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While I am familiar with Last Wills and Testaments, I keep hearing my friends talk about completing an “Estate Plan.” What is typically included in an “Estate Plan” and do I need one?

“What does look-back mean? What is spousal refusal? Will Medicaid take my house if my husband has to go to a Nursing Home?” All too often these are the questions we hear from our clients who are faced with navigating the Medicaid landscape once a crisis occurs.

Making end of life decisions are crucial components of any estate plan. As Elder Law attorneys, we deal with these issues every day. Some advance directives are signed in an attorney’s office and some are executed with a health care provider.

Advance directives are documents that are usually signed with an estate planning attorney while the client still has capacity and are meant to give direction as to how the client’s healthcare and financial decisions should be handled in case of incapacity. Advance directives traditionally include a health care proxy, living will, and durable power of attorney.

In practicing Elder Law, it is common for clients to come in to discuss applying for Medicaid to cover the cost of long term care for an ailing parent who has lost the mental capacity to make decisions for themselves. Before we even begin to discuss what transfers would need to be made to make the parent eligible for Medicaid, I ask if their parent has a power of attorney.

My friends used an online service to prepare their Wills. They signed them at in the presence of their neighbors. They said it was much less expensive than going to an attorney to have a Will prepared. I am planning to disinherit one of my children but I am hesitant to have my Will prepared by an online service. Can you give me some advice?

My mother is receiving Community Based Medicaid. She owns a house in her sole name. She has received advice on what to do with the house such as transfer it to her children or to a trust. Are these options advisable?

Clients often ask how they can ensure the home in which they live or their vacation home can be protected against the cost of long term care. These assets are often worth much more to our clients than the cash value; they represent hard work to pay off the mortgage and are wrapped in memories.

If I go to a nursing home, will I have to spend all my assets before I can get on Medicaid?

I am the Executor of my father’s Estate. The Surrogate’s Court has asked me to provide them with an “Inventory of Assets”. What is an Inventory of Assets?