Medicare Savings Programs: QMB, SLMB, QI, QDWI and Extra Help
FEBRUARY 9, 2015 VOLUME 22 NUMBER 6 Health care programs for the elderly, the poor and the disabled can be complicated and confusing. We frequently find that clients are unclear about the differences — in eligibility and in coverage — between Medicare and Medicaid, for instance. Add in the fact that Arizona calls its Medicaid […]
Special Needs Trust Defective Because Arbitrary Rules Not Followed
JULY 22, 2013 VOLUME 20 NUMBER 27 We often find ourselves reassuring clients that the law makes sense. It may not be obvious or intuitive, but we can usually explain why some legal principle developed the way it did, and why it would be a bad thing if it were otherwise — even if that […]
Nursing Home Bills and “the Doctrine of Necessaries”
JULY 8, 2013 VOLUME 20 NUMBER 25 Under the English common law (inherited, to a greater or lesser degree, by all the states of the U.S.), a husband was obligated to support his wife and children. Because women could not legally enter into enforceable contracts, a person who provided goods or services to a woman […]
Put Your Accounts in Your Daughter’s Name — What Could Go Wrong?
FEBRUARY 18, 2013 VOLUME 20 NUMBER 7 Seniors are subjected to a constant drumbeat of advice: make sure you have no assets in your own name, or you will lose them to the nursing home. Transfer everything to your children to “protect” your assets. Is it good advice? We usually counsel against such transfers. They […]
Can a Special Needs Trust Pay Credit Card Bills? Security Deposit?
JANUARY 21, 2013 VOLUME 20 NUMBER 3 Administering a “special needs” trust can be a challenge. The rules often seem vague, and they occasionally shift. What may seem like a simple question might actually involve layers of complexity. Sometimes an expenditure might be permissible under the rules of, say, the Social Security Administration, but not […]
Not a Policy Wonk or Wannabe? Skip This Week’s Elder Law Issues
AUGUST 6, 2012 VOLUME 19 NUMBER 30 The Director of Arizona’s Medicaid program (AHCCCS – the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System) testified last month before the United States Senate Special Committee on Aging, and his remarks caught our attention. Director Thomas Betlach was testifying about “dual eligibles” — people who are eligible for both […]
Arkansas Court Refuses to Allow Trust Modification
JUNE 25, 2012 VOLUME 19 NUMBER 24 A recent Arkansas Court of Appeals case reminds us (yet again) how important it can be to plan for the possibility of a future disability in your family. Here’s the background (with names changed to help protect internet privacy): Ruth Olsen, like thousands of other seniors, created a […]
Maine Service Cutback Leaves Disabled Minor Without Program
FEBRUARY 6, 2012 VOLUME 19 NUMBER 5 Here’s an anecdote that we expect to see repeating itself over the next few years. It involves a fifteen-year-old boy with severe disabilities, and the Maine state Medicaid program. It also involves Maine’s efforts, like those of other states (including Arizona), to trim its eligibility roles for Medicaid, […]
Why You Should Not Create a Special Needs Trust
JANUARY 16, 2012 VOLUME 19 NUMBER 3 Let’s say you have a child with “special needs,” or a sister, brother, mother or other family member. You have not created a special needs trust as part of your own estate plan. Why not? We know why not. We have heard pretty much all the explanations and […]
Principles of Self-Settled (“First Party”) Special Needs Trusts
SEPTEMBER 26, 2011 VOLUME 18 NUMBER 34 There is so much confusion about the difference between “self-settled” and “third-party” special needs trusts, that we want to try to explain and simplify some of the key concepts. Here are some of the most common questions (and misunderstandings): What is the difference between “self-settled” and “third-party” special […]