An Attorney can help when applying for Medicaid

August 16, 2023

Medicaid is a vital program that provides healthcare coverage for individuals and families with limited income and resources. Hiring an attorney can help when applying for Medicaid. Their expertise can be invaluable in ensuring a smooth and successful application process.

Film Daily’s recent article, “Do You Need a Lawyer to Apply for Medicaid?” says that applying for Medicaid involves gathering the necessary documentation, filling out an application form and submitting it to the state Medicaid agency.

The application typically requires information about your income, assets, household composition and medical expenses. It’s important to provide accurate and complete information to avoid delays or potential issues with your case.

A lawyer specializing in Medicaid can walk you through the application process, ensure that you meet all of the requirements and provide the correct documentation.

A Medicaid planning lawyer can also help you understand any legal implications and address any concerns that may come up during the application process.

Here are some scenarios where hiring a lawyer might be a wise move:

Complicated Financial Situations: If you have complex financial arrangements or significant assets, a Medicaid planning lawyer can help you navigate the Medicaid eligibility requirements while protecting your interests.
Long-Term Care Planning: If you or a loved one requires long-term care services, a lawyer with expertise in elder law and Medicaid planning can help you develop a strategy to protect your assets while accessing the necessary healthcare services.
Denied or Delayed Applications: If your Medicaid application has been denied or delayed, a Medicaid planning lawyer can help you appeal the decision or address any issues that may have caused the delay.
Changing Regulations: The program rules and policies can change over time. An experienced Medicaid lawyer can ensure that you stay informed about any updates that may affect your eligibility or benefits.

Consider hiring an Elder Law attorney to help when applying for Medicaid. He or she may be the difference between receiving benefits and being denied. If you are interested in learning more about Medicaid planning, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Film Daily (July 25, 2023) “Do You Need a Lawyer to Apply for Medicaid?”

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Essential Estate Planning Documents every Caregiver Needs

July 31, 2023

Being a caregiver for a loved one can be one of the most emotionally challenging things you can do. There are so many aspects of your loved ones life that you are suddenly responsible for managing. So many important discussions about estate planning and writing a will are emotionally challenging as they ask those involved to come face-to-face with their mortality. But these are important discussions, says a recent article, “Elder Law Guys: All the documents to have in place when you’re an adult caregiver,” from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The sooner these conversations take place, the better. There are some essential estate planning documents every caregiver needs to have available.

Here are the documents needed:

General Durable Power of Attorney. The financial POA is the most essential estate planning document. An agent is named to stand in for the parent or other person and make all financial and legal decisions. Name not just one but two successor agents to serve if the primary agent cannot or will not serve when needed. If no POA or agent can serve, the family will need to petition the court to have a judge name a guardian to manage the person’s financial affairs. There’s no guarantee that the court will name a family member. POA law varies by state, so speak with an estate planning attorney to ensure the POA permits the specific actions you want the agent to be able to take.

Durable Healthcare Power of Attorney and a Living Will. In some estate planning practices, these two documents are combined, while in others, they are separate. For the Healthcare POA, an agent is named to make health care decisions for the person. It’s advised to name two successor agents in case the primary person cannot or does not wish to serve in this capacity.

A Living Will contains the person’s wishes regarding receiving life-sustaining treatment in the event they can’t make their own decisions and the treating physician has determined the patient is either suffering from an irreversible coma, is in a persistent vegetative state, or an end-stage medical condition not survivable even with treatment.

Last Will and Testament and Trusts. The last will and trusts both dictate how property will pass, but the will directs how property is passed upon death. A trust contains provisions to manage assets during a person’s lifetime. Assets owned by a trust don’t go through probate, so they transfer directly to beneficiaries, and their value and the identity of beneficiaries remain private.

Suppose there are family members who are disabled. In that case, the estate plan should include a Supplemental Needs Trust to hold any inheritance from a disabled beneficiary who receives needs-based government benefits. Otherwise, the disabled recipient will become ineligible for government benefits. Depending on the circumstances, parents may want assets to be held in trust for other beneficiaries until they can manage their inheritances wisely.

Asset Protection Trust. An irrevocable Asset Protection Trust holds assets to shelter them from the cost of long-term care and can reduce or eliminate estate taxes for beneficiaries. An estate planning attorney will know which type of Asset Protection Trust will be most effective for your situation.

Beneficiary Designation Forms. All accounts or assets with beneficiary designations should be reviewed to be sure the named beneficiary is correct.

These essential estate planning documents should be stored in a known location so the may be available for a caregiver to access, if they need. Documents must be reviewed every three to five years to ensure they align with the parent’s wishes. Estate and tax laws change, relationships change, and people move and pass on, so it’s important to keep these documents updated. If you would like to learn more about the role of a caregiver, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (July 8, 2023) “Elder Law Guys: All the documents to have in place when you’re an adult caregiver”

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Planning for Long-Term Care with Irrevocable Trusts

April 17, 2023

One of the best strategies to plan for long-term care involves using an irrevocable trust. However, the word “irrevocable” makes people a little wary. It shouldn’t. Planning for long-term care with irrevocable trusts can provide peace of mind for your family. The use of the Intentionally Defective Grantor Trust, a type of irrevocable trust, provides both protection and flexibility, explains the article “Despite the name, irrevocable trusts provide flexibility” from The News-Enterprise.

Trusts are created by an estate planning attorney for each individual and their circumstances. Therefore, the provisions in one kind of trust may not be appropriate for another person, even when the situation appears to be the same on the surface. The flexibility provisions explored here are commonly used in Intentionally Defective Grantor Trusts, referred to as IDGTs.

Can the grantor change beneficiaries in an IDGT? The grantor, the person setting up the trust, can reserve a testamentary power of appointment, a special right allowing grantors to change after-death beneficiaries.

This power can also hold the trust assets in the grantors’ taxable estate, allowing for the stepped-up tax basis on appreciated property.

Depending on how the trust is created, the grantor may only have the right to change beneficiaries for a portion or all of the property. If the grantor wants to change beneficiaries, they must make that change in their will.

Can money or property from the trust be removed if needed later? IDGT trusts should always include both lifetime beneficiaries and after-death beneficiaries. After death, beneficiaries receive a share of assets upon the grantor’s death when the estate is distributed. Lifetime beneficiaries have the right to receive property during the grantor’s lifetime.

While grantors may retain the right to receive income from the trust, lifetime beneficiaries can receive the principal. This is particularly important if the trust includes a liquid account that needs to be gifted to the beneficiary to assist a parent.

The most important aspect? The lifetime beneficiary may receive the property and not the grantor. The beneficiary can then use the gifted property to help a parent.

An often-asked question of estate planning attorneys concerns what would happen if tax laws changed in the future. It’s a reasonable question.

If an irrevocable trust needs a technical change, the trust must go before a court to determine if the change can be made. However, most estate planning attorneys include a trust protector clause within the trust to maintain privacy and expediency.

A trust protector is a third party who is neither related nor subordinate to the grantor, serves as a fiduciary, and can sign off on necessary changes. Trust protectors serve as “fixers” and are used to ensure that the trust can operate as the grantors intended. They are not frequently used, but they offer flexibility for legislative changes.

Planning for long-term care with irrevocable trusts is an excellent way to protect assets with both protection and flexibility in mind. If you would like to learn more about long-term care planning, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: The News-Enterprise (March 18, 2023) “Despite the name, irrevocable trusts provide flexibility”

Asset Protection Trusts can address Long Term Care

April 5, 2023

Asset protection trusts can address long term care costs. As the number of people aged 65 plus continues to increase, more seniors realize they must address the cost of long-term health care, which can quickly devour assets intended for retirement or inheritances. Those who can prepare in advance do well to consider asset protection trusts, says the article “Asset protection is major concern of aging population” from The News Enterprise.

Asset protection trusts are irrevocable trusts in which another person manages the trust property and the person who created the trust—the grantor—is not entitled to the principal within the trust. There are several different types of irrevocable trusts used to protect assets. Still, one of the more frequently used irrevocable trusts for the purpose of protecting the grantor’s assets is the Intentionally Defective Grantor Trust, called IDGT for short.

As a side note, Revocable Living Trusts are completely different from Irrevocable Trusts and do not provide asset protection to grantors. Grantors placing their property into Revocable Living Trusts maintain the full right to control the property and use it for their own benefit, meaning any assets in the trust are not protected during the grantor’s lifetime.

IDGTs are irrevocable, and grantors have no right to principal and may not serve as a trustee, further limiting the grantors’ access to the property in the trust. Grantors may, however, receive any income from trust-owned property, such as rental properties or investment accounts.

During the grantor’s lifetime, any trust income is taxed at the grantor’s tax bracket rather than at the much higher trust tax bracket. Upon the grantor’s death, beneficiaries receive appreciated property at a stepped-up tax basis, avoiding a hefty capital gains tax.

While the term “irrevocable” makes some people nervous, most IDGTs have built-in flexibility and protections for grantors. One provision commonly included is a Testamentary Power of Appointment, which allows the grantor to change beneficiary designations.

IDGTs also include clauses providing for the grantors’ exclusive right to reside in the primary residence. However, if the grantor needs to change residences, the trustee may buy and sell property within the trust as needed.

IDGTs provide for two different types of beneficiaries: lifetime and after-death beneficiaries. Lifetime beneficiaries are those who will receive shares of the total estate upon the death of the grantor. Lifetime beneficiary provisions are important because they allow the grantor to make gifts from the trust principal. Hence, there is always at least one person who can receive the trust principal if need be.

Asset protection trusts are complicated and require the help of an experienced estate planning attorney. However, when used properly, asset protection trusts can address unanticipated creditors, long-term care costs and even unintended tax liabilities. If you would like to learn more about asset protection, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: The News Enterprise (March 4, 2023) “Asset protection is major concern of aging population”

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Planning for Long Term Care Is Important

September 15, 2022

Elder law attorneys have far too many stories of people who fail to plan, plan incorrectly or incompletely, or plan to fail by doing nothing at all, as described in the article “Elder Care: People in a pickle” from The Sentinel. Planning for long term care is important. Here’s a sad story.

A woman calls the elder law office because her husband fell at home—a common occurrence among the elderly. He was hospitalized and is now receiving rehabilitation in a nursing home. The treating physician recommends that the husband remain in the nursing home because he has significant limitations and his wife, who has her own medical issues, isn’t physically able to care for him.

The wife agrees. However, she has a host of challenges to overcome that were never addressed. The husband took care of all of the finances, for decades telling his wife not to worry. Now, she has no idea what their resources are. Can they afford to pay for his nursing home care? She doesn’t know. Nor does she have the authority to access their accounts, because there are accounts in her husband’s name only and she does not have access to them.

Her husband’s insistence of being the only one in control of their finances has put her in a terrible predicament. Without the estate planning documents to give her access to everything, including his own accounts, she can’t act. Can he now sign a Power of Attorney? Maybe—but maybe not, if it can be shown he lacks capacity.

If the couple cannot pay the nursing home bill, they have given their children a problem, since they live in Pennsylvania, where the state’s filial support law allows the nursing home to sue one or more of the children for the cost of their parent’s care. (This law varies by state, so check with a local elder lawyer to see if it could impact your family). Even if the wife knew about the family’s finances and could apply for public benefits, in this case his eligibility would be denied, as they had purchased a home for one of their children within five years of his being moved to the nursing home. Medicaid has a five-year look back period, and any large transfers or purchases would make the husband ineligible for five years.

If this sounds like a financial, legal and emotional mess, it’s a fair assessment.

Unexpected events happen, and putting off planning for them, or one spouse insisting “I’ve got this” when truly they don’t, takes a big impact on the future for spouses and family members. All of the decisions we make, or fail to make, can have major impacts on the future for our loved ones.

Other situations familiar to elder lawyers: a parent naming two children as co-agents for power of attorney. When she began showing symptoms of dementia, the two children disagreed on her care and ended up in court.

A father has guardianship for a disabled adult son. He promised the son he’d always be able to live in the family home. The father becomes ill and must move into a nursing home. Neither one is able to manage their own personal finances, and no financial or practical arrangements were made to fulfill the promise to the son.

No one expects to have these problems, but even the most loving families find themselves snarled in legal battles because of poor planning. Careful planning for long term care is important. It may not reduce the messy events of life, but it can reduce the stress and expenses. By choosing to exert some control over who can help you with decisions and what plans are in place for the future, you can leave a legacy of caring. If you would like to learn more about long term care issues, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: The Sentinel (Aug. 19, 2022) “Elder Care: People in a pickle”

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Important to consider Long-Term Care Insurance

September 8, 2022

It becomes especially important to plan for the future when the world around us seems so volatile and unpredictable. We can’t control future health care costs, but we can plan for them, says a recent article titled “Economic instability and the need to plan for long-term care” from The Indiana Lawyer. Failing to plan could mean lost assets and a lost legacy. It is important to consider long-term care insurance as you get older.

According to Genworth’s Cost of Care survey, from 2004 to 2021, the cost of long-term care has outpaced inflation by a large margin. Many of the increases were driven by supply and demand issues. There aren’t enough people to care for the growing population of people needing services, which will continue to be the case for at least the next decade. A total of 10,000 boomers turn 65 every day and 70% will require care and support services in their lifetimes.

How can assets be protected from long-term costs?

One of the most frequently used tools is an asset protection trust or an irrevocable trust. The irrevocable trust cannot be modified, amended, or terminated without permission of the grantor’s beneficiary or beneficiaries. Once the grantor transfers assets into the trust, the grantor no longer has the rights of ownership. The trust can be designed to minimize taxation, maximize access to long-term benefits and protect assets.

The trust must be drafted properly, so trust income and principal, if needed, can be accessed.

The timing is critical. Asset protection trusts must be created when there is no immediate health care crisis, and the grantor has no need for long-term care. The best trust is created when the person is in good health and of sound mind.

Those who are nearing retirement, passed retirement age or who may have health issues in the distant future and expect to need Medicaid in the future are best candidates for an asset protection trust.

Medicaid’s Five Year Look Back Period

Planning needs to be done at least five years in advance, as Medicaid looks at the applicant’s past five year’s finances to see if any assets were sold or gifted for under market value. Transferring assets to an irrevocable trust is treated as a gift and violates the five-year look back, making the person ineligible for Medicaid coverage. Nursing home care will have to be paid out-of-pocket until the person becomes eligible.

Asset protection strategies are available for those who need immediate protection of assets. However, they have to done quickly and correctly with an estate planning elder law attorney. People who have suffered a fall and have significant injuries or who have received a diagnosis of a difficult disease should speak with an elder law attorney in a timely manner. They’ll need to discuss preparing for a Medicaid application, what assets can be protected and steps they need to take. It is important to consider long-term care insurance before you reach a point when it is needed. The earlier the plan is put into place, the better. If you would like to learn more about long-term care insurance, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: The Indiana Lawyer (Aug. 3, 2022) “Economic instability and the need to plan for long-term care”

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Spotting early Dementia Symptoms is Critical

September 1, 2022

It’s easy to miss the first signs of cognitive decline. Spotting early dementia symptoms is more critical than ever: the Alzheimer’s Association projects that 12.7 million people 65 and older will have some form of dementia by 2050. That’s why a lot of research on behavioral changes associated with dementia could help in the early detection of the neurodegenerative condition. However, this subtle action is often ignored by people with dementia and their families.

Yahoo’s recent article entitled “This Is the No. 1 Dementia Symptom People Ignore, Doctors Say” explains that many people believe that memory loss is the only sign of dementia. However, there’s much more to this debilitating condition than forgetfulness. There are a number of other behavioral and psychological symptoms associated with dementia, the most common of which are apathy, depression, irritability, agitation and anxiety. The rarest symptoms are euphoria, hallucinations and lack of inhibition. Many of these are subtle at first. Therefore, understanding what to look for is critical in early detection. It can significantly affect the course of your disease and delay its progression. This behavior change can be seen many years before a dementia diagnosis.

A 2020 study in JAMA Internal Medicine found, when looking at the medical records and consumer credit reports of more than 80,000 people aged 65 and older who were Medicare beneficiaries, people who developed dementia were significantly more likely to have financial problems and poor credit scores. These financial problems became more prevalent following a dementia diagnosis.

Monica Moreno, Senior Director of Care and Support at the Alzheimer’s Association, tells Best Life, “While there are several signs or symptoms of dementia, challenges with problem-solving or planning can cause a person to mismanage their finances. Other dementia-related symptoms that can adversely affect money management or personal finances include poor judgment and difficulty completing familiar tasks.”

The study concluded that missed bill payments lead to higher penalties and interest fees that are detrimental to your financial well-being. Therefore, financial guidance is essential for dementia patients after diagnosis.

“During the early stages of dementia, a person may be able to do simple tasks like paying bills but struggle with more complicated tasks, like managing investments or making a decision on large purchases,” explains Moreno. “Since dementia is often progressive, these challenges will increase over time. Therefore, family members need to identify these potential signs early and intervene as soon as possible.”

It’s important to spot financial behavior changes for early detection of dementia. Common signs include:

The inability to balance checking accounts
Consistently making late payments on credit cards; and
Overspending.

Moreno adds, “People with dementia are susceptible to fraud, including identity theft, insurance scams and get-rich-quick schemes. Allowing these problems or potential threats to go unaddressed can put individuals living with dementia [and their families] at great financial risk.”

Spotting early dementia symptoms is critical to protecting older adults and their families from the burden of unnecessary financial stress.

The JAMA Internal Medicine study advises, “Families should be counseled about the potential need to help with financial management following [dementia] diagnosis.” If you are interested in learning more about dementia and other cognitive disorders, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Yahoo! (Aug. 8, 2022) “This Is the No. 1 Dementia Symptom People Ignore, Doctors Say”

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Living Will and DNR are different Documents

August 17, 2022

A living will and a Do Not Resuscitate Order, known as a DNR, are very different documents. However, many people confuse the two. They both address end of life issues and are used in different settings, according to the article “One Senior Place: Know the difference between ‘living will’ and ‘do not resuscitate’” from Florida Today.

What is a Living Will?

A living will is a written statement describing a person’s wishes about receiving life-sustaining medical treatment in case of a terminal illness if they are a patient near death or in a persistent vegetative state. This includes choices such as whether to continue the use of artificial respiration, a feeding tube and other highly intensive means of keeping a person alive.

The living will is used to make your wishes clear to loved ones and to physicians. It is prepared by an estate planning elder care attorney, often when having an estate plan created or updated. To ensure it is valid and the instructions can be carried out, be sure to have this document created properly.

What is a DNR?

A DNR is a medical directive used to convey wishes to not be resuscitated in the event of respiratory or cardiac arrest. This document needs to be signed by both the patient and their treating physician. It’s often printed on brightly colored paper, so it can be easily found in an emergency.

The DNR should be placed in a location where it can be easily and quickly found. In nursing homes, this is typically at the head or foot of the bed. At home, it’s often posted on the refrigerator.

The DNR needs to be immediately available to ensure that the patient’s last wishes are honored.

A key mistake made by well-meaning family members is to have the DNR with someone else, rather than at home or at the bedside of the patient. If the DNR cannot be found and emergency medical responders arrive on scene, they are legally bound to provide CPR or other medical care to revive the patient.

When the DNR is available, the emergency responders will not initiate CPR if they find the patient in cardiopulmonary arrest or respiratory arrest. They may instead provide comfort care, including administering oxygen and pain management.

If a person is admitted to the hospital, their living will is placed on the chart. Depending on the state’s laws, a certain number of physicians must agree the patient is in a persistent vegetative state or has an end-state condition and can no longer communicate. At that point, the terms of the living will are followed.

In addition to having these documents created with your estate plan, make sure that family members know where they can be found. A living will and a DNR are different documents and your estate planning attorney can help you address which is the best option for your current situation. If you would like to learn more about living wills, DNRs and other medical directives, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Florida Today (July 19, 2022) “One Senior Place: Know the difference between ‘living will’ and ‘do not resuscitate’”

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Identifying the Early Signs of Dementia

June 8, 2022

If you’re an older adult experiencing memory lapses, lack of focus or confusion — or you have a loved one with those symptoms, you may be concerned about the onset of dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. However, other treatable conditions can cause similar symptoms, and they can be easy for doctors to miss, says Ardeshir Hashmi, M.D., a geriatrician and section chief of Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Geriatric Medicine. There are clues that can help you in identifying the early signs of dementia.

“Sometimes there’s just a very superficial workup and then [the doctor says], ‘Here’s a pill for Alzheimer’s,’” Hashmi says. (While no drug has been proved to stop or slow the progression of dementia, there are several federally approved medications that can help manage the symptoms of Alzheimer’s.) “Before you make that conclusion, you should rule out all the other things that can be confused with dementia — things that are easily reversible.”

AARP’s recent article entitled “6 Medical Problems That Can Mimic Dementia — but Aren’t” identifies some common medical problems that can be mistaken for the early signs of dementia.

Medication interactions or side effects. Older adults are more likely than younger people to develop cognitive impairment as a side effect of a medication. Drug toxicity is the reason in as many as 12% of patients who present with suspected dementia, research shows.
A respiratory infection (including COVID-19). Any untreated infection can cause delirium — a sudden change in alertness, attention, memory and orientation that can mimic dementia. When you have an infection, the white blood cells in your body are sent to the infection site, causing a chemical change in the brain that makes some older adults feel drowsy, unfocused or confused. Respiratory infections are harder to diagnose in people over 65 because they are more likely to lack classic symptoms, such as a fever or a cough.
A urinary tract infection (UTI). Research shows about 1 in 10 women older than 65 and up to 30% of women over 85 reported having had a urinary tract infection in the past year. Men are also more likely to experience UTIs as they age. However, most UTIs, and the accompanying cognitive issues, can be diagnosed with a simple urine test and then treated with an antibiotic.
Sleep problems or disturbed sleep. If your sleep-wake cycle is disturbed or you have insomnia, you may experience dementia-like symptoms. These include trouble focusing, confusion, mental fatigue and irritability. Some older adults also suffer from sleep apnea, a sleep-related breathing problem that can deprive your brain of the oxygen it needs while you slumber, possibly causing long-term damage. Many seniors don’t realize they have this. Tell your doctor if you have signs of apnea, such as loud snoring, waking up gasping or choking, uncontrolled high blood pressure, a morning headache, or a dry mouth upon waking. If you are diagnosed with sleep apnea, using a continuous positive airway pressure machine (CPAP) while you snooze has been shown to be an effective treatment.
Dehydration. If you take diuretics or laxatives, they can contribute to water loss. If you seem foggy or confused, see if your urine is dark yellow or brown, which can indicate a lack of fluids. Another sign of severe dehydration is a white coating on the tongue. To prevent dehydration, older adults should aim to get at least 48 ounces of caffeine-free fluids (six 8-ounce glasses) a day.
Normal pressure hydrocephalus. This is a treatable disorder in which cerebrospinal fluid accumulates in the brain, disrupting and damaging nearby brain tissue and causing cognitive problems. A neurologist can diagnose normal pressure hydrocephalus using brain imaging and cerebrospinal fluid tests. It is treated by inserting a shunt into the brain to drain the fluid.

Know that dementia isn’t a normal expected part of aging. 11% of adults 65 and older have Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia. Identifying the early signs of dementia can dramatically increase the benefits of therapies and treatments. If you would like to learn more about dementia, and other related illnesses, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: AARP (March 21, 2022) “6 Medical Problems That Can Mimic Dementia — but Aren’t”

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Life Insurance can help Women with Estate Planning

June 6, 2022

The 2021 Insurance Barometer Survey revealed that 43% of women believe they would leave their families in a difficult financial situation, if they were to die prematurely. This is five percentage points higher than the men who were surveyed. While the need for planning for both women and their families are present, women aren’t satisfied they have done an adequate job when making certain that their goals are met and their families will be financially secure. Life insurance can help women with estate planning.

Insurance News Net’s recent article entitled “How Life Insurance Might Solve Women’s Estate-Planning Issues” says that women face unique planning challenges, like the fact they only earn about 82.3% compared to their male counterparts’ earnings, the U.S. Department of Labor reports. Lower earnings add to the difficulty of saving adequately for retirement. A recent Prudential survey found that only 54% of women have saved for retirement, with an average savings of $115,412, versus 61% of men, with an average savings of $202,859.

Women must also frequently care for generations of family members. In addition to caring for children, 75% of in-home care providers for older people are women, most often daughters, according to the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance. These seniors are often financially dependent on their female caregivers, so a woman may find herself supporting herself, a spouse or partner, her children and her aging parents. Planning for the continued care of these dependent family members is critical, if a woman is unable to continue in her role.

There is also the fact that women, on average, have longer lifespans than men. For women who are either married to or partnered with a man, this means a greater likelihood that the woman will be widowed later in her life. Women, on average, may need care for more extended periods than men during their later years. These expenses could substantially deplete the assets women plan to leave their families at death.

Life insurance can help protect families in a tax-advantaged way, while also providing income for retirement or benefits for long-term care. A life insurance death benefit can provide liquidity to care for multiple generations of dependent family members. If that policy builds cash value, as the need to care for family members eventually wanes, the owner can use the cash value for additional income in retirement. Some policies can provide funds for long-term care, if the need arises. Even a single policy can address all three planning concerns.

Speak with an estate planning attorney about the way that life insurance can help women with estate planning. If you would like to learn more about estate planning for women, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Insurance News Net (March 9, 2022) “How Life Insurance Might Solve Women’s Estate-Planning Issues”

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Category: Long Term care facility

An Attorney can help when applying for Medicaid

Essential Estate Planning Documents every Caregiver Needs

Planning for Long-Term Care with Irrevocable Trusts

Asset Protection Trusts can address Long Term Care

Planning for Long Term Care Is Important

Important to consider Long-Term Care Insurance

Spotting early Dementia Symptoms is Critical

Living Will and DNR are different Documents

Identifying the Early Signs of Dementia

Life Insurance can help Women with Estate Planning

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