By Janet Fickle

Wouldn't it be great if one answer would take care of all of your questions concerning your estate planning!

Such as:

I already have a will. Is that all I need?

What is an estate plan?

Should everyone have one?

What are the legal documents that I need?

How do I avoid probate costs?

Mom is already in a nursing home. Is it too late to protect her assets?

We are still young, is it too early to think about estate planning and nursing home protection?

Do I qualify for any veteran's benefits?

What should I do to protect my child who has disabilities?

Should I apply for Medicaid on my own?

Why do I need a living trust?

These questions obviously don't have the same answers, but you can have your questions answered by Cooper, Adel & Associates. So don't delay, call 1-800-798-5297 to schedule an appointment for a free consultation.

By: JM Megail Gaumer

Did you know that a woman that reaches the age of 60 has a life expectancy of 23.8 years? That is 15.5% longer than the life expectancy of a man. When you take into account that many women are/were the ones to stay home to raise families and provide care to elderly family members it opens your eyes to the fact that as women reach retirement age they have put themselves into a hardship.

Women’s healthcare costs exceed that of men’s by a range of 4% to 48%, but do their incomes make up the difference? No, the average retirement income in 2009 for women was $21,519 – 57% lower than men.

That leave the question, what can be done to alleviate the burden in their golden years with or without their spouse by their side. We welcome you to schedule a free consultation to discuss your individual retirement concerns and help find solutions to them.   

By Kathy Cooper

Joe Karp, a Certified Elder Law Attorney in Florida, recently published an interesting blog post about a customer rating system that is now available on-line for home health care through Medicare. Those of us who shop on-line have become very reliant on the customer ratings available through sites like Amazon. We look at the bad as well as the good to make up our minds about whether this is the product we want. We want to know the experiences of those who have purchased before us.

Shopping for home health care is no different. You want to know the experiences that others have had with an agency that will help you, your spouse or your mother on a daily basis. I wish I had been able to have an Amazon-like customer rating when my mother had her first stroke and we needed in-home speech therapy and occupational therapy. As it was, I was left to guess. Had the agency screened the caregivers adequately? Would they treat my mother like a child or, as I hoped, like a rational adult? How dependable where they? What if I had a question or concern, how would they handle it?

Here is the website that will direct you to the comparison site for Medicare-certified home health agencies near you: Home Health Compare. You can enter a zip code for a listing or you can enter a specific agency. Once you have chosen agencies to compare, you will have the choice to look at Patient Survey Results. It is a fairly new service, so give it time if you can and contribute, please! This will help all of us.

By the way, Joe is a member of a nationwide group, the American Association of Trust, Estate and Elder Law Attorneys. Our own Attorneys Thom Cooper and Mitch Adel are members and Thom is a past-president. It helps to have a group of individuals who can provide a national perspective on issues that affect our clients. If you would like to discuss how you can plan to protect your assets in a situation where you need home health care, assisted living or a nursing home stay, give us a call.

By Jessica Lopiccolo

I have been working with a client’s daughter, taking care of her father’s assets. He was 80 years old and in a nursing home receiving Medicaid benefits. He retained a Life Estate in his property, so when he passed away, the life interest that he held in his property was subject to Ohio’s Estate Recovery. Our attorneys are now negotiating with the State to reduce the amount that the daughter will have to pay in order to remove the lien from the property.

Even though this is not an ideal situation, the daughter has retained us and we are still able to help her. When I was meeting with her to gather information about her father, she asked the age when most of our clients come in to start protecting their assets from a nursing home situation. This individual was in her early 50s. She had already scheduled an appointment to meet with Attorney Cooper to get started.

There is no exact age when you must begin planning to protect your assets against a catastrophic healthcare situation – the sooner the better. If you want to make sure that your assets pass on to your family or friends, then you should call and schedule an appointment to get started. 

By Mary Roberts

I love springtime.  Springtime, to me, means getting outside.  It means getting in the garden.

I have many flower gardens that I enjoy.  They take a lot of work but it is very rewarding to work in them and see the beauty of what comes forth.

My favorite is the vegetable garden.  If you haven't tried vegetable gardening, maybe this is the year to give it a try.  My peas are up about 2 inches high and the lettuce, radishes and onions are coming along real well.  It will be awhile before we are harvesting but in the meantime we will get the beans, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, and zucchini in and, this year, my husband says, we are going to plant okra.  We try to grow something new each year just for the experience and to see how we like it.

It sounds like work, I know, but this is what I grew up with. In the years when I was growing up it was a necessity to plant a garden.  We were a family of seven children and it took our homegrown vegetables to survive.  It also taught us to appreciate the ground and what it can produce with a little elbow grease.  With the economy as it is today, I hope more people will be returning to it.  It's pretty easy.  The instructions are on the back of a package of seeds.

 It brings great pleasure to harvest the vegetables, can or freeze them and enjoy them in the winter.  It also gives me a reason to enjoy winter because we can then spend time inside and rest up for the coming Spring Season.

Enjoy your Spring Season this year, doing whatever you like to you.  Just make sure you take time to do it and to enjoy.

By Kathy Cooper

May is the month designated to recognize the contributions of older persons who have contributed to our country and particularly those who have defended our country.  

You may not know that President John F. Kennedy was the founder of Senior Citizens Month in 1963, recognizing the growing concerns of older Americans.  President Jimmy Carter changed the designation to “Older Americans Month”. The Administration on Aging is the sponsor.

This year’s theme is designed to recognize the large number of baby boomers who are reaching retirement age and plan to remain physically and socially active through their 80s and beyond.  Keeping our country’s older citizens healthy is a top priority and encouraging them to be active is a great way to prevent the problems that they encounter if they become sedentary and isolated.  What can you do?  Want to find out more? 

http://www.aoa.gov/AoARoot/Press_Room/Observances/2012/Older_Americans.aspx

By the way, even healthy boomers should be planning to protect their wealth against the unforeseen.  Call us for a free consultation. 

By Bethany Smith

If someone is left a dollar in a will then they can’t contest the will, right? At Cooper, Adel & Associates we are continually asked this question. It is not necessary to leave someone anything with the hope that they will not be able to contest it after your passing. Leaving a dollar to someone does not disinherit him or her. If the will is your only planning tool, it’s important to understand that your heirs must go through the probate court to get what you want to leave them … and anyone can contest the will, even if you gave them $1.00.

If you have a complicated family situation – children that are fighting, in-laws that don’t appreciate you, a child you have not seen for 10 years – you should consider seeking professional advice from an elder law attorney. There are other planning techniques that can help you accomplish your goals when you’re gone.

Please contact our office at 800.798.5297 to schedule a free consultation. We won’t even charge a dollar to learn about how to protect your dollar. 

By Julian Guilfoyle, Cooper and Adel Financial

“If you see a bandwagon, it’s too late.”

~Billionaire financier and tycoon James Goldsmith

Joining the growing list of cities and states attempting to cure their pension blues, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn recently proposed to overhaul its state pension systems. Christopher Wills of Businessweek.com reports that this is but one cog in Quinn’s quest to balance the Illinois state budget.

“I know I was put on earth to get this done,” Quinn stated. The Governor has put forward an aggressive plan to close the roughly $83 billion dollar pension shortfall. State employees would not be able to retire with full benefits until the age of 67, and in addition they would have to increase their pension contributions by 3 percentage points, with a cap on cost-of-living increases at 3 percent. The second phase of his plan would require university and community college employees to fund the pension that they currently receive benefits from, but do not contribute to.

The consequences of a failing pension tend to result in a spiraling effect. As Quinn stated, “the rising costs [of the pension] will soak up all available money and leave nothing for vital services. Bond-rating agencies will downgrade the state, making it more expensive to borrow money.”

As government purses continue to tighten, planning for future income will increase in importance. The foremost goal of most people is to ensure they don’t outlive their assets, that they can make it to the finish line. However, many implications must be considered when addressing this issue. Please consult with a professional to avoid jeopardizing any future benefits you may be entitled to.

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-04/D9U8UNMO0.htm

By Brooke Curtis

Death is one thing in life that is guaranteed, besides paying taxes. When that day comes, how do you want to be remembered? Funerals are meant to be a gathering for the friends and family to mourn your death.

There are some who insist that it is better to CELEBRATE your life. Some, who have a party in honor of the deceased, take this literally with balloons, streamers, alcohol and cake.

If you are in the “celebrate” camp, there is a website to help you prepare your family for this type of event called a Life Celebration. You can also set up an account, which at your death can be used to fund the “celebration”. No matter if you choose a traditional funeral or life celebration, it is never too early to start planning.

By Carmen Potterton

My husband and I decided that any children we may have would have four legs and fur. You would think it would be easier but not so much.

We have several cats, their issues vary; a cracked jaw, a tail that wouldn't stand up (it eventually stood back up), puncture wounds, dairy queen cup stuck on a head, pneumonia, and the two who have feline leukemia, which means they can't mingle with the others, so for them we added a room onto the house, which is actually kind of nice, I now have my own office.

Our dog is a mutt, someone once told me they tend to have fewer health issues, I think they were wrong, so far we have found out he has acid reflux (seriously), a sensitive digestive track which requires a special (which means expensive) diet, and seasonal allergies.

We love our four legged kids but worry about who will care for them when we no longer can, so the solution, a Pet Trust! If you have four legged kids, be sure they are cared for when your gone, contact Cooper, Adel & Associates, A Legal Professional Association, to make sure they get the care you want for them.