Walnut Creek Elder Law Blog

People are living longer and are enjoying healthier lives for longer periods of time. George Burns, who lived to be 100 said, “I’m going to stay in show business until I’m the last one left!” I see attorney friends at the courthouse who are over 80. When I talk to them, I discover that they have no intention of retiring. Mickey Mantle once said, “If I knew I was going to live this long, I’d have taken better care of myself.” This is a funny line, but by exercising, we can expect to live long and productive lives.

 A report by the American College of Sports Medicine says that by the year 2030, there will be more than 70,000,000 people in this country who are over the age of 65. And, the fastest growing segment of the population will be people who are over age 85! But, we want to be healthy as we grow older.  

 Walking has been reported to be the easiest exercise to do, which also has the greatest benefits. According to a report by the Mayo Clinic, you can literally walk your way to fitness and good health. Several reports say that by merely walking 45 minutes per day, you can maintain a healthy weight, control blood pressure and type 2 diabetes, strengthen your skeletal system and improve your coordination and balance. Walking also helps to elevate your mood.

 You can easily create a walking routine. My wife walks around the Lafayette reservoir with her friends two times a week. They don’t go around the reservoir once, but two times! I am trying to catch up with her with my walking routine, by walking to downtown Walnut Creek and back for lunch every day. If I stretch it, I can have a 45 minute round trip walk. I believe that in the future, I will be one of the attorneys at the court house who is over 80, and in great shape!

 At the Law Offices of Michael J. Young, located in Walnut Creek, Ca, we talk about the Elder Care Journey with our clients, and in our workshops. Over the years, we have helped many families, and we can help you too with long-term care planning, asset protection plans, assistance with Medi-Cal and the VA, comprehensive estate planning, wills, trusts and powers of attorney.

 Michael J. Young, Attorney at Law, is an estate planning attorney and Medi-Cal qualification attorney in Walnut Creek, CA. For additional information, please visit our website at  www.WalnutCreekElderLaw.com LawYoung1@Gmail.com Our address is at 1931 San Miguel Dr., Suite 220, Walnut Creek, CA 94596. 925-256-0298. Mr. Young serves Contra Costa and Alameda Counties, including the cities of Alamo, Walnut Creek, Concord, Danville, Pleasant Hill, Brentwood, Antioch, Clayton, etc. Mr. Young advises clients regarding Medi-Cal, Probates, Probates with Real Estate, Medi-Cal, nursing home costs, asset protection, the VA Aid and attendance pension benefit, and long term care planning. Mr. Young is an Elder Law Attorney and Probate Attorney with offices in Walnut Creek, CA. Walnut Creek Elder Law Attorney, Walnut Creek Probate Attorney. Senior Law Attorney. Walnut Creek Medi-Cal attorney. Mr. Young is certified by the VA and is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA).

My mother, who was a WWII veteran and the mother of five wild boys and a composed girl, used to tell me that the only thing that she really feared in life was losing her mental capacity. When I was a younger attorney, and my parents were younger, I prepared their estate plan, which was the typical plan designed for what happens when you die. When my parents got older and began to suffer the maladies of older people, I prepared a new estate plan for them, with a focus on not so much what would happen when they died, but on what would happen if they did not die, became ill and needed help with their care. My parents were adamant about having a plan that left something, especially their home, to their six children.

Estate planning and planning for mental capacity issues is very different for the older client. As a baby boomer, and after having helped take care of my aging parents, and after counseling many older clients and their families, my perspective as an estate planning attorney has changed over the years, and is now geared toward setting up a plan for the care of my clients, and protection of their assets, as well as planning for when they die.

Incapacity involves the inability of someone to make decisions regarding their personal and financial affairs. For many of our clients, diseases such as Parkinson’s and  Alzheimer’s have lead to mental incapacity. For other clients, there has been an event causing a brain injury leading to mental capacity. Many of our clients have dementia with no disease related diagnosis. Our recommendation is that anyone who is a baby boomer or older, should have an updated estate plan with an emphasis on asset protection and government benefits planning. You should also plan on how you or your fiduciary can get your ducks in a row to be able to protect your assets, such as your home, and obtain Medi-Cal to pay for your nursing home care, and the VA Aid and Attendance Pension Benefit to help pay the cost of in home care and assisted living facilities if needed.

You will need to decide who will be able to manage your financial affairs if you cannot. These individuals are usually trusted family members, but can also be friends. They can also be professional fiduciaries, who are licensed by California’s professional fiduciary bureau. You will also need to decide on who will make decisions for your regarding your health care, if you cannot do so. One issue to decide is whether you want to be on life support machines if you are in an irreversible condition and are only being kept alive by machines.

Michael J. Young, your elder law attorney in Walnut Creek, CA can help you design a plan to meet your needs as you get older. The plan will involve getting your ducks in a row for asset protection and government benefits planning. There are many options that your senior law attorney can help you with. Keep in mind that if you lose your mental capacity and what to protect assets by way of transferring your assets to your spouse or children, as is allowed under the regulations, you will not be able to do so if you have a traditional estate plan. In that case, we may have to go to court to amend your estate planning documents to provide for asset protection.

The information contained herein is not to be taken as legal advise, and you are advised to see your elder law attorney before attempting any planning or transfers of assets on your own. This article is written by elder law attorney Michael J. Young. Mr. Young, whose office is in Walnut Creek, CA is an elder law attorney, senior law attorney, Medi-Cal attorney and probate attorney whose office is in Walnut Creek, CA. Mr. Young is certified by the VA and is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA). For additional information, please visit our website at  www.WalnutCreekElderLaw.com LawYoung1@Gmail.com Our address is at 1931 San Miguel Dr., Suite 220, Walnut Creek, CA 94596. 925-256-0298. Mr. Young serves Contra Costa and Alameda Counties, including the cities of Alamo, Walnut Creek, Concord, Danville, Pleasant Hill, Brentwood, Antioch, Clayton, etc. Mr. Young advises clients regarding Medi-Cal, Probates, Probates with Real Estate, Medi-Cal, nursing home costs, asset protection, the VA Aid and attendance pension benefit, and long term care planning. Mr. Young is an Elder Law Attorney and Probate Attorney with offices in Walnut Creek, CA. Walnut Creek Elder Law Attorney, Walnut Creek Probate Attorney. Senior Law Attorney. Walnut Creek Medi-Cal attorney.

You should get your ducks in a row long before a crisis occurs, especially where your health and finances are concerned. Many of our clients come to see us when a crisis is occurring. For instance, their spouse or loved one is in the hospital or has just entered a skilled nursing facility. At this stage the planning is usually more difficult, and we may be facing memory issues of the ill person. It may also be more difficult to preserve the home as a legacy for the clients’ beneficiaries. The home is many times our clients’ largest asset.

As part of long term care planning, we plan how various stages of care will be paid for and determine what assets and resources are available. We proceed to get our ducks in a row to protect assets. We also line our ducks up for obtaining Medi-Cal to pay for the skilled nursing facility and the VA Aid & Attendance Pension Benefit to pay for in home care or an assisted living facility. Gifting and spending issues for Medi-Cal and VA are considered. The longer we have to do long term care planning, the easier it is for all concerned. In addition, your peace of mind can be assured earlier on. 

FAMILY DYNAMICS: When we are able to do pre-planning for our clients, we can better take into account issues concerning family dynamics. We need to know which family members are helping the ill person, and who can be relied upon when help is needed. We can offer suggestions for the well spouse for her care for the ill spouse when he comes home. We will be better able to find out if there is serious infighting and resentments among family members. When a crisis occurs, these dynamics become intensified.

LEGAL DOCUMENTS: Are the legal documents up to date? If they are, you are in a tiny minority. If you have not gone to an elder law attorney in the last several years, your documents are probably not up to date. There is specialized language that can be utilized for asset protection and for government benefits planning in the various documents. For instance, if we want to preserve the home and protect it from a Medi-Cal lien, and the ill person has severe memory issues, we may not be able to proceed to transfer the home to the well spouse or a child without going to court. Most revocable living trusts and financial durable powers of attorney do not contain this specialized asset protection language.

Pre-planning will also allow us to discuss any changes that may be needed in the trust, will, financial durable power of attorney and other estate planning documents. Family dynamics are always changing with the occurrence of deaths, divorces, children who are themselves in need of care, second marriages, etc.

Written Michael J. Young, elder law attorney, Medi-Cal attorney, senior law attorney and probate attorney in Walnut Creek, CA and former in-house counsel for title insurance companies. Mr. Young is a Medi-Cal attorney and is VA Certified.  www.WalnutCreekElderLaw.com LawYoung1@Gmail.com 1931 San Miguel Dr., Suite 220, Walnut Creek, CA 94596. 925-256-0298. Mr. Young serves Contra Costa and Alameda Counties, including the cities of Walnut Creek, Alamo, Danville, Concord, Brentwood, Pleasant Hill, Antioch, Clayton, etc. Mr. Young advises clients regarding Probates, Probates with Real Estate, Medi-Cal, nursing homes, asset protection, the VA Aid and attendance pension benefit, and long term care planning. Mr. Young is an Elder Law Attorney and Probate Attorney with offices in Walnut Creek, CA. Walnut Creek Elder Law Attorney, Walnut Creek Probate Attorney. Senior Law Attorney

Most of our clients make it well known in their long term care plans, that if they become ill, they wish to be taken care of at home for as long as possible. My parents made a pact with each other that if either of them had to go to “rehab”  as my mother called it, which is a skilled nursing facility, that they wanted to return home and be taken care of at home. My mother died at home under hospice care. Your elder law attorney can make these desires known in your elder care estate planning documents. In fact, at the Law Offices of Michael J. Young in Walnut Creek CA, we have our clients sign a separate “Intent To Return Home Document,” which states that if they have to go to a nursing home, it is always their intent to return to their home.

Most of our clients also make it known in their long term care planning documents that if they have a terminal illness, and they would only survivie by being hooked up to machines, that they would rather instead, be allowed to die with dignity, and not be hooked up to machines.

Many people do not know that hospice care can take place at home, and that hospice care professionals can come to your home. Hospice is also often paid for by Medicare or private insurance. To qualify for hospice, a physician must confirm that in their opinion, their patient is likely to die within a six month period. This is generally all that is required. I remember how relieved my siblings and I were when my mother was on hospice at home, and various nurses, social workers, doctors, priests and other aides came into my parents home to attend to my mother. All of us benefitted from this process. 

The hospice process allowed my mother, my dad, myself and my siblings to  to appreciate our last days together with my mother, outside of the traditional, more hectic hospital atmosphere.  

For more information about hospice, long term care planning, asset protection, Medi-Cal qualification and the VA Aid & Attendance Pension Benefit, please feel free to contact Michael J. Young at The Law Offices of Michael J. Young in Walnut Creek, CA. www.youngelderlaw.com www.walnutcreekelderlaw.com

Written Michael J. Young, elder law attorney, Medi-Cal attorney, senior law attorney and probate attorney in Walnut Creek, CA and former in-house counsel for title insurance companies. Mr. Young is a Medi-Cal attorney and is VA Certified.  www.WalnutCreekElderLaw.com LawYoung1@Gmail.com 1931 San Miguel Dr., Suite 220, Walnut Creek, CA 94596. 925-256-0298. Mr. Young serves Contra Costa and Alameda Counties, including the cities of Walnut Creek, Alamo, Danville, Concord, Brentwood, Pleasant Hill, Antioch, Clayton, etc. Mr. Young advises clients regarding Probates, Probates with Real Estate, Medi-Cal, nursing homes, asset protection, the VA Aid and attendance pension benefit, and long term care planning. Mr. Young is an Elder Law Attorney and Probate Attorney with offices in Walnut Creek, CA. Walnut Creek Elder Law Attorney, Walnut Creek Probate Attorney. Senior Law Attorney

Medi-Cal can pay for your stay in a skilled nursing facility if you qualify. Under the state’s regulations, your home can be confirmed as an exempt asset in the Medi-Cal application. This means that you can keep your home, if you are otherwise qualified, and still receive Medi-Cal. This is true whether you are single or married. The concept is that you should not have to lose your home in order to receive this public benefit.

 The problem is that the state will want to recoup the payments it has made to the nursing home for your benefit, when you die. If your home is in your estate when you die, the state will put a lien on your home for the amount it has paid to the nursing home on your behalf. If the state has paid out $150,000 for you, they will put a lien on your home for that amount. When you die and your estate is settled, the state will be satisfied first for their lien of $150,000, and your beneficiaries will receive what is left. The state will not pursue a lien against a surviving spouse who still owns the home, but when she dies, the state’s lien will attach to the home and the state will recoup their payments at that time. 

There is a legal technique which is permitted under the regulations, which will allow you to protect your home against a Medi-Cal lien. It is called a “reserved life estate,” and your elder law attorney or senior law attorney can advise you in this regard. If the Medi-Cal applicant owns a home, we can transfer her interest in the home to her spouse, or to her children, for instance. A life estate in the home is reserved on the deed in favor of the Medi-Cal applicant. This means that the applicant owns the home for the rest of her life, and that her spouse or children own the remainder interest. The applicant is entitled to rents, issues and profits derived from the real estate. These interests are confirmed on the county record. When the Medi-Cal applicant dies, the home is not in her estate because her life interest disappears at the time of her death by operation of law, and her spouse or her children then receive the full interest in the property. Elder law planning and asset protection planning can be further pursued for the surviving spouse with your elder law attorney, to likewise protect her interest in the home.

Although under real estate law the home is not in the Medi-Cal applicant’s estate when she dies, so that a Medi-Cal lien cannot attach to the home, another benefit in using this technique is that under the IRS regulations, the reserved life estate interest should be recognized as keeping enough interest in her home in her estate, so that there should be a “step-up in basis” for capital gains purposes at the time of her death.  

If you have lost mental capacity at the time we would like to make a transfer of your interest in your home and reserve a life estate in your favor, we will need to look at the language and powers in your revocable living trust and financial durable power of attorney. If the powers are not there, and they usually are not, you may have to pursue a court petition through an elder law attorney who is familiar with this area of the law, in order to reform your documents to allow for this transfer. Most revocable living trusts and financial durable powers of attorney do not contain this favorable language. As a result people who are “baby boomer” age or older should consider getting their “Ducks In A Row” and have their elder law attorney or senior law attorney create an elder care plan for them, which will include estate planning documents with this favorable, asset protection language. An elder law attorney who is familiar with Medi-Cal qualification can certainly help you in this regard. Michael J. Young is an elder law attorney who practices in Walnut Creek, CA.

Written Michael J. Young, elder law attorney, Medi-Cal attorney, senior law attorney and probate attorney in Walnut Creek, CA and former in-house counsel for title insurance companies. He is Medi-Cal attorney and is VA Certified.  www.WalnutCreekElderLaw.com LawYoung1@Gmail.com 1931 San Miguel Dr., Suite 220, Walnut Creek, CA 94596. 925-256-0298. Mr. Young serves Contra Costa and Alameda Counties, including the cities of Walnut Creek, Alamo, Danville, Concord, Brentwood, Pleasant Hill, Antioch, Clayton, etc. Mr. Young advises clients regarding Probates, Probates with Real Estate, Medi-Cal, nursing homes, asset protection, the VA Aid and attendance pension benefit, and long term care planning. Mr. Young is an Elder Law Attorney and Probate Attorney with offices in Walnut Creek, CA. Walnut Creek Elder Law Attorney, Walnut Creek Probate Attorney. Senior Law Attorney

     Does your Financial Durable Power of Attorney (financial DPA) contain asset protection and government benefits qualification language? It probably does not, unless it was prepared by an elder law attorney. If you lose mental capacity, your spouse or children may be prevented from gifting your assets to themselves, in order to help you qualify for Medi-Cal or for the VA Aid & Attendance Pension benefit.

If your financial DPA contains any gifting language at all, it is probably limited to the annual gift tax exclusion amount, which is $13,000 per person this year. This language is usually of little help for Medi-Cal qualification. In addition, the language will probably not allow for gifting to the ”attorney in fact”, who is the person acting for you.  Specialized language is required under the law in order to allow for any gifting to the person acting as the “attorney in fact.” This specialized language usually does not appear in a “regular” financial durable power of attorney.

For instance, the home can easily be established as an exempt asset for Medi-Cal qualification. If the home is in the name of the Medi-Cal applicant who has lost mental capacity, and we want to transfer the home to a child and reserve a life estate to the applicant in order to avoid a Medi-Cal lien, most financial durable powers of attorney will not allow for this. Most financial durable powers of attorney will allow a transfer only upon receipt of consideration from a sale for fair market value of the real property.

To give another example, the Medi-Cal applicant, under the regulations, is allowed to own a life insurance policy, with a pay on death figure in any amount. However, in order to qualify for Medi-Cal, the applicant’s life insurance policy cannot have more than $1500 cash value. If there is a $5,000 cash value, for instance, the Medi-Cal applicant cannot qualify. The remedy is to liquidate the cash from the policy and then gift it out. What do you do however if the Medi-Cal applicant has lost capacity? We need to then look at the powers in the financial durable power of attorney. However, although most financial DPAs may allow for a liquidation of the cash value, they will not allow you to gift the cash out. The Medi-Cal applicant can only retain $2,000 in non qualified accounts, and if the cash from the policy cannot be gifted, it would have to be spent before qualification for Medi-Cal can be obtained.

The financial DPA in an elder law context, is also coordinated with the revocable living trust of the applicant. There should be specialized asset protection language in the trust, which refers to the financial DPA. This specialized language will allow the attorney in fact to “stand in the shoes” of the maker of the trust, for all purposes, including for Medi-Cal qualification. This technique is allowed by law, and provides the greatest amount of flexibility for the family who is helping the older person who has lost capacity, when we are applying for Medi-Cal.

Remember that if existing estate planning documents are not updated before the older person loses capacity, we may have to resort to a court proceeding to modify the language in the documents. This process is expensive and is not always guaranteed. The best approach is to pre-planning, and to have your estate planning documents updated as early as possible by a qualified elder law attorney, who practices full time in this area of the law. 

Written Michael J. Young, elder law attorney in Walnut Creek, CA. www.WalnutCreekElderLaw.com mike@WalnutCreekElderLaw.com. 1931 San Miguel Dr., Suite 220, Walnut Creek, CA 94596. 925-256-0298. Mr. Young serves Contra Costa and Alameda Counties, including the cities of Walnut Creek, Alamo, Danville, Concord, Brentwood, Pleasant Hill, Antioch, Clayton, etc. Mr. Young advises clients regarding Medi-Cal, nursing homes, asset protection, the VA Aid and attendance pension benefit, and long term care planning. Mr. Young is a Concord Elder Law Attorney with offices in Walnut Creek, CA.

I practice Elder Law and represent the older client and their families. When clients come to see me, their concerns are not so much about what happens when they die, but more about ’What happens if they don’t die.’

Of course, they want to make sure that their assets pass to their family with a minimum of expenses and taxes. But the bigger and more complicated question is, “What happens if I don’t die?” As we know, Americans are living longer all the time. The infirmities of old age may require that we have in home care assistance, or go to an assisted living facility, board and care home or eventually a to a nursing home.  We are of course concerned about how we pay for these costs. A regular estate plan does not address these needs. An elder law attorney can prepare a long term care plan for you, and address these needs. He will also address the concern of passing assets to their family.

To put it another way, a regular estate plan insures that if you die, your assets will be passed on to your family the way you want. The operative word is “if”. A  regular estate plan will not help preserve assets so that hopefully there will be something left when you die to pass on to your family. As we know, the assets of the older client could be depleted by a nursing home stay or lengthy illness, which could leave their spouse or heirs with nothing.  

If you have sufficient assets to pay for long-term care or nursing home costs without running out of funds, then a regualr estate planning attorney may be all you need. However, if you cannot afford the cost of a lenghty nursing home stay, of around $90,000 per year or $180,000 per year for a couple, or more, then an elder law attorney would be able to help you.

For a real life example, Mary and Jim have about $300,000 in assets and a home worth around $500,000. Jim needs assistance and uses a wheelchair. Mary has been providing for his care, but recently has shown signs of forgetfulness and confusion. She has been diagnosed by her doctor as having early signs of dementia.   

An estate plan is of course important to Jim and Mary, but this won’t help them deal with the problems they are presently dealing with. They want to tackle the issue of how they will be able to afford the cost of nursing home care should either one or both of them need it. They want to establish how they will be taken care of should Mary’s dementia become more advanced. They want to find out if if they can stay in their home with assistance.

This couple needs a life plan, specific to them, to meet their needs for the future. Jim and Mary need to seek the advice of an elder law attorney.

Written Michael J. Young, elder law attorney in Walnut Creek, CA. www.WalnutCreekElderLaw.com mike@WalnutCreekElderLaw.com. 1931 San Miguel Dr., Suite 220, Walnut Creek, CA 94596. 925-256-0298. Mr. Young serves Contra Costa and Alameda Counties, including the cities of Walnut Creek, Alamo, Danville, Concord, Brentwood, Pleasant Hill, Antioch, Clayton, etc. Mr. Young advises clients regarding Medi-Cal, nursing homes, asset protection, the VA Aid and attendance pension benefit, and long term care planning. Mr. Young is a Concord Elder Law Attorney with offices in Walnut Creek, CA.

Michael J. Young is an elder law attorney in Walnut Creek, CA who represents many clients from Concord and the surrounding areas. Mr. Young represents the older client and their families regarding asset protection, estate planning, long term care planning and government benefits planning. Mr. Young helps his clients and their families plan for and qualify for Medi-Cal. Medi-Cal helps pay the cost of skilled nursing facilities.

In addition elder law attorney Michael J. Young has clients in Concord, CA who are war time veterans or the surviving spouses of wartime veterans. The VA Aid & Attendance Improved Pension Benefit can help pay the costs of in home care, assisted living facilities and board and care homes for these clients. The single veteran can receive up to $19,736 per year and the surviving spouse can receive up to $12,681 per year for this benefit.

Both programs, Medi-Cal and the VA Aid and Attendance Improved Pension Benefit, are asset and needs based for qualification. As a result, qualification for these benefits is part of the elder care plan prepared by Mr. Young for the older client and their families. This planning may involve asset protection.

Mr. Young has written booklets entitled “The Alzheimer’s Legal Survival Kit” and “The Nuts and Bolts Guide to Veteran’s Benefits”. These booklets are available on Mr. Young’s website at http://WalnutCreekElderLaw.com.

For additional information, you may contact Mr. Young’s office at 925-256-0298, or e-mail to him at LawYoung1@Gmail.com.

This blog is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. You should consult an elder law, asset protection and government benefits planning attorney for your particular case, and before you proceed with any planning.

Written Michael J. Young, elder law attorney in Walnut Creek, CA. www.WalnutCreekElderLaw.com mike@WalnutCreekElderLaw.com. 1931 San Miguel Dr., Suite 220, Walnut Creek, CA 94596. 925-256-0298. Mr. Young serves Contra Costa and Alameda Counties, including the cities of Walnut Creek, Alamo, Danville, Concord, Brentwood, Pleasant Hill, Antioch, Clayton, etc. Mr. Young advises clients regarding Medi-Cal, nursing homes, asset protection, the VA Aid and attendance pension benefit, and long term care planning. Mr. Young is a Concord Elder Law Attorney with offices in Walnut Creek, CA.