Our Blog
Check out some outstanding photography of Tom Husseys photo series called Reflections of Me. Tom reminds us that sometimes it’s easy to forget how amazing old people are and how incredible their lives have been. If you have photos of “back in the day” that you would like to see featured on our site, please contact us.
By Attorney Thom Cooper
Our law office is involved extensively in obtaining veterans benefits for veterans and their widows. Therefore I thought it might be appropriate to reflect on the costs of wars in terms of the number of deaths of our veterans. Many people think that the most costly war for Americans was World War II or the Vietnam War. They are wrong. The most costly war, in terms of deaths, was the American Civil War with over 625,000 American deaths. By comparison the Civil War was 10 times more costly in terms of American lives than the Vietnam War. What is even more impressive is if you look at these deaths as a function of the population of the U.S at the time of the specific war. Looking at it this way would make the Civil War more than 50 times more costly than the Vietnam War. I will certainly remember this as our Family visits the Gettysburg battlefield next week on our vacation.
I have put together the table below for you review.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_casualties_of_war
By Kathy Cooper
It is common practice to use a quit claim deed to transfer ownership of real estate from an individual or couple to a trust. This type of deed is also used for transfers between family members, transfers into a business or to set up after-death arrangements between family members. Quit claim deeds are sometimes mistakenly called a “quick claim” deeds.
A quit claim deed is a simple way to transfer the interest in real estate of one person, the grantor, to another, the grantee. A quit claim deed does NOT contain guarantees, like a warranty deed, that the title to the real estate is clear. A quit claim deeds does not guarantee what that interest is, nor does it guarantee that it is free of debt. If the real estate is owned 100% by someone other than the grantor (the person making the deed), then nothing is transferred. If the real estate is owned by more than one person, then only the grantor’s interest is transferred.
As with most legal transactions, it is a good idea to work with a qualified legal professional. Elder law attorneys can help you understand the implications of transferring or gifting real estate for purposes such as estate planning or qualifying for veterans’ or other government benefits. The Cooper Law Firm has been providing elder law services throughout Ohio for over fifteen years.
By Attorney Elizabeth Durnell
Have you ever considered paying your children to care for you? Have you ever considered being paid to care for your parents?
There is a new trend in Nursing Home Medicaid planning, in which parents pay their children to care for them, even after they enter a Nursing Home.
In 2009, the Wall Street Journal published an article by Victoria E. Knight entitled “Relative Can Be Paid To Look After Elderly”. Following is an exerpt from that article:
Caring for a family member is a responsibility many people bear. It can also be a source of income.
So-called “caregiver agreements” — formal contracts under which relatives are hired to care for elderly family members — have been around for a while. But with the economic downturn, more families may be open to entering into such arrangements, some attorneys and caregiver advocates say.
Financial transfers made under a caregiver agreement generally aren’t considered gifts, an important consideration if an elderly person later hopes to qualify for Medicaid, the joint federal/state program that covers nursing-home care. The contracts can also provide assurances to other family members about the cost and quality of care being delivered and reward caregivers for the long hours they put in. The agreements need to be carefully crafted, and there are tax consequences.
To an aging parent, the idea of being cared for by a trusted family member may be appealing. And for those who want to stay in their own homes, or need to because they can’t sell their property to fund entry into a continuing-care retirement community, hiring a relative can be a money-saving strategy.
For adult children who have more time to devote to mom or dad, such arrangements can provide a modest source of income — or at least cover expenses they incur in providing care — at a time when many families are struggling.
In recent years, caregiver agreements have grown in popularity as a Medicaid planning tool because they can reduce the size of an estate, according to Louis Jay Ulman, a senior principal at Offit Kurman, a law firm with offices in the Baltimore-Washington corridor. That’s because a rule change extended the look-back period for making gifts to family members to five years from three.
If properly set up, transfers made under a caregiver agreement aren’t considered gifts but rather compensation because they are payments made in return for a service, lawyers say.
Please note the beginning of the last paragraph: “If properly set up.” There are many specific and complex legal requirements to set up these arrangements. If done incorrectly, it could cost you and your family time, money and added risk that your loved one will not qualify for benefits as an improper transfer. If you are interested in learning more about caregiver agreements, it is imperative you contact an Elder Law Attorney.
By Josh Sharp
After my grandpa passed away I was looking for something that would help me remember him. I came across the Presidential Memorial Certificate on the Veterans Administration website. The Presidential Memorial Certificate was created by President Kennedy in 1962. It is an engraved certificate that is signed by the President of the United States that is serving when the certificate is requested. Unlike many VA programs this certificate is fairly easy to apply for. All one needs is a to fill out a form and mail it to the VA with a copy of the veteran’s discharge papers and death certificate. I still miss my grandpa, but it is going to be nice to have something that memorializes the service that he provided to our country during World War II. If you would like the form to request a certificate, please contact our office. Not only can we provide the form to you, but we can also explore other VA Benefits that you or a Veteran you know may qualify to receive.
By Attorney Dan Vu
Too many times I have seen new clients with a trust they had created previously but never funded. That is, they never placed any assets in the trust and the trust owns absolutely nothing. What too many don’t understand, including attorneys, is that funding the trust correctly is just as important as drafting your trust correctly. You may have heard about the website Legal Zoom being sued by a customer who used the website to create a trust for her uncle. She helped her uncle create the trust using Legal Zoom but had no success in funding the trust. The trust remained unfunded when her uncle died. She ended up having to hire an attorney who had to convince the court and the financial institutions to allow the post-death funding of the trust – no easy task, which cost the estate thousands of dollars.
But its not only Legal Zoom, many law firms and attorneys draft trusts for their clients then hand the trusts to their clients instructions for their clients to “fund the trust”. Funding the trust means that ownership of assets (property they own including deeds, titles, bank accounts, stocks, bonds, mutual funds) is transferred from them individually to the trust. These attorneys and law firms are forgetting that many of their clients do not know how to fund their trust or may not know what assets to fund. Moreover, even if the attorneys explain to the clients how to fund the trust, some clients will never get around to doing what is necessary. The result is that they leave their trust unfunded. This vital error makes the trust, for all intents and purposes, useless. It is merely a large stack of paper sitting on their desk. I might also add, a large useless and expensive stack of paper.
An unfunded trust can have unintended consequences. An unfunded trust does not protect the client’s assets from probate. Further, when the client’s assets are not owned by the trust, no benefits of the trust apply to those assets. That is, no tax advantages will apply and of course, instead of your trust determining your distribution it will be your will, or if you don’t have a will, the laws of the state in which you reside.
If you are taking the time and expense to set up a trust, make sure you do this with an attorney or a firm that will help you fund your trust. Ask them how they will help you do this. Will they just give you advice or will they actually taking the initial steps needed to transfer your assets into the Trust. Don’t walk away from your attorney’s office with what a large, useless and expensive stack of paper: walk away knowing that you will have a fully funded Trust.
By: Attorney Mandy Wilhelm
Do you have a disabled child (under 65) who is receiving government benefits, such as Medicare or Medicaid? If so, you need to know about some important scenario’s that could affect your child’s government benefit eligibility.
In your will, have you named your disabled child as a beneficiary of certain items? If so, upon your death, you may have just made your child ineligible for government benefits such as Medicaid, as he may no longer meet the financial criteria. What if someone else names your child as the beneficiary of their will or gives them an extravagant gift if money? That is right, someone else has made your child Medicaid ineligible.
What if your child was involved in a terrible car crash or medical malpractice situation and he or she was to receive a settlement check after they had already been on Medicaid for several months? You guessed it, your child would no longer be eligible for Medicaid.
Without a special needs or supplemental needs trust in these situations, your child will become ineligible for Medicaid, have to “self-pay” the nursing home out of pocket from the money they just received, and go through the whole Medicaid process again once the nursing home, hospital, doctors, and government have taken all of their newly acquired money. In reality, the money coming to the disabled individual is just going straight in the government’s pocket.
With special planning, these situations can be remedied.
A Special Needs Trust, also called a (d)(4)(a) trust, is setup with the disabled person’s assets by the disabled individual’s parent, grandparent, guardian, or court, and is designed to take the disabled individual’s incoming assets (such as a settlement check or retirement account) into the trust before it goes to the individual. No other person may put assets into this trust besides the disabled individual. The money can be used for the special needs of the individual (luxuries and care) above and beyond what government benefits provide for such as: Medical and dental expenses beyond what third parties pay for; Clothing; Electronic Equipment (such as radio, recording and playback, television and computer equipment); Programs of training; Education; Treatment and rehabilitation; Transportation (including vehicle purchases); Vacations; Participation in hobbies; Companionship; and so forth. In the eyes of the government, the money is not considered to belong to the individual. Upon death, any remaining money will first payback the government for the amount of benefits they provided, then the rest of the money goes to anyone the parent, grandparent, court, or guardian designates.
A Supplemental Needs Trust, also called a Third Party Trust, is set up with assets other than the disabled person’s. It can be set up by anyone, except the disabled individual, and anyone can add items to this trust except the disabled individual. These types of trusts are designed for times when you would like to name the disabled child as a beneficiary of a will. They may be used for the same luxuries and care items as set forth above, but at death, the money goes straight to the remainder beneficiaries that the third party named, instead of going to the government.
There are several types of trusts for a disabled person and each is designed to meet a different goal. While this article only outlines two types of trusts, each trust is complex should not be attempted without experienced legal advice. Please call or office if we can assist you. You will need the help of a qualified elder law professional to help you identify your options.
By Megail Gaumer
Recently in many news outlets we’ve seen the story of the multi-million dollar Miami heiress Gail Posner who left the majority of her estate to her dogs, much like famed Leona Helmsey. You wonder… Can that be? The answer is Yes.
Those of us with pets know how important the little fur balls are to us, especially as companions later in life. Many start to worry about their pets outliving them and what could happen to them. Laws are in place in Ohio and other states that allow you to continue caring for your pets long after you are gone. You may establish a special trust for the benefit of your pets. Whether you have one or ten, cats, dogs or ducks. You set the rules, such as how often they should be groomed, what they will eat, how they will be sheltered, who will groom them. It’s your choice and you can be as detailed as you wish down to the shampoo used.
The bottom line is you can outline who is to take care of your pet as well as who watches over the person taking care of your pet, what should be done with the funds you have established for your pet and where those funds go at your pet’s death. As with the Helmsley estate and likely Posner’s estate, the courts may deem an amount to be too much and reduce it accordingly. For most of us however, the main idea is not to leave millions but rather to make sure Fluffy is well-fed and well-cared-for when we can’t be there. We are pleased to offer “Pet Trusts” to our elderly clients as one more way to see that their wishes are met.
By Attorney Amanda Wilhelm
After thirteen months of planning for my wedding, last weekend, my wedding day, flew by in a flash. However, I now have a new concern and reason to plan, and that is, a family. While my husband and I do not have any children (apologies to Charo our chihuahua, we love you), we each have an extra person that we need to plan for in case something were to happen to one of us. While we are young, it is never to early to start planning.
I am reminded of my husband’s friend, Brad, who was involved in a serious car crash. Brad had married his high school sweetheart about three months before the accident. Their car collided with a semi-truck, and eventually took away his new bride. Being only 23, neither one of them had thought about an estate plan. Brad was left with tons of medical bills, funerals costs, loss of income, and litigation costs from lawsuits that are still going on to this day.
Whether you are newlyweds, new parents, or have had some changes down the road, you need to make an appointment to meet with an attorney to plan for you and your families future. Like the great Winston Churchill said, “Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning.”
We frequently work with the children of our elder law clients. If you’re here with your parents, ask about how we can help you do some “advanced worrying”.
By Julian Guilfoyle
Henry Ford, the father of the assembly line for mass production once said “a business that makes nothing but money is a poor business.” An interesting quote especially when you consider the source. This, after all, was the man who also proclaimed that his customers could have their Model T’s painted any color…..so long that it was black. The point is, while money is always a consideration, and quite often the determining factor in making decisions, it cannot be the lone driving force.
Several years ago I was surfing the radio on a road trip when I first heard of LegalZoom. I must confess I thought it was a brilliant idea. So often we see waste and inefficiencies in the world and it makes you wonder why we can’t streamline just about everything. The thought of going on a website, filling in a couple of blanks and printing out your customized legal document for a substantially lower price seems to make all the sense in the world. After all, LegalZoom advertises that all of its documents include a”peace-of-mind review”, unlimited customer support, and a “100% satisfaction guarantee”.
On May 27th, 2010 a class action lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles, California on behalf of 3,000 Californians who purchased one or more of LegalZoom’s products. This includes living trusts, wills, living wills, advance health care directives, and powers of attorney. While it is important to recognize that the case has not been decided, the accusations against the company are significant. The suit alleges LegalZoom made misrepresentations and omitted material facts about the difficulty of creating a reliable estate planning document with their services, how thoroughly and carefully they reviewed clients documents, the availability and helpfulness of LegalZoom’s customer service, the extent of LegalZoom’s “100% satisfaction guarantee”, the degree to which LegalZoom customized documents, the level of quality of LegalZoom’s documents compared to another attorney, the money one can save from using LegalZoom, and the legal effectiveness and accuracy of the documents used by LegalZoom. If LegalZoom’s products are neither cheaper, easier, nor as effective as using an attorney, then their products are of questionable worth and may actually do the person more harm than good.
When I read the complaint, I contrasted it with the experiences I have taken from our office. Many of our clients have commented to me personally that they have little knowledge of elder law. I always chuckle because frankly its not the most glamorous subject. That is why it is imperative to be educated before you start making decisions that have lasting effects and consequences. Before our clients commit to anything, they have had the opportunity to attend one of our free weekly seminars, had a one hour free consultation with an experienced elder law attorney, and if needed, free question and answer appointments. Our clients know the ballgame and the score before they have to step up to the plate. Without someone guiding you through this process, its easy to make costly mistakes, waste money, and fail to secure benefits that you are entitled to.
Several weeks ago I was speaking with a prospective client who has since decided to retain our services. He asked a simple question, if we offer all of these free services and put in all this time to educate seniors, how do we make money? In today’s world, people have understandably become wary of too good to be true deals. My answer was simple as well, I told him that after going through the process, most people choose to retain our firm.
For most seniors, the plan, or the lack thereof, determines what kind of legacy they leave for their families. You wouldn’t buy a house online without looking at it or consulting a professional. You wouldn’t try and build it yourself if you didn’t have the knowledge to do so. It took you a lifetime to compile your assets. Don’t gamble them away with a click of a mouse. On behalf of every farm we’ve preserved for a family, every veteran we’ve helped obtain benefits, and every asset we have protected against the government, I can assure you its about a lot more than money.
