Veterans’ Aid & Attendance Benefit Modified
Significant changes in eligibility for Veterans Aid & Attendance benefits become effective on October 18, 2018. What are the changes, and how are you affected?
Failure to Claim Share of Estate Results In Medicaid Ineligibility
SEPTEMBER 2, 2002 VOLUME 10, NUMBER 9 Medicaid, the federal-state program which pays for about half of all nursing home care in the United States, is governed by eligibility rules intended to discourage applicants from making gifts as a way of qualifying. For example, Medicaid penalizes most gifts for a period up to three years—though […]
Eligibility, Benefits Figures Increase With Cost of Living
OCTOBER 22, 2001 VOLUME 9, NUMBER 17 Each year Social Security benefits are raised automatically to keep up with the increased cost of living. Benefit increases are pegged to standard measures of inflation, and take effect on January 1. Social Security figures, however, are not the only automatic increases affecting seniors and the disabled. Beginning […]
Medicaid “Transfer” Is Incomplete Until Joint Owners Withdraw Funds
NOVEMBER 27, 2000 VOLUME 8, NUMBER 22 Dora Steinberg was 76 years old when her husband died. She decided that she should put her children’s names on her account. Right after her husband’s death in 1983 she opened a stock brokerage account with Dean Witter Reynolds with about $120,000. The account was titled in three […]
Agency Mistake No Basis For Retroactive Medicaid Eligibility
JULY 10, 2000 VOLUME 8, NUMBER 2 The federal-state Medicaid program was designed to make sure poor Americans would receive necessary medical care. It now pays for about half of all nursing home costs. Tragically, the program is so complicated that it often requires expert legal assistance to ensure that benefits are received in accordance […]
Court Invalidates “Power of Appointment” In Home Deed
MAY 22, 2000 VOLUME 7, NUMBER 47 Lucille Lucareli had three sons: Les Lee, Leigh and Robert. She owned her home in Racine, Wisconsin, and not much else. In 1996 she gave her son Les Lee a durable financial power of attorney, and she also took some steps to plan for the possibility that she […]
New Law Penalizes Gifts By SSI Applicants But Permits Trusts
DECEMBER 20, 1999 VOLUME 7, NUMBER 25 On December 14, 1999, President Clinton signed the Foster Care Independence Act of 1999. While most of the new federal legislation deals with foster care programs, it also changes the law and practice regarding so-called “Special Needs” trusts. The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, administered by but separate […]
