Category Archives: Pleasant Hill Senior Law Attorney

Your Home and The “Heggstad” Petition

Your home should be transferred to your revocable living trust for various reasons. One reason is to avoid probate of your home upon your death. Another reason is that as of January 1, 2017, if you die after having been on Medi-Cal, the state will not be able to pursue recovery against your home if […]

Medi-Cal Qualification and Joint Accounts

If you are applying for Medi-Cal, you will be required to disclose all of your assets in your application package. Medi-Cal wants to see evidence of all of your accounts, even joint accounts that you may have with someone else. Joint accounts will be considered by Medi-Cal, at least initially, to belong to you alone. […]

Consider A Joint Checking Account With Your Parents

Many older people insist on handling their own financial affairs without assistance, for as long as as possible. This is admirable, but what if something bad happens to the older person, like a medical event which lands the older person in the hospital, and ready access to cash is needed? And, what if the older […]

When Can The State Recover Medi-Cal Payments?

If you die after having been on Medi-Cal, the state will want to recover from your estate. They will want to recover what they paid for your nursing home care while you were on Medi-Cal. If there is nothing in your estate when you die, there will have nothing in your estate for them to […]

How Much Does The Surviving Spouse Receive In Social Security Benefits?

In a previous post, we discussed what you should do about Social Security benefits after someone dies. But with regard to married couples, how much will the surviving spouse receive? Generally speaking, the surviving spouse will receive 100% of the deceased spouse’s Social Security benefit, as long as that amount is greater than the surviving spouse’s […]

My Dad Has Already Done Some Gifting! Can He Still Qualify For Medi-Cal?

California does have gifting penalty rules. If the rules are not followed, you could create periods of ineligibility for Medi-Cal. If you follow the rules, Medi-Cal can pay for your stay in a skilled nursing facility, minus a share of the cost that you would pay. We have seen monthly bills of $10,000 and more […]

2015 CA Medi-Cal Quick Reference Guide

The State of California has changed some of the Medi-Cal qualification figures and requirements for 2015. A brief listing of these changes and requirements is set forth below: Community Spouse Resource Allowance (CSRA) $119,220 This is the amount that the community, or (at home) well spouse can retain in liquid assets. This amount does not include exempt […]

Treatment of The Home With Reverse Mortgages By Medi-Cal

Under the Medi-Cal regulations, it is fairly easy for us to establish the home as an “exempt asset” for qualification for Medi-Cal. The usual way is to confirm “an intent to return home” by the Medi-Cal applicant. The next task is to protect the home from a Medi-Cal lien if you pass away after having […]

Mom Is Showing Some Dementia – Can we still create a long term care plan for her?

In my workshops, we talk about the Elder Care Journey. Along this journey, which I show on a chart, is an area called “Declining Senior With Memory or Mobility Issues.”  I reference this step along the Elder Care Journey as a DANGER ZONE. We know that mobility issues and falling oftentimes is the beginning of […]

Final Expense Trust For No Fee

As part of your long term care planning, you can also plan ahead for payment of funeral costs. You can put an amount you decide on into an “irrevocable final expense trust” which will pay for funeral and related costs at the time of your passing. The money you put into the final expense trust […]