or both can be appointed. The roles are similar, and often the same person will be both a guardian and a conservator. The key difference is that the guardian makes decisions for the “person” and the conservator makes decisions regarding the “estate” (i.e., finances). The guardian will make decisions like where the person will live and medical decisions. The conservator will pay bills with the person’s money and make other financial decisions. To learn more see our video at Answers About Guardianships and Conservatorships.
How do most people pay for nursing home care?
The cost of nursing home care can be daunting – in St. Louis a skilled nursing facility can easily cost more than $8,000 per month. At nearly $100,000 per year, nursing home care can quickly deplete a person’s life-savings. Although some nursing home costs are covered by private pay, or long-term care insurance, the reality is that more than 60% of nursing home care is paid for by Medicaid. Designed as a “safety net” program for the financially needy, Medicaid has become the primary payor for the prohibitively expensive cost of nursing home care.
Medicaid has strict rules for assets to qualify for Medicaid coverage. Too often, seniors satisfy these requirements by sending their last dollar to the nursing home. With proactive planning, individuals can qualify for the coverage they need, while making the best use of their life savings. If you or a loved one is facing the possibility of nursing home care be sure to contact an elder law attorney to discuss your options.
Social Security is Slowly Running Out of Money
As more and more Americans reach retirement age, Social Security is once again slowly running out of money. For decades, experts have warned that the Social Security system is ill-prepared for when the Baby Boomers generation reached retirement age. Now, 10,000 Baby Boomers reach age 65 every day, and the Social Security system is beginning to feel the strain.
The Social Security funds are kept in the Social Security Trust Fund, with benefits being paid on the returns from the trust fund. Next year (for the first time since 1982), the program must start drawing down assets held in the Trust Fund to pay retirees. Absent some action, Social Security’s trust funds are expected to be exhausted within fifteen years. If that happened, benefit checks for retirees would be cut by about 20 percent across the board – just as a large portion of the population comes to depend on those payments.