Sometimes a nursing home wants to get rid of a particular resident. It might think the resident (or the resident’s family) is “difficult.” The resident might require more expensive or demanding care than others. Or the resident might be a Medicaid recipient, and the nursing home could make more money by replacing him or her with a private-pay individual.

The usual way that nursing homes get rid of residents is to transfer them to a hospital, then refuse to let them back in. This can obviously be very traumatic for the resident. However, it’s sometimes possible for residents to fight back and challenge such discharges legally. [Read more...]

If for any reason you become unhappy with the person you’ve appointed to make decisions for you under a durable power of attorney, you can revoke the power of attorney at any time. But you must take a few steps to ensure that the document is properly revoked.

First, you should put the revocation in writing. This revocation should include your name, a statement that you are of sound mind, and your wish to revoke the power of attorney. You should also specify the date the original power of attorney was executed and the person who was selected as your agent. Sign the document and send it to your current agent as well as to any institutions or agencies that have a copy of the power of attorney. [Read more...]

Although you can begin receiving Social Security benefits anytime after age 62, the longer you wait, the higher the benefit you will receive. Of course, many people need money right away and can’t afford to delay. But if you’re married, there is a strategy that might allow you to claim some benefits immediately and then claim more benefits later.

First, a little background: You have three options for when to begin taking your Social Security retirement benefits: You may begin taking benefits between age 62 and your full retirement age, you can wait until your full retirement age (which varies depending on your age), or you can delay benefits and take them anytime up until you reach age 70. [Read more...]

Most people can’t afford to buy a gold-plated long-term care insurance policy that offers a large daily benefit and that will continue paying indefinitely. If premiums for this type of Cadillac plan are not in your budget, what should you cut – the daily benefit amount or the number of years of coverage?

Most financial experts advise cutting the length of coverage. This is because if you don’t use the full daily benefit, you don’t lose it. In fact, it can be used to lengthen your period of coverage. [Read more...]

 One of the major benefits of Medicare is its coverage of hospitalization. Medicare covers 90 days of hospitalization per illness (plus a 60-day “lifetime reserve”). However, if you’re admitted to a hospital as a Medicare patient, the hospital might try to discharge you before you are ready. While the hospital can’t force you to leave, it can begin charging you for services. Therefore, it’s important to know your rights and how to appeal. Even if you don’t win your appeal, appealing can buy you crucial extra days of Medicare coverage. [Read more...]

Once you’re retired, your need for insurance changes. It is a good idea to look at your coverage options and figure out what you need (and don’t need) and where you might be able to achieve some savings.

● Life Insurance. You might no longer need life insurance. If your spouse or other dependents won’t lose any income when you die, life insurance may be unnecessary and your premiums may be better spent elsewhere. 

On the other hand, sometimes life insurance can be used as part of an estate plan to help pay estate taxes or to build up a tax-free inheritance for your heirs. Your attorney can help you determine whether it’s wise to maintain your existing life insurance. [Read more...]

Many people believe that joint accounts are a good way to avoid probate and transfer money to loved ones, and such accounts are sometimes referred to as “the common person’s estate plan.” But while joint accounts can be useful in certain circumstances, they can have dire consequences if not used properly. Adding a loved one to your bank account can affect your eligibility for Medicaid as well as expose your account to the loved one’s creditors.

When a person applies for Medicaid long-term care coverage, the state looks at the applicant’s assets to see if the applicant qualifies for assistance. While a joint account may have two names on it, most states assume the applicant owns the entire amount in the account regardless of who contributed money to the account. If your name is on a joint account and you enter a nursing home, the state will assume the assets in the account belong to you unless you can prove that you did not contribute to it. [Read more...]

Elderly nursing home residents are increasingly living alongside young and middle-age people with mental illness, with sometimes tragic results, according to a 50-state investigation by the Associated Press. It appears that in many cases this potentially dangerous trend is a violation of federal law.

According to the AP, nearly 125,000 non-elderly adults with serious mental illness were living in U.S. nursing homes in 2008. This is a 41 percent increase from 2002. Younger mentally ill people now account for more than 9 percent of the nation’s nearly 1.4 million nursing home residents. [Read more...]

Once upon a time, the key to a safe deposit box was all loved ones needed to unlock the secrets of a life recently ended. Today, many aspects of our lives – both financial and personal – are lived in places accessible only by password. We have e-mail addresses, online brokerages and banks, Facebook and MySpace profiles, and accounts with PayPal, eBay, and more. In addition, many people have formed relationships with people they know only through game or social networking sites.

When a person dies, access to these accounts and contacts can be lost or extremely difficult to retrieve. As a result, a small online industry has sprung up to help people pass on the digital keys to their online lives should they die or become disabled. Call it “digital estate planning” or creating a “virtual executor.” [Read more...]

As the economy worsens, reports of elder financial abuse are on the rise. The elderly are particularly vulnerable to scams and to financial abuse by friends, acquaintances, caregivers and family members in need of money.

A recent MetLife study, Broken Trust: Elders, Family and Finances, found that up to one million older Americans may be targeted yearly. Family members and caregivers are the culprits in 55 percent of cases, although financial losses are usually higher with investment fraud scams. [Read more...]

After almost a decade of changes in the federal estate tax laws – and many states shifting their tax structure in response to the federal changes – clarity appears to be on the horizon. Congress’s recently passed budget resolution would make the current estate tax rules permanent, taxing only estates over $3.5 million in value with the tax rate set at 45 percent. Although no legislation has yet been voted on, the nonbinding budget resolution sets guidelines for Congress to follow when writing tax and spending legislation later this year.

In light of this and other changes, taxpayers need to review their estate plans with the following issues in mind: [Read more...]

Many older people who are concerned that they will someday be incapacitated protect themselves with a power of attorney. This document gives someone else the right to make decisions for you if you can’t make them yourself.

But what if a person who can no longer make decisions doesn’t have a power of attorney – or the power of attorney isn’t enough to protect them for some reason? [Read more...]

A dog or a cat can be a member of the family, but what happens to this family member after you’re gone? How can you ensure that your dog, cat or other pet will be cared for?

You can give directions in your will to leave your pet to a caretaker. But there is no guarantee that the caretaker will continue to care for the pet. [Read more...]

A retirement community can force one of its residents to move from a private apartment to a smaller assisted-living unit, a federal court has ruled.

Sally Herriot, 90, is a resident of Channing House, a continuing care retirement community in Palo Alto, California. Like many such communities, Channing House provides three levels of care – independent living, assisted living, and skilled nursing. After moving to the facility with her now-deceased husband in 1991, Ms. Herriot lived in a spacious independent living apartment. [Read more...]

With the stock market down significantly, some parents are looking at safer ways to save for a child’s college education. Prepaid 529 plans offer parents (and other family members) the opportunity to lock in tuition at today’s rates.

Up until now, traditional 529 savings plans have been more popular. These traditional plans allow parents or other family members to invest money for a child’s education tax-free, usually in mutual funds. But prepaid plans are gaining ground now that the market has dramatically reduced the value of many investment-based savings plans. [Read more...]

We all know we’re supposed to do estate planning, but not all of us get around to it. So what happens if you don’t have a will when you die? Your estate will be distributed according to state laws, which may or may not conform to the way you want your assets and possessions to be distributed.

Each state has laws that determine what will happen if a person dies without a will. If you’re married, most states award one-third to one-half of your estate to your spouse, with the rest divided among your children or, if you have no children, to other relatives such as your parents or siblings. If you’re single, most states provide that your estate will go to your children, or to other relatives if you don’t have children. If you have no living relatives, then your property will go to the state. [Read more...]

The current economic downturn isn’t going to change the needs of seniors for help with the activities of daily living. However, it could have a big effect on how and where that help is provided – at home, in an assisted living facility, or in a nursing home. And it could affect who provides the care – family members or hired staff. [Read more...]

Imagine you bought a house and, a year and a half later, you discovered bundles of cash that had been hidden away by the deceased former owner. Who would be entitled to the money – you or the former owner’s estate? Confronted with just such a case, an Oregon appeals court determined that the new owner can keep the windfall.

William and Helene Valoff owned a house in Milwaukie, Oregon. After Mr. Valoff’s unexpected death, all assets of his estate were transferred to Mrs. Valoff. Following Mrs. Valoff’s death, her estate sold the house to Helen Sollars. The sale agreement required the estate to leave certain specific items (such as the stove and refrigerator) in the house, but to otherwise remove “all personal property” before the closing of the sale. [Read more...]

Did you elect to take Social Security benefits before your full retirement age? If you did and are now looking for extra income, there may be an answer. Once you reach full retirement age, you can pay back the money you have received and reapply for full retirement benefits.

Although you can collect Social Security benefits between age 62 and your full retirement age, if you do, your benefits will be lower. For example, if you were born in 1944 and decided to retire at age 62, four years before your full retirement age of 66, your total benefit reduction is 25 percent. If your full benefit was to be $1,000 a month, your reduced benefit is $750. [Read more...]

Disagreements with a nursing home can arise regarding any number of topics, including the quality of food, troublesome roommates, lack of privacy, and services that are less than what was promised. Many disputes can be resolved by speaking with a nursing home staff member or supervisor, or moving up the chain of command. But if you can’t resolve things within the nursing home, your next step should be to contact the local ombudsman assigned to the nursing home.

An ombudsman is an advocate for residents of nursing homes, board-and-care homes, and assisted living facilities who is trained to resolve problems. Under the federal Older Americans Act, every state is required to have an ombudsman program that addresses residents’ complaints and advocates for improvements in the long-term care system.  [Read more...]

In addition to addressing the current housing crisis, the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 makes changes to reverse mortgages, including higher borrowing limits and protections from aggressive marketing.

A reverse mortgage allows a homeowner who is at least 62 years old to use the equity in his or her home to obtain a loan that doesn’t have to be repaid until the homeowner moves, sells, or dies. The new law, which took effect in October, increases the borrowing level on reverse mortgages. The national limit on the amount a homeowner can borrow is now $417,000. This limit can be increased to $625,000 in areas with high housing costs. This is a big jump from the earlier limits, which were $200,160 and $362,790. [Read more...]

The amount of money that spouses of Medicaid recipients can keep may increase in 2009, as a result of new guidelines issued by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The amount of assets that spouses of people who are on Medicaid and living in nursing home can keep for themselves is set by each state, but the federal government sets a ceiling and a floor that the states must follow. For 2009, the ceiling has increased to $109,560, and the floor has increased to $21,912. These amounts are in addition to assets that aren’t counted by Medicaid, such as a home. [Read more...]

If you live in an assisted living facility – or have a family member who does – you know that the costs continue to rise every year. But did you know some of those costs may be tax-deductible?

Medical expenses, including some long-term care expenses, may be deductible if they are more than 7.5 percent of your adjusted gross income. (You have to itemize your deductions, and the amount of the deduction varies depending on a number of other factors.) [Read more...]