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Monday, December 19, 2011
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Oak Lawn Elder Law | Transfer Your Home on Death by a Special Deed
The Illinois Residential Real Property Transfer on Death Instrument Act allows for transferring Illinois residential real estate at death without the need for probate. The Transfer on Death Instrument TODI must be executed with the same formalities as a will. In addition to regular real estate deed requirements, you must sign the TODI before two witnesses who must attest to the owner’s capacity. A TODI can be revoked, but revocation must be recorded to be effective. During the owner’s lifetime, the designated beneficiary has no rights or interest in the property. So what does this mean for you?
If you do not want a trust, or can not afford a trust, this law allows you to speak with an attorney about a lower cost option to transfer your home outside of the probate process. An attorney can draft the proper deed and ensure that this act is properly complied with so that you can avoid probate for your home. This deed is a great option for Estate Planners, Clients, and Beneficiaries. It is important to know that this law is brand new. Your estate plan does not include this law. It becomes effective on Jan. 1, 2012. This is why it is important that you speak to an attorney often to ensure that your estate plan includes all of the tools that are currently available to you. Call my office to schedule an appointment to check on the state of your documents.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Oak Lawn Elder Law | Does a Community Spouse have to disclose their own assets?
The current status of Illinois Department of Human Services policy allows a community spouse to not disclose separately held assets if those assets have been held separately longer than the allowed look-back period. Unfortunately, if this election is made, the community spouse would not be allowed to keep all of his separate assets above the community spouse asset allowance. There is a a Connecticut case which allows a community spouse the right to sign a refusal to support the institutionalized spouse with would allow the disabled spouse to qualify for Medicaid. The supporting statute for this allowance was 42 U.S.C. 1396r-5(c)(3)(A). Although this method has not yet been challenged in Illinois, there is good reason to believe that it would be allowed here as well. If you need in home care or nursing home assistance and want to know how you are going to pay for it, call
Law Office of Jonathan W. Cole
5013 W. 95th St.
Oak Lawn, IL 60453
(708) 529-7794
www.jwcolelaw.com
Law Office of Jonathan W. Cole
5013 W. 95th St.
Oak Lawn, IL 60453
(708) 529-7794
www.jwcolelaw.com
Friday, September 30, 2011
Oak Lawn Elder Law | Nursing Home Planning - Cost of Care
This is the first obstacle to placing a loved on in a nursing home is cost. As you may know, the cost of quality nursing home care can be daunting. The monthly cost of nursing home care is anywhere between $6,000 and $9,000 dollars per month. If you spend three years in a nursing home at the high end of that spectrum, you will pay $324,000. If a couple is to stay for this period of time, their cost is $648,000. Most people do not have well over a half of a million dollars to care for themselves at the end of their life. Additionally, most people have worked their whole life to be able to provide a little bit of wealth to their children or grandchildren. The thought of depleting this much of your wealth for three years of care causes many individuals to attempt to receive care at home. The problem with this is that the care they receive at home is inadequate. Additionally, the burden that unassisted home care places on the family is great. The disabled family member may need full time care. This requires one of the healthy family members to take off of work to be able to fulfill that role. Even if the family can work out their schedules so that no one has to take off of work, their entire free time will be dedicated to care of the disabled family member. This makes handling their own affairs difficult. It is often during these times that the family of the disabled individual falls into debt themselves. There are two, possibly three, ways that you can mitigate this "cost of care" obstacle.
- Qualify for Medicaid through proper estate planning
- Purchase Long Term Care Insurance from a knowledgeable agent.
Both of those options should involve your attorney. I also think your best option is to implement both. The reason both tools should be implemented is as a fail safe. There is an expression that professional planners use which is as follows; "Two is one, one is none". Why is this expression so valuable? I will explain what could happen to either option.
Medicaid - With the failing credit of both Illinois and the U.S. government, the likelihood that Medicaid will be available forever is highly unlikely. Eventually, Medicaid will either be reduced or eliminated. When this happens, you benefits are no longer certain. This is why, as long as you are receiving benefits you are OK, but there is no certainty that they will continue forever. Although this programs is your best solution to cover the costs for your nursing home care, you do not have control over how long the program lasts. That is why it is important to have a back up provision.
Long Term Care Insurance - Long term care covers most long term care situations. Like any contract though, it does not cover every situation. There are times when your situation may not be covered by your insurance contract. It is also possible that the company you have a contract with goes bankrupt. Although these situations are rare, it is important to have a back up plan.
I will include with this post, some links to one of my other blogs. This is my Estate Planning Blog, which covers more in depth medicaid planning and long term care insurance. As always I am always happy to answer your questions. Look for my contact information below.
Medicaid Planning Links
Long Term Care Insurance
- Part One
- Part Two
5013 W. 95th St.
Oak Lawn, IL 60453
(708) 529-7794
Oak Lawn Elder Law | Nursing Home Planning
Entering a nursing home is never an easy choice. This is why so many put off the planning for this option until the last possible minute. There are three big obstacles the either the person who needs the nursing home or their loved ones find that make choosing a nursing home difficult. These three obstacles are:
- Cost of Care
- Quality of Care
- Loss of Access to Family
Because these big three are the major issues that need to be addressed before a nursing home is chosen and you begin the administrative process, I will create an individual post for each of the three obstacles. You can click on the hyperlink for each of the three obstacles above. Each one will address the difficulties that arise from that obstacle and how to overcome those obstacles. As always, if you have questions about nursing home planning, you can always leave a comment or call me, Jonathan Cole, at:
5013 W. 95th St.
Oak Lawn, IL 60453
(708) 529-7794
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Elder Law Oak Lawn | Welcome to the Blog
Welcome to the Elder Law Blog. This Blog is intended to inform you about medicaid planning, medicare benefits, choosing a nursing home, and nursing home abuse. Look to find useful information and helpful links to other blogs, governmental pages, and my page. Look forward to helping you on your journey.
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