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We are finally are putting 2020 behind us and entering a new year with a clean slate! Given how tumultuous the year has been with the pandemic, as well as the change in administration, there are certain estate planning matters that should be a top priority.

In order for an Irrevocable Medicaid Trust to be considered “exempt” for Medicaid purposes, it must provide that no principal distributions can be made to the grantor. This requirement ensures that the recipient did need Medicaid to cover the cost of her long term care, whether at home or in a nursing home facility. If the terms permitted distributions to the grantor or the trust was revocable, Medicaid would consider all assets in the trust as “available.” So using any money in the Trust for an assisted living facility is forbidden.

A common misconception in the arena of Estate Planning is that trusts are only for people with large amounts of money, trying to avoid taxes. It is first important to understand that there are many different types of trusts, each serving a different purpose.

Question: My parents set up UTMA and 529 College Savings accounts for my children. I am not sure exactly what effect these accounts have on their financial aid in the future or whose assets they are if my parents need nursing home care.

Question: My mother has a trust that protects her house in case she needs long term care in a nursing home. Is this legal? Also, when she dies the trust is paid to another trust for me. Do I need this? I am only 53 and my mother is 75.

You can change your Will or Trust at any time, even in the middle of a divorce. However, once a divorce proceeding is commenced, both spouses are restricted from transferring assets or changing the designated beneficiary on retirement accounts.

For a traditional married couple, the estate planning has become simpler in many ways. Before the estate tax was increased on both the State and Federal level, we were fixated on saving estate taxes.

Question: I was named as an agent on my mother’s Durable Power of Attorney which included a “statutory gifts rider.” What is this document and what responsibilities will I have?

In order for a person to contest a last will and testament (“will”) in New York, he or she must have legal grounds. This means a reason based in the law that the will is invalid and should not be admitted to probate.

While the best elder law and estate plan is to have a valid health care proxy naming agents and a valid durable power of attorney naming an agent to make financial decisions, not everyone has done the proper planning. It is not uncommon for an elderly person to fall ill, be hospitalized and then need nursing home care with no time to plan.