Elder Law & Long Term Care

ELDER LAW & LONG-TERM CARE PLANNING

According to the Department of Health and Human Services, the average cost of long term care is $116,070.00 per year (as of 2019) for a semi-private room according to the Genworth Annual Survey of Long Term Care Costs (https://www.genworth.com/aging-and-you/finances/cost-of-care.html). That’s sharing a room and only the average cost! Once you start including the cost of health issues, quality of life, personal interests, a life time of savings can disappear faster than you expected.

There are a number of approaches to curbing these costs, extending in home care, preventing a reverse mortgage on your home, and improving your long-term quality of life.

UNDER THE AGE OF 50

  • Consider purchasing Long-Term Care Insurance from a Certified Financial Advisor
  • Be sure to execute an Advance Medical Directive to inform and legally enable your family or loved ones to make important health decisions for you.
  • Calculated the projected costs now, and determine how much per month you should save for after retirement.

UNDER THE AGE OF 65

  • Talk to a Certified Financial Advisor about selective and specific Deferred Long-Term Care Annuities.
  • Form an Irrevocable Medicaid Trust to qualify for additional government supplemental income without spending down your life savings and protect your home from being taken.
  • Consider investing in your home to make sure that it can support you in later years. This includes ramps, handrails, improved night lighting, medical alert system, etc.

OVER THE AGE OF 65

  • Complete any estate planning funding and structure your assets to meet your goals.
  • Begin selecting your preferred long-term care facility and let you family know when the earliest you would consider the move. For example, if you begin to fall and live alone, you may want to consider additional in-home care. And if it is impractical or financially impossible to continue living in your home, then your family can move you into a facility. These specific directions will alleviate your family of making a difficult decision and prevent them from wondering when they should get involved.

To learn more or get started on your estate plan, just schedule a time to visit us for a no obligation complimentary consultation.

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Commonly Asked Questions

Probate is a court procedure which transfers property the deceased owned into the hands of his/her descendants or beneficiaries.

Probate has two functions, it gets creditors paid and it gets property owned by the deceased retitled to the land of the living. It also gives relatives and friends the opportunity to bring suits against those who claim your property.

Probate can take anywhere from 6-18 months, it varies depending on the size and complication of the estate.

If the deceased person had a will, the probate process is still required and involves the court validating that will. In the old days when someone died, you would have to get someone else to say “Oh yes! That is John Smith’s signature”. This is not how it works now, if you have two witnesses and a notary it is presumed to be valid. After the court verifies the will, the person’s assets are then transferred to his/her beneficiaries.

If the deceased person had a revocable living trust in place and placed his/her assets into the trust, the assets will not have to go through the probate process and will be disbursed by the trustee according to the instructions of the trust, not under the law of the state of Maryland.