Leaving a shore house or cabin to your children outright often ends in a forced sale. Here is how New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut families use a family agreement, an LLC, or a trust to keep the property, share…

Once a resident is settled in a nursing home, being told to leave can be very traumatic. Nursing homes are required to follow certain procedures before discharging a resident, but family members often accept the discharge without questioning it. Residents…

Although Medicaid limits the assets that the spouse of a Medicaid applicant can retain, the income of the “community spouse” is not counted in determining the Medicaid applicant’s eligibility. Only income in the applicant’s name is counted. Thus, even if the…

Medicaid law provides special protections for the spouses of Medicaid applicants to make sure the spouses have the minimum support needed to continue to live in the community while their husband or wife is receiving long-term care benefits, usually in…

Irrevocable. Permanent. Forever. When it comes to decision-making, these words are anything but comforting. So, when you sit down with your estate planning attorney and they suggest creating an irrevocable trust, it’s natural to be a bit hesitant. After all,…

Medicare Part A covers institutional care in hospitals and skilled nursing facilities, as well as certain care given by home health agencies and care provided in hospices. Any person who has reached age 65 and who is entitled to Social Security benefits…

On October 18, 2018, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) instituted a number of important rule changes affecting a service member’s eligibility for the Veterans Pension, a needs-based benefit for certain wartime veterans, their surviving spouses and dependent children. This…

In one of the ancient world’s most revered literary works, Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, a tragic hero, Oedipus, returns to the city of his birth for the first time. When he arrives, he finds the city guarded by a sphinx, which…

Is your family of the “Leave It to Beaver” variety -- opposite-gender parents, the first marriage for each, one or more kids, all healthy and thriving? If so, your estate plan will probably be pretty straightforward. But if not, it's…

For many people, the holidays are a particularly lonely period. But the fact is, loneliness is an all too common issue for a large number of our friends and neighbors, particularly seniors: one-third of Americans over the age of 65,…