A Third of Americans Spend Their Entire Inheritance Within Two Years!

A researcher at Ohio State University found that Americans who receive an inheritance save about half of it and spend, donate or lose the rest. However, almost 30% of Americans who receive the inheritance had negative savings rate within 2 years of receiving the inheritance, meaning that they spent it all.There are strong...
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Leaving Real Estate Property to More Than One Heir May Cause Future Problems

Property partnership may end for a variety of reasons. One common category of circumstances when real estate litigation occurs involves siblings who inherit property from their parents and have different wishes. Multiple problems can arise.   One sibling may want to live in the property while the other one wants to rent it out....
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Can You Avoid a 5 Year Penalty for Uncompensated Transfers?

Medicaid imposes a transfer penalty that can last for up to 5 years for all uncompensated transfers made prior to the application for nursing home Medicaid. This provision makes crisis planning for nursing home not efficient. Yet many people are reluctant to transfer their assets ahead of time and impoverish themselves, because, of...
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Can Court Reform a Will When the Attorney Made a Drafting Mistake?

In a recent New York case, a Will provided for disposition of 2/3 of the property (leaving property to decedent’s siblings, nieces and nephews) and was silent about the disposition of the remaining 1/3. In re Isasi-Diaz, NYLJ, Mar. 28, 2014, p. 35 (Sur. Ct., N.Y.Co.) (Mella, S.)  The attorney-draftsman provided an affidavit...
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What is Long Term Care Insurance and New York State Partnership for Long Term Care

Many seniors are not aware that Medicare does not pay for custodial long term care. An individual suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, which requires assistance with feeding, bathing, and taking oral medications will not be covered by Medicare not by a Medigap insurance. The only way of paying for custodial long term...
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Can relatives supplement Medicaid covered nursing home care by paying for private nurses and private rooms?

Even though this concept appears reasonable (after all, most nursing homes are short on staff and rooms are semi-private at best), Medicaid does not permit it. Medicaid is a payor of last resort: if there are any available sources of payment then these sources must be used first. If a resident,...
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There is a lot of government help available for low income seniors.

This article is an invaluable resource. It lists all the various government programs that are available to senior citizens, with links to criteria and additional information. There is a lot of help available to seniors. The list of available programs includes, but is not limited to: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Food Stamps, Property tax relief, legal help, housing vouchers...
There is a lot of government help available for low income seniors. Continue reading…