King & Wood, P.A.

How Important Is a Health Care Power of Attorney?

“It is your right to keep your health information private, but is that always what is in your best interests?”

Health care decisions are often the most personal and private decisions a person can make. Information about your health can be very sensitive and if revealed to the wrong person, cause embarrassment, job loss and harm to your reputation. The HIPAA law (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) was created to provide restrictive protection of medical care. A recent article from The Sentinel titled “Elder Care: The power of an informed healthcare agent” explains how this law makes it more important than ever to have a Healthcare Power of Attorney (POA) in place.

If you think you’re too young or healthy to need a health care POA, think again. If a sharp decline in health occurs, your dignity and care may fare far better with a POA than without, for several reasons. For one, if done in advance, you are the one who chooses who your health care advocate will be.

You may not think an estate planning lawyer’s office is the place to go to deal with important health care decisions. However, this is an important part of your estate plan. Planning for incapacity is as much a part of estate planning as is planning for asset distribution postmortem.

What would happen if you were still alive but not able to understand what is happening around you or unable to speak for yourself? Who would you want making critical medical decisions on your part? Your estate plan includes a Health Care Power of Attorney, which authorizes a person of your choice to be your advocate and authorize or refuse medical treatment, based on the wishes you express in this important document.

Giving someone you trust the power to make health care decisions for you has to be done while you still have capacity. Once you are incapacitated by a medical emergency, even if you have some limited ability to express your wishes, you are not legally permitted to sign this document.

A Health Care Power of Attorney is valuable even without a sudden decline in health or a serious diagnosis. Even in routine medical situations, there are benefits to naming a health care agent. Let’s say you go in for a routine colonoscopy, which is a common procedure for anyone over age 50. Several polyps are discovered and someone has to authorize the doctor’s taking them out. If you have a Health Care Power of Attorney and your agent is waiting nearby, they can authorize the removal. If not, and if the doctor has not asked for prior consent to remove the polyps, then you’d have to wait for a post-procedure meeting with the doctor and then undergo the entire procedure all over again.

Ideally, more than one person should be named as your health care agent. If the primary person is not reachable and an emergency occurs, someone else will be able to step up and help as needed.

Your estate planning attorney should also prepare a Living Will to provide guidance on end-of-life medical decisions. This includes whether you want to be resuscitated, how much medical treatment you would want in case of severe and irreversible brain damage and what life-extending procedures you’d want if you are dying from an end-stage medical condition.

Your estate planning attorney will help guide you through these decisions, since they are ultimately yours to make. However, the idea of having them in place before they are needed puts you in charge of what will happen when you can’t speak for yourself. It’s not easy to consider, but better done than left undone.

Reference: The Sentinel (Sep. 23, 2022) “Elder Care: The power of an informed healthcare agent”

How Important Is a Health Care Power of Attorney?

“It is your right to keep your health information private, but is that always what is in your best interests?”

Health care decisions are often the most personal and private decisions a person can make. Information about your health can be very sensitive and if revealed to the wrong person, cause embarrassment, job loss and harm to your reputation. The HIPAA law (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) was created to provide restrictive protection of medical care. A recent article from The Sentinel titled “Elder Care: The power of an informed healthcare agent” explains how this law makes it more important than ever to have a Healthcare Power of Attorney (POA) in place.

If you think you’re too young or healthy to need a health care POA, think again. If a sharp decline in health occurs, your dignity and care may fare far better with a POA than without, for several reasons. For one, if done in advance, you are the one who chooses who your health care advocate will be.

You may not think an estate planning lawyer’s office is the place to go to deal with important health care decisions. However, this is an important part of your estate plan. Planning for incapacity is as much a part of estate planning as is planning for asset distribution postmortem.

What would happen if you were still alive but not able to understand what is happening around you or unable to speak for yourself? Who would you want making critical medical decisions on your part? Your estate plan includes a Health Care Power of Attorney, which authorizes a person of your choice to be your advocate and authorize or refuse medical treatment, based on the wishes you express in this important document.

Giving someone you trust the power to make health care decisions for you has to be done while you still have capacity. Once you are incapacitated by a medical emergency, even if you have some limited ability to express your wishes, you are not legally permitted to sign this document.

A Health Care Power of Attorney is valuable even without a sudden decline in health or a serious diagnosis. Even in routine medical situations, there are benefits to naming a health care agent. Let’s say you go in for a routine colonoscopy, which is a common procedure for anyone over age 50. Several polyps are discovered and someone has to authorize the doctor’s taking them out. If you have a Health Care Power of Attorney and your agent is waiting nearby, they can authorize the removal. If not, and if the doctor has not asked for prior consent to remove the polyps, then you’d have to wait for a post-procedure meeting with the doctor and then undergo the entire procedure all over again.

Ideally, more than one person should be named as your health care agent. If the primary person is not reachable and an emergency occurs, someone else will be able to step up and help as needed.

Your estate planning attorney should also prepare a Living Will to provide guidance on end-of-life medical decisions. This includes whether you want to be resuscitated, how much medical treatment you would want in case of severe and irreversible brain damage and what life-extending procedures you’d want if you are dying from an end-stage medical condition.

Your estate planning attorney will help guide you through these decisions, since they are ultimately yours to make. However, the idea of having them in place before they are needed puts you in charge of what will happen when you can’t speak for yourself. It’s not easy to consider, but better done than left undone.

Reference: The Sentinel (Sep. 23, 2022) “Elder Care: The power of an informed healthcare agent”

Can You Protect Yourself or Loved Ones from Financial Elder Abuse?

“Recent studies estimate that 39.6% of Americans 65 years of age or older are victims of financial abuse.”

In 2021, more than 6.2 million people in America live with some form of Alzheimer’s disease and need some type of memory care. At the same time, financial abuse and scams, especially those targeting people 65 and older, are on the rise, says the Better Business Bureau.

Individuals suffering from Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia face unique challenges when it comes to financial elder abuse and scams, according to a recent report “Protecting you or a loved one from financial elder abuse and scams” from Idaho News 6. The increasing number of Alzheimer’s diagnoses increases chances of needing in-home, memory care or skilled nursing care at some point, making it increasingly important to plan ahead. When there is no advance planning, financial devastation and family stress occurs.

Planning starts with an experienced estate planning attorney who can help the family prepare these four basic documents:

• Last Will and Testament
• Financial Power of Attorney
• Health Care Power of Attorney
• Living Will/Advanced Directive

There are additional documents, depending upon the individual’s situation, including a Durable Power of Attorney, used to give another person the ability to make decisions for property, business and financial matters. In cases of future incapacity, this is extremely important.

Power of Attorney: This appoints an “agent” who can make financial decisions on behalf of the “principal.” The POA creates a fiduciary relationship between the agent and their principal, wherein the agent must act in the best interest of the principal, above their own interest. The selection of a POA is very important, since it is a big responsibility.

The Principal should also name a successor agent, in case the primary agent is not able or willing to take on their role. Understand the possibility of abuse of power by the agent before finalizing any documents. An agent who abuses their powers or reaches beyond their powers can be prosecuted.  However, it is best to make a good choice from the start and try to avoid problems.

Most of us get all the right protection in place for our homes, cars and have health insurance in place. However, the chances of needing long-term care for a dementia are actually higher than having your house burn down.

Planning for incapacity and protecting yourself and your family can be accomplished with the help of an estate planning attorney. Have the conversations with your attorney and your family early and get going.

Reference: Idaho News 6 (Sep. 14, 2021) “Protecting you or a loved one from financial elder abuse and scams”

Fraudsters Continue to Target Elderly

“Scams target people of all ages, but the most vulnerable tend to be older adults—

and the money they lose can have a big impact on their retirement.”

The National Council on Aging reports that seniors lose an estimated $3 billion to financial scams, which is the worst possible time in life to lose money. There’s simply no time to replace the money. Why scammers target the elderly is easy to understand, as reported in the article “Scam Alert: 4 Types of Fraud That Target the Elderly (and How to Beat Them)” from Kiplinger. People who are 50 years and older hold 83% of the wealth in America, and households headed by people 70 years and up have the highest median net worth. That is where the money is.

The other factor: seniors were raised to mind their manners. An older American may feel it’s rude to hang up on a fast-talking scammer, who will take advantage of their hesitation. Lonely seniors are also happy to talk with someone. Scammers also target widows or divorced older women, thinking they are more vulnerable.

Here are the most common types of scams today:

Imposter scams. The thief pretends to be someone you can trust to trick you into giving them your personal information like a password, access to a bank account or Social Security number. This category includes phone calls pretending to be from the Social Security Administration or the IRS. They often threaten arrest or legal action. Neither the IRS nor the SSA ever call people to ask for personal information. Hang up!

Medicare representative. A person calls claiming to be a representative from Medicare to get older people to provide personal information. Medicare won’t call to ask for your Social Security number or to obtain bank information to give you new benefits. Phone scammers are able to “spoof” their phone numbers—what may appear on your caller ID as a legitimate office is not actually a call coming from the agency. Before you give any information, hang up. If you have questions, call Medicare yourself.

Lottery and sweepstakes scams. These prey on the fear of running out of money during retirement. These scams happen by phone, email and snail mail, congratulating the recipient with news that they have won a huge lottery or sweepstakes, but the only way to access the prize is by paying a fee. The scammers might even send a paper check to cover the cost of the fee, but that check will bounce. Once you’ve sent the fee money, they’ll pocket it and be gone.

What can you do to protect yourself and your loved ones? Conversations between generations about money become even more important as we age. If an elderly parent talks up a new friend who is going to help them, a red flag should go up. If they are convinced that they are getting a great deal, or a windfall of money from a contest, talk with them about how realistic they are being. Make sure they know that the IRS, Medicare and Social Security does not call to ask for personal information.

For those who have not been able to see elderly parents because of the pandemic, this summer may reveal a lot of what has occurred in the last year. If you are concerned that they have been the victims of a scam, start by filing a report with their state’s attorney general office.

Reference: Kiplinger (June 10, 2021) “Scam Alert: 4 Types of Fraud That Target the Elderly (and How to Beat Them)”

How to Protect Loved Ones from Elder Abuse

“The pandemic has kept our aging parents away from us and us away from them for over a year. This isolation is not total. Some people have access, some ignore warnings and some are intent on using the pandemic to hide their actions.”

Predators had an open season on the elderly during the pandemic, as isolation necessitated by COVID severely limited family member’s ability to visit in person. In some instances, caregivers themselves were the predators, and manipulation on important legal documents, including durable power of attorney, trusts, wills and ownership of homes has occurred. All this was reported the article “Warning: Isolation Of Your Aging Parent May Be A Red Flag” from Forbes. The enforced isolation has created worrisome situations for all concerned.

If you haven’t seen your parents or grandparents for a year or more, and are all fully vaccinated, one expert strongly encourages visitation, as soon as is possible. Use the visit to review all of their legal matters and talk about how to increase engagement and end the isolation.

Consider the following a checklist of what needs to be done at that first visit:

Look for any signs that anyone who had access to loved ones may have taken advantage of their isolation during the past year. Don’t assume the best behavior of everyone around them. It’s not how we like to think, but caution needs to be exercised in this situation.

Check on their will and trusts. The pandemic has reminded everyone that life is fragile, and it’s important to go over legal documents or, if they don’t exist, create them. Find out if anyone has pressured family members to change legal documents—if they have been changed in the last year and you weren’t told about it, find out what happened.

If aging parents do not have a will or trusts, or these documents were altered in your absence, speak with an estate planning attorney who can create a new estate plan. Make sure all copies of older wills are destroyed. At the same time, this would be a good time to have their powers of attorney, healthcare proxy and living wills updated.

If your parent or grandparent lives on their own, find out if they are now in need of any caregiving. A year is a long time, and elderly people who started out fine during the epidemic may have had changes in their health or ability to live independently. Go see for yourself how they are managing. Is the house clean? Are the stairs too steep to be managed?

Not everyone will be able to return to “normal” without some help. Senior centers, gyms and recreational facilities have been shut down for a long time. They may need some help getting back into a routine of socializing and exercising.

The end of enforced isolation can also mean the end of an easy cover for anyone who was using isolation as a protection for financial elder abuse or any other type of abuse.

Isolation itself is a form of abuse, including not allowing others to visit in person or speak with a parent alone. You can overcome this by being engaged with family members on a regular basis, by phone, video visits or, if you are able to, more frequent in person visits.

Reference: Forbes (April 23, 2021) “Warning: Isolation Of Your Aging Parent May Be A Red Flag”

Can a Person with Alzheimer’s Sign Legal Documents?

“Due to the debilitating nature of Alzheimer’s and related forms of dementia on your loved one’s ability to make sound financial decisions, the sooner you can get financial matters in order the better.”

If a loved one has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or any other form of dementia, it is necessary to address legal and financial issues as soon as possible. The person’s ability to sign documents and take other actions to protect themselves and their assets will be limited as the disease progresses, so there’s no time to wait. This recent article “Financial steps to take when dealing with Alzheimer’s” from Statesville Record & Landmark explains the steps to take.

Watch for Unusual Financial Activity

Someone who has been sensible about money for most of his life may start to behave differently with his finances. This is often an early sign of cognitive decline. If bills are piling up, or unusual purchases are being made, you may need to prepare to take over his finances. It should be noted that unusual financial activity can also be a sign of elder financial abuse.

Designate a Power of Attorney

The best time to designate a person to take care of finances is before she shows signs of dementia. It’s not an easy conversation, but it is very important. Someone needs to be identified who can be trusted to manage day-to-day money matters, who can sign checks, pay bills and supervise finances. If possible, it may be easier if the POA gradually eases into the role, only taking full control when the person with dementia can no longer manage on her own.

An individual needs to be legally competent to complete or update legal documents including wills, trusts, an advanced health care directive and other estate planning documents. Once such individual is not legally competent, the court must be petitioned to name a family member as a guardian, or a guardian will be appointed by the court. It is far easier for the family and the individual to have this handled by an estate planning attorney in advance of incompetency.

An often-overlooked detail in cases of Alzheimer’s is the beneficiary designations on retirement, financial and life insurance policies. Check with an estate planning attorney for help, if there is any question that changes may be challenged by the financial institution or by heirs.

Cost of Care and How It Will Be Paid

At a certain point, people with dementia cannot live on their own. Even those who love them cannot care for them safely. Determining how care will be provided, which nursing facility has the correct resources for a person with cognitive illness and how to pay for this care, must be addressed. An elder law estate planning attorney can help the family navigate through the process, including helping to protect family assets through the use of trusts and other planning strategies.

If the family has a strong history of Alzheimer’s disease or other cognitive diseases, it makes sense to do this sort of preparation far in advance. The sooner it can be addressed, even long before dementia symptoms appear, the better the outcome will be.

Reference: Statesville Record & Landmark (April 11, 2021) “Financial steps to take when dealing with Alzheimer’s”

Court Victory for Adults Caring for Parents at Home

“Advocates are celebrating an important victory for individuals who provide care for their parents at home. The new decision will likely lead to a substantial expansion in the number of homes transferred to those caregivers.”

A New Jersey Appellate Division recently reaffirmed the state’s regulation that allows older adults to transfer their homes to adult caregiver children without Medicaid penalty, reports an article titled “Major Victory for Adults Who Provide Home Care for Parents” from The National Law Review. The regulation permits the home to be transferred with no Medicaid penalty, when the adult child has provided care to the parent for a period of two years. This allows the parents to remain at home under the care of their children, delaying the need to enter a long-term care facility.

New Jersey Medicaid has tried to narrow this rule for many years, claiming that the regulation only applies to caregivers who did not work outside of the home. This decision, along with other cases, recognizes that caregivers qualify if they meet the requirements of the regulation, regardless of whether they work outside of the home.

The court held that the language of the regulations requires only that:

• The adult child must live with the parent for two years, prior to the parent moving into a nursing facility.
• The child provided special care that allowed the parent to live at home when the parent would otherwise need to move out of their own home and into a nursing care facility.
• The care provided by the adult child was more than personal support activities and was essential for the health and safety of the parent.

In the past, qualifying to transfer a home to an adult caregiver child was met by a huge obstacle: the caregiver was required to either provide all care to the parents or pay for any care from their own pockets. This argument has now been firmly rejected in the decision A.M. v. Monmouth County Board of Social Services.

The court held that there was nothing in the regulation requiring the child to be the only provider of care, and the question of who paid for additional care was completely irrelevant legally.

It is now clear that as long as the child personally provides essential care without which the parent would need to live in a nursing facility, then the fact that additional caregivers may be needed does not preclude the ability to transfer the home to the adult child.

The decision is a huge shift, and one that elder law estate planning attorneys have fought over for years, as there have been increasingly stricter interpretation of the rule by New Jersey Medicaid.

While Medicaid is a federal program, each state has the legal right to set its own eligibility requirements. This New Jersey Appellate Court decision is expected to have an influence over other states’ decisions in similar circumstances. Since every state is different, adult children should speak with an elder law estate planning attorney about how the law of their parent’s state of residence would apply if they were facing this situation.

Reference: The National Law Review (March 22, 2021) “Major Victory for Adults Who Provide Home Care for Parents”

Elder Financial Abuse Increases with Social Isolation

“The unprecedented quarantines to protect against the spread of the novel coronavirus have made many seniors more vulnerable to financial exploitation.”

Social isolation, whether because of a pandemic or because an elderly person is alone, is a leading factor contributing to the financial exploitation of seniors. The necessity of quarantining for older adults because of COVID has increased the number of people vulnerable to elder financial abuse, reports the article “Social Isolation and the Risk of Investment Fraud” from NASDAQ.com.

Financial abuse can take place at any time during a person’s life. However, scammers typically strike during times when seniors are more susceptible. It is usually during a health crisis, after the death of a loved one, or when younger family members live far away.

Scammers get information about their prospective victims by reading the obituaries and social media. They also become involved with senior social and support groups to ingratiate themselves into seniors’ lives.

Combine social isolation with lessening cognitive capacity and the situation is ripe for a scam. Senior investors are often flattered when their new-found friends praise their superior understanding of investment opportunities. Decreased judgment paired with a lifetime of savings is a welcome mat for thieves, especially when friends and family members are not able to visit and detect changes indicating that something bad is occurring.

Widowed or divorced seniors are more likely to be victimized. People who suffer from isolation, more and more often turn to the internet as a social outlet. Research shows that people are contacted by scammers through social media or pop-up messages on websites. Those who are dependent and engage more frequently in online life are more likely to engage with a scammer and lose more money than those who are targeted by phone or scamming emails.

How to protect yourself or your aging parents from fraud during quarantine:

Scammers isolate their victims. Talk with family, friends, your estate planning attorney, or financial advisor for advice before making any decisions.

Do your homework first. If you don’t know how to do an internet search to see if the website or the person is a scammer, talk with a family member or professional advisor who can. Don’t invest money, unless you fully understand the risks and can verify the legitimacy of the offer and the company involved.

Educate yourself about finances and investments. This is a good project for people with too much time on their own. There are many worthwhile websites where you can learn about investments and finances. Look for well-known financial publishing companies. Don’t bother with marginal websites—that’s where fraudsters lurk.

Don’t be embarrassed to file a complaint. If you think you have been defrauded, you can file a complaint with the SEC, FINRA, and your state securities regulator. Your estate planning attorney will also know what resources you can tap to defend yourself.

Warning Signs of Elder Financial Abuse:

• A new “friend” who suddenly appears and tries to keep family and friends away.
• Someone who presses you to provide financial information and passwords to accounts.
• Fear or anxiety when a certain person calls or sends a text.
• Sudden and unexplained changes in estate planning documents or beneficiary designations.
• Anyone who asks for passwords to financial accounts.

Generally speaking, anyone who promises a high return with no risk is not telling the truth. The same goes for anyone who tells you that you need to act fast.

Seniors who are socially distant can stay in touch with family and friends through phone calls and if they can manage the devices, by video chat. Regular contact goes a long way in preventing strangers with bad intentions from insinuating themselves into your life or your parent’s lives.

Reference: NASDAQ.com (Feb. 11, 2021) “Social Isolation and the Risk of Investment Fraud”

Protect Your Estate from Nursing Home Costs

“No one wants a nursing home but the longer we live, the higher the chance we may need a nursing home at the end of life.”

Nursing home care is expensive, costing between $12,000 to $20,000 per month, so most seniors should do all they can to prepare for this possibility. According to a recent article from the Times Herald-Record, “Elder Law Power of Attorney can save assets that would go to nursing home costs,” this is something that can be done even when entering a nursing home is imminent.

A Power of Attorney is used to name people, referred to as “agents,” to conduct legal and financial affairs, if we are incapacitated. Having this document is an important part of an estate plan, since it reduces or completely avoids the risk of your family having to go through guardianship proceedings, where a judge names a legal guardian to take over your affairs.

The guardian likely will be someone you have never met, who does not know you or your family. It’s always better to plan in advance, so you know who is going to be taking charge of your affairs.

Then there’s the Elder Law Power of Attorney, a stronger form of a Power of Attorney that includes unlimited gifting powers. Having this unlimited gifting power lets a single person who applies for Medicaid in a nursing home to protect their assets, by using a gift and loan strategy.

Here’s an example: Amy, who is single, can’t live on her own and even having home health care aides is not enough care anymore. She has $500,000 in assets and does not qualify for Medicaid to pay for her care. Medicaid will allow her to keep only $15,900.

One option is for Amy to spend down all of her money on nursing home costs, until all she has is $15,900. All of her savings will go to the nursing home, with very little left for her daughter, Ellen.

However, if Amy has an Elder Law Power of Attorney, a gift and loan strategy can protect her assets. Half of the money, $250,000, can go to Ellen as a gift under the unlimited gifting powers. The other half goes to Ellen as a loan, under a promissory note with a set rate of interest.

Any gifts made in the past five years, known as a “five year look back,” cause a penalty period. Amy will have to pay for the nursing home for about twenty months. Every month during that period, Ellen will pay Amy a monthly payment that, with her income, is used to pay the nursing home bill. At the end of the 20 months, Amy qualifies for Medicaid to pay for her care for the rest of her life, and Amy may keep the $250,000. Saving half of her assets by using the gift and loan strategy is sometimes called the “half a loaf is better than none” strategy.

With a Standard Power of Attorney, there are no unlimited gifting powers.

A Medicaid Asset Protection Trust (MAPT) created five or more years before Amy needed a nursing home could have saved her entire nest egg for Ellen.

Preplanning is always the better way to go. An elder law estate planning attorney is the best resource for determining what the best tools are to protect a nest egg if and when a person needs the care of a nursing home.

Many people make the mistake of thinking that it “won’t happen to me.” However, injuries and illnesses often accompany aging, and it is far better to plan for this eventuality in advance than waiting and hoping for the best.

DISCLAIMER: Medicaid planning is complex and the case hypothetical above with “Amy and Ellen” is provided for purposes of illustration. Whether this strategy would work for you or your loved ones depends on the laws of your state of residence given your unique circumstances. Consult with an experienced elder law attorney admitted to practice law in your state of residence before engaging in any Medicaid planning!

Reference: Times Herald-Record (Jan. 8, 2021) “Elder Law Power of Attorney can save assets that would go to nursing home costs”

What Steps to Take when Diagnosed with Alzheimer’s

“Obviously, the first step is to work with your doctor to slow the progression. However, there are legal steps you need to take as quickly as possible.”

A diagnosis of Alzheimer’s or any serious progressive disease takes some time to absorb. However, during the days and weeks after the diagnosis, it is important to take quick steps to protect the person’s health as well as their legal and financial lives, advises the recent article “What to do after an Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis?” from The Indiana Lawyer.

Here are the legal steps that need to be taken, before the person is too incapacitated to legally conduct their own affairs:

General Durable Power of Attorney—A person needs to be appointed to perform legal and financial duties when the time comes. This can be a family member, trusted friend or a professional.

Health Care Power of Attorney—A person must be entrusted with making health care decisions, when the patient is no longer able to communicate their wishes.

HIPAA Authorization—Without this document, medical care providers will not be able to discuss the person’s illness or share reports and test results. An authorized person will be able to speak with doctors, pick up prescriptions and obtain medical reports. It is not a decision-making authorization, however.

Living Will—The living will explains wishes for end-of-life medical care, including whether to prolong life using artificial means.

Funeral Plans—Some states permit the creation of a legally enforceable document stating wishes for funerals, burials or cremation and memorial services. If a legal document is not permitted, then it is a kindness to survivors to state wishes, and be as specific as possible, to alleviate the family’s stress about what their loved one would have wanted.

Medicaid Planning—Care for Alzheimer’s and other dementias becomes extremely costly in the late stages. A meeting with an elder law attorney is important to see if the family’s assets can be protected, while obtaining benefits to pay for long-term and dementia care.

After the patient dies, there may be a claim against it from the state to recover Medicaid costs. By law, states must recover assets for long-term care and related drug and hospital benefits. All assets in the recipient’s probate estate are subject to recovery, except if surviving spouse, minor children, blind or disabled child is living or where recovery would cause hardship.

With good planning and the help of an experienced elder law attorney, the family may be able to mitigate claims by the government against the estate.

Reference: The Indiana Lawyer (Jan. 6, 2020) “What to do after an Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis?”