Tag Archives: elder law attorney Pleasant Hill

Start Walking for Your Health!

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 […]

You Can Ask For Copies of Your Nursing Home Medical Records

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 […]

Medi-Cal Qualification and Life Insurance

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 […]

Now Is The Time To Plan For Incapacity

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 […]

Protect Your Home From a Medi-Cal Lien With a Reserved Life Estate

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 […]

MY DAD IS IN A NURSING HOME AND KEEPS LOSING HIS GLASSES, WALLET AND “TEETH”

This is a common complaint we receive from clients. My own father, while he was in a nursing home during his late 80’s, would constantly complain about losing his dentures, which he called his “teeth”. He would complain that someone kept stealing his teeth. I would say, “Dad, no one wants to steal your teeth!” […]

BEWARE OF SCAMMERS WHO PREY ON SENIORS

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 […]

The New More Stringent Medi-Cal Qualification Rules Will Be Here Soon

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 […]

Where are Mom’s Papers?

It is very important to know where your loved one’s papers are! We are always trying to accomplish elder care planning as early as possible, so that we can get all of our ducks in a row before memories fade.   Last week we helped a family whose elderly mother needed long term care planning. The father had died almost two years earlier, […]

Medi-Cal Qualification – (CSRA) The Community Spouse Resource Allowance

For Medi-Cal qualification for married couples, generally speaking, the ill spouse can only keep $2,000 in liquid assets, plus exempt assets such as the home and IRAs.  In addition, the well spouse, also known as the community or at home spouse, can keep up to $113,640 in liquid assets, plus exempt assets. Any assets above […]