Walnut Creek Elder Law Blog

Elder Law Attorney Michael J. Young practices in the areas of long term care planning, asset protection, government benefits planning and estate planning for the older client in Antioch and the surrounding areas. Mr. Young holds workshops regarding these topics on a regular basis. He is the author of the The Alzheimer’s Legal Survival Kit and The Nuts and Bolts Guide to Veteran’s Benefits. These and other publications and information regarding upcoming workshops are available through Mr. Young’s website at http://www.WalnutCreekElderLaw.com.

Many of Mr. Young’s clients live in Antioch and wish to engage an elder law attorney to help them do their long term care planning for asset protection and government benefits planning such as for the VA Aid & Attendance Pension Benefit and Medi-Cal.

Medi-Cal pays for skilled nursing facility costs. The VA Aid & Attendance Improved Pension Benefit can help pay for in home care, assisted living facilities and the costs of board and care. If you are a wartime veteran, or the surviving spouse of a wartime veteran, over the age of 65 and may be in need of help with activities of daily living, you may want to plan for this little known benefit.

Planning for asset protection, Medi-Cal and the VA Aid & Attendance Pension Benefit usually begins with updating the estate planning documents, such as the revocable living trust and financial durable powers of attorney to include specialized planning language. The focus for this type of planning changes for the older client, to help make our assets last longer, and to create more options. An elder law attorney can help you with this important perspective. We don’t want to run out of money or options as we grow older. The focus on long term care planning changes from “What happens when we die” to “What happens if we don’t die.”

Mr. Young offers a free telephone consultation, and you may contact his office at 925-256-0298, and visit his website at www.WalnutCreekElderLaw.com.

This information is not to be taken as legal advice, and you are encouraged to see an elder law attorney or senior law attorney for your particular situation. 

Written Michael J. Young, lawyoung1@gmail.com, elder law attorney with offices in Walnut Creek, CA. www.WalnutCreekElderLaw.com 1931 San Miguel Dr., Suite 220, Walnut Creek, CA 94596. 925-256-0298. Mr. Young serves Contra Costa and Alameda Counties, including the cities of Walnut Creek, Alamo, Danville, Concord, Brentwood, Pleasant Hill, Antioch, Clayton, etc.

We do Alzheimer’s planning in our lawfirm. This type of long term care planning includes, in part, the preparation of estate planning documents. These specialized documents contain required, updated language for asset protection and government benefits planning regarding Medi-Cal and the VA Aid and Attendance Improved Pension Benefit. Part of the planning may also include asset protection of the home and monetary assets.  

However, a big part of Alzheimer’s planning involves working with the family of the loved one who is afflicted with this disease. Alzheimer’s disease can last many years, and our relationship with the families we represent can be very long. As an example, my mother in law, who has Alzheimer’s disease, and who turns 90 next month, has been in a board and care facility for the last 10 years. Other than the disease, she is fairly healthy for a 90 year old.  She does not recognize her three “girls”, but she is being well cared for.  

Currently, there is no cure for Alzheimer’s, but there are treatments and services that will make life more bearable for the Alzheimer’s patient, and his or her family.  We offer  support for our clients and their families, regarding resources for care as part of the  long term care planning. We also encourage our clients and their families to become knowledgeable about the disease. For additional information regarding Alzheimer’s planning, please feel free to contact our office.

This information is not to be taken as legal advice, and you are encouraged to see an elder law attorney for your particular situation. 

Written Michael J. Young, lawyoung1@gmail.com, elder law attorney in Walnut Creek, CA. www.WalnutCreekElderLaw.com mike@WalnutCreekElderLaw.com. 1931 San Miguel Dr., Suite 220, Walnut Creek, CA 94596. 925-256-0298. Mr. Young serves Contra Costa and Alameda Counties, including the cities of Walnut Creek, Alamo, Danville, Concord, Brentwood, Pleasant Hill, Antioch, Clayton, etc.

The VA Aid & Attendance Pension Benefit is available for wartime veterans or their surviving spouses. For 2011, a single veteran can receive up to $1,644 per month, and $1,949 if married. The widowed spouse can receive up to $1,056 per month. This benefit is most helpful for payment of in home care, assisted living facility and board and care costs.

For qualification, the VA takes into account, among other things, income and assets. If the applicant’s income and assets are too high, he may not qualify. That is where planning by your elder law attorney, who is certified by the VA, comes in. In addition, when we plan for the VA Aid & Attendance Pension Benefit, we also plan for Medi-Cal benefits at the same time. Medi-Cal pays for nursing home costs after your Medicare days are used up. Nursing homes in our area can cost upwards of $7,500 or more per month. If you plan for VA alone, without taking into account the more stringent Medi-Cal rules at the same time, you may become eligible for VA but ineligible for Medi-Cal.

Beware of being asked to purchase an annuity to qualify for VA. We have been informed by clients and others that there are annuity salesmen out there, who are also usually not certified by the VA, who will ask you to purchase an annuity for VA qualification. I understand that they usually do not tell you about the annuity at first. The purpose for the sale of an annuity, from a legal perspective, is at best unclear, and is generally viewed by the elder law legal community as unnecessary.  Your elder law attorney can best help you with asset protection and planning, within the Medi-Cal and VA regulations, without the sale of annuities. Medi-Cal also has stringent requirements about annuities, which could make the Medi-Cal applicant either ineligible for Medi-Cal, or require him to pay more than necessary in the share of cost, which money goes from the applicant to the nursing home.  We receive calls from individuals, and their families, who are quite angry that they have purchased an annuity for VA qualification, angry that they do not understand what the purpose of the annuity was, and would like to know how to reverse the process. Your elder law attorney, who is certified by the VA, can best help you with long term care planning, asset protection, VA and Medi-Cal qualification, and estate planning at the same time, legitimately and within the regulations.

Written Michael J. Young, lawyoung1@gmail.com, elder law attorney in Walnut Creek, CA. www.WalnutCreekElderLaw.com mike@WalnutCreekElderLaw.com. 1931 San Miguel Dr., Suite 220, Walnut Creek, CA 94596. 925-256-0298. Mr. Young serves Contra Costa and Alameda Counties, including the cities of Walnut Creek, Alamo, Danville, Concord, Brentwood, Pleasant Hill, Antioch, Clayton, etc.

This information is not to be taken as legal advice, and you are encouraged to see an elder law attorney for professional advice.

Written Michael J. Young, lawyoung1@gmail.com, elder law attorney in Walnut Creek, CA. www.WalnutCreekElderLaw.com mike@WalnutCreekElderLaw.com. 1931 San Miguel Dr., Suite 220, Walnut Creek, CA 94596. 925-256-0298. Mr. Young serves Contra Costa and Alameda Counties, including the cities of Walnut Creek, Alamo, Danville, Concord, Brentwood, Pleasant Hill, Antioch, Clayton, etc.

This information is not to be taken as legal advice, and you are encouraged to see an elder law attorney, who is certified by the VA, for professional advice.

Parkinson’s disease is a brain disorder, wherein certain nerve cells in the brain become impaired or die. These nerve cells, called “neurons” normally produce a chemical known as dopamine. This chemical allows for smooth, coordinated functions of the body’s muscles and movements.

When a high percentage of the brain cells which produce dopamine are impaired, symptoms of Parkinson’s disease may appear. Symptoms may include tremors, changes in facial expression, imbalance, small handwriting and slowness of movement. In time, the symptoms may become worse. Mild tremors can become more severe. Body movements may also become slower, and mobility problems may become worse. The use of eating utensils, dressing, and performing various activities of daily living may become more difficult.

Parkinson’s disease, which is difficult to diagnose officially, affects both sexes in equal numbers, and does not discriminate on the basis of ethnicity, social status or where you live. There are different rates of progression for the disease. We encourage our clients who have Parkinson’s disease and their familiy members to seek the help of support groups, to pursue ongoing medical care, and to learn adaptive techniques from medical professionals.

 Parkinson’s disease is the most common brain disorder, after Alzheimer’s disease, that we see with our clients. When symptoms of Parkinson’s disease appear, as with symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, we receive inquiries from individuals who may have the disease, or from their loved ones. They want know what should be done now regarding the establishment of a long term care plan for the person with the disease.

We help clients review and update their existing estate planning documents, to be sure the documents contain the requisite asset protection language. We then help the family plan for long term in-home care, which is the preference of most of our clients. We help the family plan for the VA Aid and Attendance benefit, which can help pay for in home care, for veterans. We also help with planning for Medi-Cal benefits, which can pay for nursing home care.   

 If you or a loved one has symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, please feel free to call elder law attorney Michael J. Young, with offices in Walnut Creek, CA, at 925-256-0298. Mr. Young serves clients principally in Contra Costa and Alameda Counties. You can visit our web site at www.WalnutCreekElderLaw.com

If you run a home health agency, you probably feel like you are wearing a hundred different hats, from finding the right employees,  to dealing with all of the issues they bring with them. Moreover, you are communicating with clients who are stressed out and who are wondering how they are going to be able to pay for your valuable services.

Did you know that there is a Federal program that can pay your clients directly, to help defray the cost of their in home healthcare.  This is the Veterans Administration Aid & Attendance benefit program that is available to veterans and to their surviving spouses. In order to qualify, clients who are veterans or who are surviving spouses of veterans, need to meet required income and asset limitations. These requirements can be legally and honestly met, through the help of an elder law attorney accredited in this area. 

For married couples, the benefit can be as much $1,949 per month or more, and for surviving spouses of a veteran, the benefit can be as much as $1,056 per month or more. 

The benefit to your clients is that this program provides an additional source of funds to them, to help pay the cost of in home care that you are providing to them.  Our clients all want to stay at home as long as possible, and we all know that it is better for all involved, if our clients can stay home longer.

If you’d like to learn more about how the VA Aid and Attendance program works, then I’d like to invite you to a workshop I will be hosting for home healthcare providers here at our offices. We will be sending additional information to you regarding upcoming programs. We are also available for in-service programs regarding this benefit. You may contact our offices for additional information, and feel fee to check our website at www.WalnutCreekElderLaw.com.

By Michael J. Young, Elder Law Attorney, with offices in Walnut Creek, and serving Contra Costa and Alameda Counties.