One relatively unknown solution to this problem is to take out a ‘reverse mortgage’, which allows homeowners over the age of 62 to borrow money from their own equity.

In this financial arrangement, the homeowner receives a sum of money from a lender without having to make regular repayments.   The amount of money is based on the applicant’s age as well as the value of the home, and is only available to homeowners with zero debt against the house.  Although many use the money to pay for home care assistance, the money can be spent in other ways as well, such as funding retirement or avoiding foreclosure.

Though helpful to those who wish to have permanency in their homes, there are some downsides.  For example, closing costs are twice as high as they would be for regular mortgages.  These costs can be paid for with the borrowed money, but paying in this manner will significantly decrease the amount of money available to the homeowner.

Additionally, a reverse mortgage could possibly affect one’s eligibility for federal benefits such as Medicaid.  If the funds from the mortgage aren’t spent quickly, the government could view them as income, which would impede on the ability to collect on various benefits.

A reverse mortgage might not be a good idea for those who are hoping to secure a hefty inheritance for loved ones.   The borrower’s estate must pay the lender the total amount borrowed plus interest.  As a result, when the homeowner passes away and the home is ready to be sold, the lender will collect most of the sales proceeds as opposed to any living heirs.

Due to these downsides, reverse mortgages are not commonly utilized, however they are slowly gaining more attention due to longer life expectancies of people and the desire of retirees to stay in their homes instead of moving to a nursing home.  As a result, many financial institutions are beginning to integrate reverse mortgage plans into their elder care programs.

A reverse mortgage is a complex arrangement that can be facilitated by a practiced elder law attorney. Adam Tobin is an expert in Massachusetts Medicaid laws.  Contact him today to see how he can help you.

Being appointed the trustee of a trust can be overwhelming at first and can often leave one with more questions than answers: What exactly is a trust? What are my responsibilities? What are my limitations?

A trust is an arrangement in which an individual, the trustee, is appointed to manage the property of another individual, also known as a beneficiary. Being appointed the trustee is flattering but also a huge responsibility. Here are some basic rules to follow to successfully carry out the responsibilities associated with being a trustee.

• Read the trust in its entirety. It will set clear guidelines and contain information regarding different issues, such as beneficiaries and distribution.
• Create a trust checking account. This will help you keep track of income and expenses.
• Always consider the interests of the beneficiaries. A trustee’s fiduciary role requires that you pay attention to how trust investments and payouts will affect the beneficiaries.
• Keep your personal finances out of it. You should never borrow nor lend money from the trust in the chance that you may not be able to put back whatever amount you took out.
• Provide beneficiaries with an account of trust activity. Such documentation can be a simple checking statement or a formal trust account prepared by an attorney. These should be provided annually.
• Invest the funds carefully. It’s not enough to leave the funds sitting in a savings account. On the reverse side, you cannot invest all the money in one area. There are a set of investment standards that must be followed which require that the investments be diversified and non-risk oriented. They also must consider the future financial needs of the beneficiaries.
• Keep in contact with the beneficiaries. This is crucial to make sure you understand their needs and any possible future needs.
• Be aware of outside factors. Make sure you know of any other benefits the beneficiaries are receiving to ensure you do not compromise their eligibility.
• File annual trust income tax returns. The trustee may have to pay taxes. If you keep thorough records then this should be easy!

The last piece of advice is a “don’t”- don’t do it alone! Get professional advice to make sure you are correctly fulfilling your role. Adam Tobin is an experienced living trust attorney and can help you carry out these responsibilities. Contact him today for a free consultation.

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One of the largest nursing home chains in the country, Skilled Healthcare currently operates in seven different states, with 22 facilities in California. The violations occurred from 2003-2009, when the facilities were failing to provide each nursing home patient with the California state minimum of 3.2 hours of care per day. Over 30,000 patients were represented in the lawsuit. They will additionally have to pay $58 million in restitution, bringing the total amount up to more than $670 million.

State minimum staffing requirements vary in different states. It is important to educate yourself if you have a loved one who is currently living in a nursing home facility. A nursing home lawyer can help you understand your rights. Adam Tobin is an experienced Massachusetts nursing home attorney.  Contact him to request information about elder law and Massachusetts nursing home rights.

You can view the full article here.

1. Loss of capacity. There is a chance that you could one day become too incompetent to handle your own affairs. An estate plan can designate who exactly you want to take over control via power of attorney.

2. Minors. If you happen to pass while you still have children who are minors, do you know who will raise them? Again, an estate plan can determine your own guardian, and you can avoid a potential court decision.

3. No Will. How will your loved ones know what assets will be inherited and to whom? Each state has laws of intestacy, which decides the distribution of assets passing on to your heirs in the absence of a will. Creating an estate plan with a Massachusetts estate planning attorney will designate your assets to whom you want and how you want them.
4. Blended families. Multiple-marriage families can have children that may not be treated as you would like if you pass. Estate plans can select what goes to your current husband or wife, and to the children of prior marriage(s).

5. Special Needs Children. If you have a child with special needs, not having an estate plan could risk their disqualification from Medicaid or SSI benefits in the event of your passing. In this instance, they would have to use their inheritance to pay for the care they receive. Estate plans, with MA elder attorney supervision,  allow for a Supplemental Needs Trust, which will allow special needs children to continue to remain eligible for government benefits, while simultaneously using your trust assets to pay for other expenses that are not covered.

6. Keeping assets within the family. Without an estate plan, the spouse of your child may end up with your money in the event your child passes away. Additionally, if your child gets a divorce, half of your own assets after your passing could be given to the ex-spouse. Elder lawyers specialize in creating estate plans where you can prevent both scenarios in your plan, and assure that your assets remain within the family, and potentially pass on to your grandchildren.

7. Financial security. In the event that you pass on, will your surviving children or spouse be able to financially survive? The current standard by which your family lives may be unable to be maintained without a plan specifying income replacement through life insurance. This can be prevented by an estate plan!

8. Retirement accounts. Your IRA or other retirement account beneficiary in the event of your death may not reflect your wishes, and large tax consequences for your heirs can result. Make a plan with a Massachusetts estate planning attorney and select your ideal retirement account beneficiary.

9. Business ownership. If you are a business owner and decline to name a successor with an estate plan, you can risk your family loosing control of your business. You can name who will resume control of the business after you pass with your plan.

10. Avoiding probate. An estate plan eliminates the delays, excess fees, and publicized asset records. You can structure your estate plan with the assistance of an estate planning attorney to avoid probate entirely.

Convinced yet? Contact Adam Tobin and get started on creating an estate plan today.

Source article here.

The Sacramento County Superior Court of  California just awarded his largest amount in elder abuse damages in the county’s history. After the death of a 79 year old tenant in a local nursing home, approximately $30 million in compensatory and punitive damages was awarded. The tenant had mild dementia, and was relocated to the home in March of 2005.  During her stay, the tenant suffered a hip fracture after a fall, and her injuries went undiagnosed for days. She eventually succumbed to her injures and passed away due to an infected bedsore.

The jury found the umbrella company in charge of the home guilty of elder abuse last month, and the jury clearly followed through on the nursing home lawyer’s request to award damages in order to teach the offending company a lesson, and to make an example to further deter bad conduct. The $30 million was due to the substandard care and constant understaffing provided at the nursing home - hopefully this will be enough to force the company to put patient care above profits.

The nursing home company intends to appeal the verdict, and a motion is expected to be filed soon. The spokesperson statement outlined that the ruling was based on emotion and not facts in this case, and the nursing home stands by its practices and employees.

If you find yourself in a similar situation with a loved one, contact a Massachusetts Nursing Home Attorney like Adam Tobin to discuss your case and go over your options. You may be entitled to compensation, and with the knowledge and experience of a practiced elder attorney, you may have a great case for success.

Read the full article here.

70% of Americans die without an estate plan, because they do not like thinking about the subject matter of wills while they are still around. But if you are included in this statistic, and decide not to write a will or have an estate plan, your estate (with all of your assets) gets brought into a court process called probate. During this time, the court decides, based on the law of the state, who gets what. This can typically mean that after your debts are paid, your estate goes to your children and surviving spouse. If there is no immediate family, the estate goes to the next blood-or adopted- relatives.

If this doesn’t sound complicated yet, introduce a children who don’t get along, blended families, husbands and wives with separate property upon entering marriage, or your intended heirs to your estate who aren’t typically considered your closest relatives. In order to prevent wrong people getting your assets, you need a plan.

Though almost everyone needs a will and it is recommended that you find an estate planning lawyer to execute it for you, the downside is that it won’t keep your estate from probate. However, many people can and do avoid probated because it is time-consuming, public, and costly. So with the aid of a probate lawyer, make a list of your assets - and Massachusetts estate planning lawyers like Adam Tobin can assure that your final wishes will be carried out.

Instead, placing the money into a “Crummey” trust permits you to decide when the gift will be given to the minor and how much they will be given. Using a regular trust can cause one large complication: to avoid being taxed, the minor must have a “present interest” in the gift. An elder attorney will explain that due to the fact that promise of giving the child the gift later does not count as “present” interest, many gifts to regular trusts are not excluded from the tax. Click here for additional trust information.

A Crummey trust is structured to allow your gift to be placed into the trust while also getting the gift tax exclusion. One provision allows for the beneficiary to withdraw cash after approximately 30 days, where the money then becomes part of the trust. This is a critical aspect of the Crummey trust, as the beneficiary must be aware of this capability so that the IRS does not apply the gift tax exclusion. The risk with this is that the beneficiary will take out cash immediately, in which case you must make a verbal agreement that continued withdrawals will result in no more gifts. As the gift giver, you can control how much the beneficiary can receive and when they can receive it once the gift is in a Crummey trust.

(Source article here)

An elder law attorney understands the issues with nursing homes today, both legally and personally. As a general rule, nursing homes are reputably understaffed. It’s no surprise that studies have reflected that the more staff available is equivalent to better care for nursing home inhabitants, but with the work intensive hours that correspond with this high-demand job often lead to overworked individuals and a high turnover rate. So, if you are in the process of choosing a nursing home for your loved one, a critical factor in your decision making should be the patient-staff ratio – but what are the legal ratio requirements?

Medicaid and Medicare-certified nursing homes are required by Federal law to have a registered nurse on duty at least 8 hours / week, 7 days / week: and a licensed nurse should be on duty the remaining time. But nurse’s aides do not have a minimum staffing requirement, and these individuals in fact provide most daily care. These aides are trained for a minimum of 75 hours.

In order to improve this quality of care, the amount of nurse time for each patient must be adjusted. Currently, if a nursing home in fact meets the federal nurse staffing requirements as stated above, a resident receives only 20 minutes of allotted nurse time per day. The 2000 report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, illustrates that these same residents need three to four hours of staff time per day: this further breaks down to an hour of licensed nurse time, and two hours of nursing assistant time, optimally three.

Appropriate allocated time for nursing hours varies from state to state. If you have a loved one currently in a nursing home, know your rights. A nursing home attorney understands the requirements the law demands, and will provide you with valuable information and advice in regards to your legal situation. Adam Tobin specializes as a Massachusetts nursing home lawyer, so contact him today to see how he can help you.

Source article: Read more here.

• If it matters to you who inherits your assets
• The future of your health care should you fall ill or otherwise incapacitated
• Desire to avoid the inconveniences and hassles of probate court

The use of an estate plan is no longer associated for the upper classes looking to pay less taxes. Should anything happen to you, a probate court judge can have control over the fates of your assets and any children you may have under the age of 18 - unless you have an estate plan. The systematic process involved with probate is both financially draining and lengthy: a situation that can be avoided for your loved ones if you have an estate plan.

For these reasons, an estate plan is very beneficial. However, yours must be constructed correctly. An estate plan that is old, filled with loopholes and other potential issues for compromising your assets can be easily avoided by hiring an estate planning attorney. With the increasing trend of “do-it-yourself” trust or will-template websites, this can be a risky alternative to a very  important document. You need an estate planning lawyer to provide individualized legal advice for not just your estate planning, but for trusts, applicable laws for estate taxes, and probate.

Make the investment in your loved ones future, and assure that your wishes are followed through. Contact a Massachusetts estate planning attorney like Adam Tobin today to get you started on an estate plan or will that is right for you!

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So what type of probate lawyer do you need? There are two overarching types that you should be aware of: those that handle administrative duties, and those who will represent clients in court. There is the instance where a lawyer can practice both – but as a general rule, they will sway in one direction. If you are in a suit over an estate, you should look for a litigator: if not, a transaction attorney may be your best bet. An elder lawyer with expertise in trusts or estate planning will be skilled in these situations.
You’ve determined that you need an elder attorney, and even understand which one you should get. Now, how do you find them?

Do some research - start by asking friends and family. This is a trusted source for referrals, as they will have first-hand experience on a suitable lawyer. Then, do some internet searches:  make sure that you read comments and reviews to gain some insight on the elder lawyer.

Once you’ve come up with a list, follow these steps to come up with some appropriate finalists:

1. Check the practice website for biographical information, including specialties, and education.
2. Contact the state bar to determine whether or not they are in good standing.
3. Check the membership directory of local, state, and national associations. Do you see a listing for your candidate?
4. Look for individuals with practices located in the same area.
5. Ask for references.

When you are about to make a selection, make sure to factor in your instinct to your decision. It’s important to feel a connection with your lawyer, as chances are you will be embarking on an emotional journey – and they will be at your side. Make sure to contact elder lawyer Adam Tobin today to see what he can do for you.

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