ARTICLES / General /
Don’t Be a Joe or Helen! /
Other ArticlesBy Susan Piette, JD
4. Fact/Question:
Helen no longer has the capacity to execute a
will. What are the ramifications of her failure to
do so?
Answer: Helen will not be able
designate who will inherit her assets when she
passes. Although her guardian will be authorized to
utilize her assets for her while she is alive, any
assets remaining at her death will pass under state
intestate laws, resulting in some of the same
unintended results as occurred when Joe passed.
5. Fact/Question:
Daughter provided caregiver services and expended
(and continued to expend) personal funds for the
benefit of Helen without documenting the
arrangement. Can daughter be reimbursed?
Answer: Yes, but if daughter
accepts payment(s) for services and expenditures
without a properly documented caregiver agreement
and then if Medicaid is needed as a source of
funding for skilled nursing care for Helen, such
payment(s) may be determined to be an inappropriate
transfer of funds and cause an ineligibility period
of Medicaid benefits resulting in the family having
to pay for skilled nursing services that Medicaid
would have otherwise covered.
Joe and Helen failed to put in place a “SENIOR
PLAN” – what’s your SENIOR PLAN?
We all want peace of mind about our welfare and
our assets. You are the only one who can make
important decisions about how you would like to
live. Those decisions MUST be documented. In this
case, information is power! Anyone who is aging, or
has elder parents, should engage in non-crisis
planning and review their SENIOR PLAN with an
experienced elder law attorney. Don’t be a Joe or
Helen!
Susan Piette is an attorney
with the law firm of Hamburg, Rubin, Mullin, Maxwell
& Lupin, assisting parents and their children with
estate planning for over three decades. Contact
Susan at SPiette@HRMML.com or 215-661-0400
