Government Benefits

Introduction. This will be a painful time for you and your family. While grieving, you still have the responsibility of handling all the final financial affairs of your loved one. You might face bureaucracy, multiple court forms, and other family members who are grieving or might be angry. We can guide you through this every step of the way.
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Read this article from NAMI with a thorough and straightforward explanation of a Pooled Income Trust. 

There are plenty of free services available to seniors who want to remain living at home. 

Read this Guide from Harvard Medical School to find out if any of these resources can be helpful to you or your loved ones.
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If you spend some time in New York and some time in Florida, you may wish to consult your accountant about determining your domicile (as, depending on the answer, you will owe very different taxes). You may also think about consulting with two different local attorneys regarding your estate planning, as both New York and Florida have real differences in Will execution formalities, asset and homestead protection, Health Care and Power of Attorney languages, Medicaid eligibility rules and estate taxes. Consider this non-exclusive list of differences:

Recently someone asked me a question: if an co-op apt. is owned jointly by spouses with right of survivorship, can Medicaid enforce a lien against the estate or the decedent's interest in the co-op when the joint owner who was a Medicaid recipient dies?

Even though some seniors may be entitled to home care through their Medicare benefits, it may be impossible for them to receive this needed care.

And that is why most people plan for Medicaid - not because they are trying to cheat the system, but because they have no other real choice. 

http://www.
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Now that the “file and suspend” loophole has been eliminated (effective April 30, 2016), what other strategies remain for maximizing one’s social security payments?

1.   The main strategy is, of course, to delay the receipt of social security. At full retirement age, a worker is entitled to receive 100% of his Social Security retirement benefits. However, for each year that the worker delays the receipt of his benefits, he will receive an 8% delayed retirement credit. At age 70, however, one cannot delay any further and is obligated to receive the income. As a result, if the worker delays the receipt of his benefits until age 70 his benefit will increase by a total of 32%.

Of course, the downside of this strategy is that during the years that the worker delayed the receipt of his benefit, he was not receiving any payments from Social Security.  As a result, this strategy only works for people who have an alternative source of income during these years of deferment, either through continued employment or through savings.

Furthermore, this strategy works only for workers who are in relatively good health and expected to live for a long period in retirement.  If the worker develops an unexpected illness and dies sooner than he expected, the overall receipt of money will be significantly less than if he had chosen to receive full retirement benefits at full retirement age.

2.   Another strategy involves survivor benefits. Depending on the survivor’s work record, the survivor has a choice. She can either (i) receive full survivor benefits at age 60 and delay the receipt of her own larger benefit at the age of 70 or (ii) take her own benefits at the age of 62 and then switch over to survivor benefits at full retirement age.

3.   Yet another strategy involves benefits for divorced spouse. As long as the spouses were married for at least 10 years prior to divorce, and the individual has not remarried, the ex-spouse may claim spousal benefits based on an ex-spouse’s earning records. This strategy may be very beneficial, as the ex-spouse may claim her spousal benefits at full retirement age and delay the receipt of her own retirement benefits until the age of 70.

Disclaimer: This article only offers general information.  Each situation is unique. It is always helpful to talk to a specialized attorney, to figure out your various options and ramifications of actions.  As every case has subtle differences, please do not use this article for legal advice. Only a signed engagement letter will create an attorney-client relationship. ATTORNEY ADVERTISING

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 and Supplemental Security Income.

The key is to know about them and have the ability or the knowledge to qualify.

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/100214/retirement-strategies-low-income-seniors.asp?layout=orig

1. If Medicaid was paid improperly, the Department of Social Services is entitled to recover all improperly paid benefits.

         If Medicaid discovers that an individual was ineligible because the information provided was false, there will be 3 steps taken. First, any further medical assistance will be discontinued. Second, the case can be referred to the local District Attorney office for criminal prosecution. Third, a lawsuit for the civil recovery may be commenced, to recover the money overpaid.

         The first step in this process is usually a letter, received by Medicaid recipient, informing him that he is being investigated for Medicaid fraud, and asking him to come in for an interview.

2.     Medicaid is entitled to recover from the estate of anyone who was 55 or older when the assistance was granted. However, this recovery is limited by several important considerations:

1. The recovery is limited to benefits paid within 10 years of individual’s death.

2. Medicaid is excluded from making a claim against the estate of an individual who is survived by a spouse, a minor child, or a disabled child. However, the lien is held in abeyance only. Once the surviving spouse dies, a lien can be placed against the second to die spouse’s estate to recover Medicaid benefits paid to the first spouse.

3. Medicaid may only make the recovery from the probate assets of an individual (those assets that pass under a will or by administration if there is no Will, and not part of a revocable trust, life estate or joint tenancy agreement).

Medicaid is a preferred creditor. As a result, Medicaid’s lien must be satisfied before other creditor’s claims and before any bequests to beneficiaries are distributed.

Most Medicaid liens can be negotiated.

3. Medicaid is entitled to recover from the proceeds of an action arising from an accident or malpractice, as the result of which the injured party received Medicaid benefits.           

Disclaimer: This article only offers general information.  Each situation is unique. It is always helpful to talk to a specialized attorney, to figure out your various options and ramifications of actions.  As every case has subtle differences, please do not use this article for legal advice. Only a signed engagement letter will create an attorney-client relationship.

Who is entitled to survivor benefits:  

A widow or a widower is entitled to full survivor benefits at the age of 66 (or 67, for people born after 1962). In order to qualify for the benefits, the spouse must have been married to the deceased for at least 9 months prior to death. Divorced spouses are entitled to the same survivor benefits (provided that the marriage lasted for at least 10 years).

An unmarried child is entitled to full survivor benefits until age 18 (or 19, if he is still attending a secondary school full time)

Dependent parents (defined as those whom the deceased supported for at least one half of their total income) are entitled to survivor benefits as well.

How much are survivor benefits:

The amount depends on (1) the earnings of the deceased (2) the age of the recipient spouse and (3) whether or not the recipient spouse continues to work.

The earnings of the deceased: of course, the more the deceased contributed to the Social Security system, the higher the survivor benefit amount will be for all recipients.

If the widow or widower has reached a full retirement age, then he / she will receive 100% of the deceased worker’s benefit amount. If the widow or widower has not reached a full retirement age, then he /she will receive between 71.5% and 99% of the deceased worker’s basic benefit amount.

If the widow / widower continues to work and he / she is below the full retirement age, then the survivor benefits will get reduced. If, on the other hand, the survivor is above the full retirement age, then the benefits do not get reduced, despite the additional income.

Surviving dependent parent is entitled to 82.5% of the deceased worker’s basic benefit amount.

The total amount a family can receive each month is between 150% and 180% of the basic benefit rate.

Disclaimer: This article only offers general information.  Each situation is unique. It is always helpful to talk to a specialized attorney, to figure out your various options and ramifications of actions.  As every case has subtle differences, please do not use this article for legal advice. Only a signed engagement letter will create an attorney-client relationship.

Your parents may have had a long and relatively happy marriage. They may intend to live together until their death. Nonetheless, the financial reality of today’s government rules may force them to consider divorce.  And there is no need for psychological counseling at this point. Divorce, with future cohabitation, would be done simply to qualify for long term care benefits.

Current Medicaid rules tacitly encourage divorce. In New York State, for people over 65, to qualify for Medicaid as an individual, one cannot have income of greater than $825 a month. A married couple cannot have income of greater than $1,209. Clearly, a divorced couple can shelter a greater amount of income than a married one. Furthermore, an individual on Medicaid cannot have assets of greater than $14,850. A married couple cannot have assets of greater than $21,750, again, penalizing a couple and encouraging divorce.

When only one spouse needs Medicaid (in order to receive home care or nursing home care), divorce may simply become a necessity in order to shelter some of the assets.  A ‘community spouse’ (the spouse which is not receiving Medicaid) is permitted to keep no more than $119,200 of assets, and no more than $2,980 of income per month. Any excess above these numbers may be subject to a Medicaid recovery lawsuit. As a result, the sick spouse may transfer all of his assets to his spouse, and then the spouses divorce.

The information in this blog was adapted from

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-amy-ziettlow/is-divorce-the-best-option-for-older-americans_b_6878658.html

Disclaimer: This article only offers general information.  Each situation is unique. It is always helpful to talk to a specialized attorney, to figure out your various options and ramifications of actions.  As every case has subtle differences, please do not use this article for legal advice. Only a signed engagement letter will create an attorney-client relationship.