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).

If you are a resident of a nursing home, you have the right to access your medical records. You can request copies of your medical records, and the nursing home has two business days to give you a copy of your records. Your request should be made in writing. You will have to pay for the cost of the copies to the nursing home if asked, but you cannot be charged more than $.25 per page, or $.50 per page if the records are copied from microfilm. The nursing home can also ask you for a reasonable sum from you for clerical costs. You may also ask for copies of your financial records from the nursing home, with the same copy costs.

In addition, the persons you have designated in your HIPAA statement or in your health care power of attorney may request copies of your nursing home records for you. HIPAA stands for the “Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.” You can also sign a release form allowing others the right to request your nursing home records on your behalf. The nursing home may want to delay the process of providing copies of the documents to you, but they must comply under the law, within two working days.

Most nursing homes are cooperative in this regard, but it seems that few people are aware that they may ask for their records. If you are the resident of a nursing home who is asking for your records, your authority is under a Federal Code, and if the request is made by your representative, it would be under a California State Code. The within information is not to be taken as legal advice, but only as general information. You should consult with your Elder Law Attorney or Medi-Cal attorney in Walnut Creek, CA for additional information.

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).

Term Life Insurance: You can have any amount of term life insurance and still qualify for Medi-Cal to help pay for your nursing home costs.  For example, lets say that you have a $100,000 term life insurance policy that provides for a distribution of $100,000 to your wife when you die. You can apply for Medi-Cal and still be eligible with this policy. When you die, the $100,000 passes to your wife.

 Elder Law Planning Issue: However, there are planning issues to take into account regarding term life insurance policies. What happens if your wife becomes ill first, and she qualifies for Medi-Cal. If you die while your wife is on Medi-Cal, the distribution from your life insurance policy will pass to your wife and most likely make her ineligible for Medi-Cal. A remedy for this situation, which should be part of your Medi-Cal pre-planning with your elder law attorney, is to change the beneficiary designation on your life insurance policy to another person, like a child. If you have lost mental capacity, this may not be possible unless you have special powers in your financial durable power of attorney to make beneficiary designation changes on your life insurance policies. You should not assume that just because you have a financial durable power of attorney, that it includes powers for your fiduciary to change the beneficiary of your life insurance policy. Pre-planning with your elder law attorney will help you to determine this and to plan accordingly.

 Whole Life Insurance: You can qualify for Medi-Cal if you have a whole life insurance policy, provided that the face value, or cash in value of the policy, does not exceed $1,500. Any amounts over the $1,500 is counted toward the $2,000 cash reserve that you are allowed to keep under the Medi-Cal qualification regulations. As a result, if the cash value of your policy takes you over the $2,000 cash reserve, you will not be eligible for Medi-Cal unless you reduce the cash value of the policy and transfer or gift the excess amounts to your spouse or to another person. You should be able to do this through the life insurance company, provided that you have sufficient mental capacity to do so. If you do not have sufficient mental capacity, your fiduciary must rely on the powers in your durable financial power of attorney.  Unless your Medi-Cal qualification attorney has prepared your financial durable power of attorney, it will most likely not have gifting powers for asset protection and Medi-Cal qualification.

 Pre-planning With Your Elder Law Attorney: Pre-planning for your long term care and asset preservation should be accomplished as soon as possible, through your Medi-Cal qualification attorney. The language that is used for asset protection in the revocable living trust and financial durable powers of attorney is indeed different from regular estate planning documents. Your Medi-Cal qualification attorney can help you get your ducks in a row for qualification for Medi-Cal and the VA Aid & Attendance Pension benefit, and for preservation of your assets for your spouse and your loved ones.

Michael J. Young, your Medi-Cal qualification attorney in Walnut Creek, CA can help you get your ducks in a row for government benefits planning and for asset protection. You should accomplish your long term care planning as soon as possible, because if you lose your mental capacity, long term care planning and asset protection becomes much more difficult. You should not assume that the provisions in your existing revocable living trust and financial durable power of attorney will help you to qualify for Medi-Cal or the VA Aid and Attendance Pension Benefit if you lose capacity.

Michael J. Young, Medi-Cal qualification attorney in Walnut Creek, CA is an elder law attorney, senior law attorney, Medi-Cal attorney and probate attorney. 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.

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.

One of the most frequently asked questions I receive as an elder law attorney in Walnut Creek, CA is, “Can the State of California take my home if I die after having been on Medi-Cal?”

 The state will not actually take your home. But your home, if it is in your estate when you die, can be subject to a claim by the state after your death for the amounts the state has paid for your care. This claim will be paid when your property is sold from your estate. The state can only recover for the amounts they have actually paid for your care. Presently the amount they can recover is $7,092 per month, minus the share of cost that you have contributed to a nursing home. This amount of course would be less than what you would have paid as a private pay patient in a nursing home.

 In order to establish your home as an exempt asset when you apply for Medi-Cal, you must confirm your intent to return home if you have entered a nursing home. There is a question on the Medi-Cal application which allows you to establish this intent.

 The state will not pursue a claim for reimbursement against a surviving spouse of a Medi-Cal recipient as long as she is still living in the property. When she dies, the state will pursue the claim against any assets she received from her spouse, including the home, if he was a Medi-Cal recipient. In addition, the state cannot pursue a claim against the home if the Medi-Cal recipient is survived by a minor, blind or disabled child.

 There are techniques allowed by the state for protection of the home from a claim after death. For instance, we can “transmute” or transfer the ill spouse’s interest in the home to the well spouse during his life, and reserve a life estate to the well spouse. We can also transfer the home from a single Medi-Cal recipient to his children, for instance, and reserve a life estate to the Medi-Cal applicant. Transfers such as these must be done correctly and pursuant to the regulations in order to avoid a state claim, and in order to avoid capital gains issues. Please be aware that there is no protection for the home if it is in the revocable living trust of the Medi-Cal recipient when he passes away. Asset protection planning must be accomplished while the Medi-Cal recipient has good mental capacity. Otherwise, we may have to go to court to correct the problem. Do not rely on the idea that your financial durable power of attorney and revocable living trust will allow you to make these transfers during mental incapacity. The estate planning documents require specialized language in order to do this, and most plans do not have the requisite language.

 Keep in mind that the state cannot make a claim against assets that are not in your estate when you die. You will need the help of your elder law attorney aka your asset protection attorney in order create a long term care and asset protection plan for you. 

 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. He is a member of NAELA 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

Scammers are consistently targeting older people. An older client of ours in Walnut Creek called us to ask how she could be taken to the airport so that she could give a courier $2,500 for a service fee. The service fee was apparently to ensure that she would receive $25,000 that she was told she won in a contest. Our client said that she had made the check out and was ready to have it delivered, and that it had to be delivered no later than 3:00 p.m. that afternoon. We instructed our client to do nothing. We followed up by calling the person back who called her. It was an obvious scam, and we contacted the FBI.

Another client told us that she received an e-mail, purportedly from her grandson, stating that he was in Europe and needed money wired to him right away. The e-mail stated that the grandson had been robbed, had no money, and was living in the street waiting for the money to be wired to him. This was a ridiculous story and an obvious scam Please do not respond to e-mails like these or click their links.

In another case, a man who was almost 90 years old and who was suffering from some dementia, was the victim of a scam involving time shares. An unscrupulous salesman sold the senior a number of time shares, which the older person would never be able to use. Fortunately, the timeshare contracts were reversed by his daughter, but not without a lot of time and effort.

These stories are very disheartening to me, as an Elder Law Attorney in Walnut Creek, who for many years has endeavored to help seniors keep what they have earned. We do this through the preparation of asset protection plans, revocable living trusts, powers of attorney and wills, and assistance with applications for Medi-Cal and the VA Aid and attendance Pension Benefit.

Written Michael J. Young, elder law attorney and probate attorney in Walnut Creek, CA and former in-house counsel for title insurance companies. 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.

Congress passed the DRA (Deficit Reduction Act) on February 8, 2006. This act makes qualification for Medi-Cal benefits much more difficult. Congress mandated that the various states adopt the DRA into their rules, and Governor Schwarzenegger signed the DRA into law in California on September 27, 2008. We have been informed that the new DRA rules will become effective in California in the next several months.

One of the most onerous changes for Medi-Cal qualification will involve the penalty period which is created when a gift has been made by the Medi-Cal applicant. There is presently a 30 month look back period for gifts of non-exempt assets. So for example, if a gift was made by the Medi-Cal applicant in the amount of $30,000 within the last 30 months, this amount is divided by the penalty divisor of $7,092, which creates 4.23 months of ineligibility, which is rounded down to 4 months of ineligibility. If this gift was made in November 2012, the applicant would be eligible for Medi-Cal in March 2013, if otherwise qualified. These are the present rules, which we can use for pre-planning for Medi-Cal qualification. 

Under  the new DRA rules, there is a 60 month look back period, with an added, very negative twist. If the applicant gifted the same $30,000 within the last 60 months, 4.23 months of ineligibility would be created, and that number is not rounded down. If this gift was made in November 2012, she would not be eligible for Medi-Cal for 4.23 months AFTER she is admitted to a nursing home, and is otherwise qualified. For a single person to be otherwise qualified, she could have no more than $2,000 of non-qualified assets. The question will be how to be able to pay for the nursing home for the 4.23 months, and this will be extremely difficult for many people.

If you are considering planning for Medi-Cal and asset protection, you should have your estate planning documents updated to include asset protection and public benefits planning language, and you should consider visiting your elder law attorney as soon as you can for pre-planning.  

Written Michael J. Young, elder law attorney and probate attorney in Walnut Creek, CA and former in-house counsel for title insurance companies. 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

My father spent some of his final months in a large assisted living facility. He was in his late 80’s, and was at times depressed and grouchy. Since the passing of my mother, he would not socialize easily, and would reject the entreaties of the resident ladies in the facility. He also would not participate in any of the activities that the “social director” would arrange. When I would visit my father, he would be waiting for me in the lobby of the facility, sitting alone, and not talking to anyone. When I would meet with him he would say, “Where the hell have you been?” I noticed that there were many other residents just like him, all sitting alone, and not talking to anyone.

 One Saturday I picked up my brother to go with me to visit our father. My brother had a 10 year old Labrador retriever named Gracie. This dog was very friendly, to say the least. She loved everybody, and would make herself at home wherever she was. I asked my brother to bring Gracie with us.

When we arrived at the facility, Gracie pulled us in, immediately went up to an elderly man, not our father, and put her head in his lap! The man was not at all offended, his face lit up, and he started to pet Gracie. My brother apologized and pulled Gracie away. We started to look for my father, and Gracie spotted an elderly lady who was standing up, and leaning against her cane. Gracie walked up to the lady and pushed her snout against the lady’s thigh to say hello. The lady was startled at first, but started to pet Gracie and rub her ears, for which Gracie was grateful.

 Finally, we saw my father, sitting alone in a chair, sitting up straight with his cane out in front of him. Gracie went up to my father, and put her head in his lap. My dad’s face lit up, and he began to pet Gracie. This was the first time my father did not say to my brother and I, “Where the hell have you been?” when we went to visit him.

 After that meeting, we took Gracie with us to visit our father whenever we could. We noticed also that therapy dogs were brought into the facility on a regular basis for visits, which was always a big hit with the residents. Dogs can be very soothing for older people, and for my father it softened him and brought a smile to his face. Studies have shown that after visits with therapy dogs in care facilities, that the loneliness factor is lessened and that the blood pressure of the residents is lowered. You should consider bringing a dog with you when you visit your older loved ones.

Written Michael J. Young, elder law attorney and probate attorney in Walnut Creek, CA and former in-house counsel for title insurance companies. 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

We have qualified many of our clients for the VA Aid & Attendance Pension benefit, (A&A) which is available for wartime veterans or their surviving spouses, as part of their long term care plans. This program can pay the veteran over $19,000 per year, or the surviving spouse of the veteran over $12,000 per year.  This benefit is very helpful for the payment of in-home care, assisted living and board and care costs. 

             For many of our clients, planning for qualification for this benefit is required. Any planning for A&A must be coordinated with planning for Medi-Cal, which helps pay for the cost of skilled nursing facilities. As part of the planning, the Medi-Cal regulations allow for the gifting of assets in order to obtain eligibility. These regulations also provide for periods of ineligibility for Medi-Cal, if the gifting is not done properly.

             The VA, Aid and Attendance program presently has no penalties for gifting. As a result, the veteran can theoretically give all of his money away today, and be eligible for the VA benefit tomorrow. However, if the gifting is not done properly, and pursuant to the Medi-Cal regulations, the veteran may not be eligible for Medi-Cal for many months. The cost of nursing homes can be $10,000 per month, and we never know when we may end up in a nursing home.

             The Aid and Attendance Pension benefit has become very popular as of late, and the United States Congress has expressed concern lately about complaints concerning the length of time it now takes for the A&A applications to be processed. Congress has also been concerned about complaints concerning abusive practices by some within the financial investment community, who advocate asset transfers from veterans or their surviving spouses, and who then sell annuities in order get people qualified for the benefit. In many instances the applicants do not qualify for A&A, and their chances of obtaining Medi-Cal may have been jeopardized for many months. In addition, qualification for A&A does not require the purchase of an annuity.

             As a result, Congress is considering imposing a “look back penalty period” for gifting of assets in order to obtain qualification for A&A. The result will be a penalty period for eligibility for A&A. A three year look back penalty period has been suggested by a U.S. Senator. Any such new legislation would probably not take effect for another year. As a result, long term care planning should begin as soon as practicable. After all, to quote my mother, “None of us are getting any younger.”      

 To view our “Nuts and Bolts” Guide to Veteran’s Benefits, please follow this link:

 http://www.walnutcreekelderlaw.com/GuideToVeteransBenefits.html

Written Michael J. Young, elder law attorney and probate attorney in Walnut Creek, CA and former in-house counsel for title insurance companies. 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