The End Result? In addition to preserving much of your
estate, we also assist in preserving your sanity. Typically
we can preserve somewhere between 40% to 100% of the
assets and assist in obtaining Medicaid much faster.
Just as important, when a loved one enters into a nursing
facility there are always voluminous documents to be
executed by you as the representative agent for your
loved one. Placing a loved one in a facility is emotionally
exhausting for most. We are there to advise and assist
throughout the entire process.
The
7 Step Process
1. Assistance in Identifying Your Goals.
The first step is identifying your goals and objectives.
Most people want to preserve assets, minimize taxes,
and make certain that they do things properly.
2. Asset Review. After reviewing your
goals, you will be asked to fill out a Client Questionnaire.
This Questionnaire asks about the assets, liabilities,
income and expenses of the individual receiving long
term care, as well as his or her spouse (if there is
one).
3. Review Strategies. After Identifying
goals, and reviewing the data, we review strategies.
For Single Individuals there are 30 strategies which
can be employed to protect assets, married couple, there
are 60. We walk you through each of them to see which
ones work for you and appeal to you. At the end of the
meeting we know what is involved and can quote you a
flat fee for our services. This fee will be your only
legal bill for service. Medicaid application and filing
fees are extra.
4. Document Development. Next we must
make certain that we have all of the legal documents
in place that are required. A well-drafted Power of
Attorney is critical. Since most of our planning involves
some form of gifting to reduce exposure of the assets,
we must make certain that you have one of our Powers
of Attorney that was specially drafted for seniors faced
with high long term care costs. We must also review
the Wills, Health Care Powers of Attorney, Trusts, Family
Agreements, Deeds, etc. There is no extra charge for
any of these documents. If desired, we will also draft
an estate plan for the family members with whom we are
working at no additional fee.
5. Plan Development and Implementation.
We then enter the information and objectives into our
computer system, analyze the data and create an asset
protection plan. This is followed with implementation
of the Plan. This includes the making of gifts, funding
a trust if necessary, and changing ownership and beneficiary
designations on investments.
6. Plan Monitoring and Legal Advice.
Perhaps as much as anything else, our clients have retained
us to help them with the barrage of contracts, forms,
applications and other documents and issues they face
when a loved one is in a nursing facility. When we are
retained, we are available to you to answer any and
all questions with which you are confronted when a loved
one is in the nursing home.
7. Medical Assistance Application. The
last step is in applying for medical assistance. Once
we have traversed all of the above and any and all periods
of time that are required to expire have in fact expired,
we are then prepared to apply for medical assistance.
We first begin by making final gifts in order to bring
the estate down to the allowable $2,400.00 level. There
is a fee for this which is in addition to the initial
fee.
All
Inclusive Services
Your investments is a one time payment for the plan
and one for the medicaid application itself. There are
no other fees. We are under retainer for whatever questions
and concerns arise in connection with long term care.
Our fees are based upon the value we bring to you. The
value is determined by the amount we can preserve and
an estimate of the time involved. We cannot quote a
fee until we understand exactly what it is that we will
be required to do for you. We charge one fee for the
planning and one fee for the medicaid application.
What
You Need to Do Next.
How
can your Assets be Protected? While each case is unique,
our services cover a wide variety of legal services
and advice related to long term care. When a loved one
enters a long term care facility, there are often numerous
documents you will be asked to sign, reports to be filled
out, and numerous other questions that are baffling
to many. In addition, the bulk of what we do is assisting
in making certain that we protect all of the assets
that we can with minimal or no adverse tax consequences.