Family First Firm
In Depth FAQs
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Family First Firm
Medicaid FAQs
Each applicant’s timeline varies based on individual circumstances. For those in a nursing home setting, approval can be as fast as 35-90 days; for those in assisted living or receiving care at home, the approval can range from 6-24 months.
Laws vary by state, but in Florida, Medicaid benefits can be used to cover long-term care costs in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, or in-home nursing care. This level of protection ensures that your loved one’s needs are met, including a safe environment with a clean room, meals, medical supplies, and skilled supervisory care.
Medicaid recipients can receive all-inclusive care at a nursing home without paying out-of-pocket expenses. Care is not limited to room and board and on-site physician services. The all-inclusive nature of the coverage also includes laundry services, personal hygiene items, activity services, and more.
However, for Medicaid to pay for a nursing home, a person must meet eligibility requirements. Because Medicaid is generally only available to seniors over 65, other funding sources may have to be used to pay for a nursing home until Medicaid benefits become active.
You should begin thinking of your loved ones’ plans for Medicaid eligibility as soon as possible to ensure they do not start too late or fail to meet the requirements. Planning for Medicaid eligibility should begin at least five years before age 65. Medicaid eligibility can significantly affect ongoing living expenses and a family’s financial legacy. A Family First Firm attorney can combine estate planning and Medicaid planning to ensure eligibility.
A person’s income and assets determine Medicaid eligibility. For the elderly who carefully planned for retirement, significant income or accumulated assets could lead to denial of Medicaid benefits, which could then cause financial devastation in a long-term care setting. The income and asset threshold is relatively low and is evaluated each year.
The American Council on Aging has a preliminary Medicaid eligibility test one can take to determine if they meet the requirements; however, this test does not account for estate planning or crisis planning tools that can shield income and assets from the Medicaid eligibility equation. Working with a Medicaid lawyer can help to position your loved ones to qualify for these benefits, even if they have substantial income and assets.
Seniors who are “dual eligible” may have both Medicare and Medicaid. For people with Medicare only, Medicare will cover some of the cost of rehab in a nursing home. However, Medicare coverage is limited to short-term visits only. Full coverage applies for stays of up to 20 days. After that, as the stay extends up to 100 days, the patient is responsible for a significant portion of the fees—subject to whether they have a supplemental insurance policy. From the 101st day in a facility, Medicare no longer helps with the cost. Therefore, working with a Medicaid planning attorney is critical to prepare for long-term care in a nursing home.
Yes. If your loved one opts for in-home care, Medicaid can also cover the costs associated with promoting independent living.
Depending on your situation, you may prefer that a loved one stays at home as long as possible, but you may also have concerns about the costs associated with this option.
In independent living situations, Medicaid pays for:
- Daily living assistance
- Household chores (including meal preparation)
- Home modifications, such as wheelchair ramps and roll-in showers
- Vehicle modifications
- Adult daycare
- Medical supplies
- Transitional services
Discuss your unique goals and concerns about Medicaid planning with your Florida Medicaid attorney.
Supplemental Security Disability Income (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) are the two types of disability benefits available. SSDI is based on your work history and how much you have contributed through payroll taxes. Instead, SSI is a flat rate and is based on your current financial situation.
Funds from your trust are meant to add to and not replace disability benefits. As a result, you can’t use your trust to fund living essentials that government benefits provide for, such as food, housing, clothing, or medical care. Doing so can reduce or eliminate your benefits. You can use it for things like education, therapy, or vacation expenses.
Medicaid and Medicare are both tax-funded government programs that help cover healthcare costs. Medicaid is for people with limited income and is managed by the states. Medicare, managed by the federal government, is for people who are 65 and older or have a disability. While Medicare is based on age, Medicaid is based on income.
You do not have to sell your home to qualify for Medicaid. As long as the proper conditions are met, your home is considered an exempt resource. However, if you gift or transfer the home, you may receive a period of ineligibility. In order to give away or transfer your home without penalty, you should consult with an experienced elder law attorney.
Family First Firm
Estate Planning FAQs
An Advance Directive is also known as a Living Will or Proxy Directive. It specifies the medical care you choose to receive or decline in cases of severe injury or incapacitation. Typically, these documents address critical decisions like resuscitation, life-saving measures, palliative care, and organ donation. Working with an estate planning attorney to create a Living Will can ensure this vital document is legally valid and free of omissions. An experienced Living Will lawyer can help you draft an Advance Directive that may reduce legal obstacles and help caregivers make decisions on your behalf when you cannot do so for yourself.
An advance directive usually states the principal’s wishes regarding specific life-sustaining and end-of-life procedures, such as:
- Ventilation
- Resuscitation through electric shock
- Tube feeding
- Pain relief and other forms of palliative care
An Advance Directive also names a healthcare proxy- a trusted agent overseeing the care you receive and ensuring any treatment complies with your wishes. If you split your time between Florida and another state (or states), you should consult an advance directive lawyer to make sure your documents are also valid outside Florida.
Choosing the right healthcare proxy is a crucial decision that may eventually determine whether emergency and end-of-life care complies with your wishes.
Your healthcare proxy can be a spouse, partner, parent, family member, or friend. In any case, the proxy should be someone who:
- Understands and honors your wishes regarding medical care in critical situations
- Is willing and able to undertake the responsibility of overseeing your emergency medical care, including pivotal choices like surgery or resuscitation
- Has at least a basic understanding of your existing medical conditions
It’s also a good idea to appoint an alternate proxy in case your first-choice proxy cannot act on your behalf.
Although an Advance Directive is a legally binding document, in some cases, family members may dispute its validity or question the conduct of a healthcare proxy. This may happen when families disagree with the principal’s decisions about life-sustaining care.
An experienced living will and trust attorney can check your Advance Directive for any inconsistencies that could lead to controversy in urgent situations.
An experienced wills and trusts attorney can help you create a Testamentary Will that adheres to Florida’s legal requirements and includes all necessary provisions, such as:
- Listing all the testator’s significant assets and the beneficiaries who should inherit them
- Naming an executor to close the estate and distribute assets after the testator’s death
- Appointing a guardian for any minor children
If you don’t yet have a Will, contact Family First Firm. Our lawyers for wills can draft a clear and comprehensive document and suggest additional estate planning tools.
The main advantage of a Revocable Living Trust in Florida is bypassing probate. Generally, assets a decedent owned in their name only must go through probate, a lengthy and potentially expensive legal process.
Our trust attorneys can help you set up a Revocable Trust to avoid probate. You can name a successor trustee to handle trust management after your passing or incapacitation. That way, assets can move directly to beneficiaries.
Keep in mind that a Revocable Trust doesn’t protect property from creditor or Medicaid claims.
Once you place assets in an Irrevocable or Family Fortress Trust, the trust becomes the legal owner of the property, limiting your ability to use trust assets or amend trust terms. However, irrevocable trusts offer an efficient legal way to protect assets and keep wealth in your family.
Competent trust attorneys may suggest strategies like:
- Transferring property to an Irrevocable Trust as part of Medicaid planning to qualify for benefits and avoid future claims
- Creating a trust that will distribute assets to adult children under certain conditions (e.g., graduating from college)
- Using an Irrevocable Trust to protect assets from a child’s ex-spouse in case of divorce
Working with an experienced estate planning attorney to create a comprehensive estate plan can help you provide for your loved ones, protect your legacy, reduce family conflict, and possibly mitigate tax liability. A comprehensive estate plan gives you more control over your assets, both during life and after passing.
Keep in mind that you can only authorize wills, trusts, and powers of attorney while you’re in full use of your mental capacity. That’s why, if you don’t have an estate plan already, you should consult (or recommend your loved one to consult) an estate planning lawyer as soon as possible.
If a Florida resident dies without leaving a valid Will, their assets will pass to surviving family members according to Florida’s intestate succession laws, which don’t always conform to what the decedent would have wished. This is why speaking to an estate planning attorney in Florida is so important.
A competent estate planning lawyer can propose several strategies to reduce inheritance taxes and protect your intended beneficiaries’ shares of your assets. Asset protection strategies in Florida include:
- Gifting assets to family members up to a certain allowable threshold
- Placing life insurance proceeds in an irrevocable trust
- Choosing an alternative valuation date for an estate to reduce tax liability
- Making donations to trusted charities
Some of these methods work better in certain circumstances. For example, transfers to a life insurance trust may still count as part of the decedent’s estate unless the grantor survives at least three years after the transfer.
A Will is the number one, bare-bones legal document everyone needs, regardless of age and estate size. A Trust works to keep the assets described in the Will out of probate court.
Our elder law and estate planning attorneys can help you or your parents establish the following:
- A Revocable Living Trust to avoid probate
- An Irrevocable Trust to protect assets against tax liability or ex-spouse claims
- A Special Needs Trust to provide for vulnerable family members while preserving their eligibility for government benefits
Most people are familiar with a Will; it is a document that outlines instructions about how an estate should be distributed after someone passes. A Will can also contain instructions for guardianship and other estate planning tools, depending on your situation.
On the other hand, a Living Will contains directives to be carried out while one is still alive but incapacitated or terminally ill. This information includes what, if any, medical treatment should be administered when a person can no longer make those decisions on their own.
These instructions can have life-or-death implications. For example, a Living Will might contain instructions to avoid resuscitation after a catastrophic injury under specified conditions. It’s crucial that both documents are created and reviewed with an experienced elder law attorney.
Yes. We draft pour-over wills that ensure anything that isn’t in the trust at the time of your passing is moved into the trust after death. As you go through life, you may forget to title assets, or well-meaning bank clerks can undo work towards funding your trust. For this reason, a pour-over will is a catch-all to ensure that any assets that aren’t in the trust get put into it.
Family First Firm
Probate FAQs
Probate is the court process to manage the estate of someone who passed away while owning property. In Probate, the court will determine if the Last Will and Testament is valid, and determine how to use the decedent’s assets to pay final expenses, taxes, and debts to creditors.
Because beneficiaries receive their inheritance after Probate, there is always a risk of those assets being used to pay the decedent’s debts. An experienced probate lawyer can help your family represent their interests to receive their intended inheritance.
A personal representative (commonly called an executor or administrator) is appointed by the court to administer the probate estate, including:
- Creating an inventory of the probate assets
- Publishing a notice to creditors in the local newspaper
- Serving the notice of administration
- Locating reasonable creditors to notify of the decedent’s passing
- Paying valid claims or objecting to improper creditor claims
- Filing final taxes
- Paying expenses associated with administering the estate
- Distributing remaining assets after probate to the decedent’s beneficiaries
- Closing the probate estate
If your loved one passes away without a Will, the court will follow intestate succession to distribute assets to assumed beneficiaries after Probate.
In Florida, it’s required to hire an attorney to settle most estates. Probate is a complex court process, and the personal representative should hire an experienced estate and probate attorney to reduce the risk of a beneficiary bringing forward a probate litigation case against them.
Probate can take over a year to process, meaning beneficiaries are left waiting to receive their inheritances. Creating a Revocable or Family Fortress Trust will allow assets to bypass probate; the trustee can administer these assets immediately to beneficiaries. A trust attorney with Family First Firm can help you set up this type of estate plan.
In general, anyone can serve as a Will executor in Florida if they:
- Are 18 or older
- Are physically and mentally capable of undertaking an executor’s duties
- Don’t have any prior felony convictions
A bank or another financial institution can also act as a Will executor, provided it is authorized to act as a fiduciary in Florida. Non-residents may serve as executors if they’re related to the decedent by marriage, blood, or adoption. An estate administration attorney can ensure that your chosen representative may serve as your will executor in Florida.
A typical Florida estate takes between 6 and 9 months to close, including probate and asset distribution. However, estate administration may take longer if the estate is especially large or complex, or if it includes property in other states. If the decedent owned real estate outside Florida, those assets may need to go through probate in the state where they are registered.
Inheritance disputes or conflicts over estate administration can also prolong estate closure. Our estate administration law firm can help Will executors and beneficiaries overcome hurdles while closing an estate.
Acting as a Will executor involves many complex duties, like inventorying and valuing assets, discharging tax liabilities, and managing the estate during closure. An executor who is not a legal or tax professional may accidentally mismanage the estate, which could lead to various legal repercussions. Beneficiaries may ask the court to appoint a different representative or file a lawsuit against the Will executor.
If you’re a Will executor, consulting an estate administration attorney with Family First Firm can help you avoid estate closure mistakes, conflict with beneficiaries, and potential legal liability.
Family First Firm
Veteran Benefits FAQs
No! You can request a copy of your DD214 (Discharge paperwork) from the National Archives.
The VA does not allow recipients to receive multiple benefits simultaneously. However, you can apply for multiple benefits and will receive the higher amount if eligible for more than one.
Yes! If you are receiving Medicaid, you can still qualify for an additional $90/month from the VA.
Each applicant’s timeline varies based on individual circumstances, but typically approval can take between 4-6 months.
For more information on eligibility criteria, please visit the VA Pension Eligibility page.
Veterans may qualify for VA pension benefits if:
- They are 65 or older, have a permanent total disability, reside in a nursing home, or receive SSI or SSDI benefits
- They received an honorable discharge
- Their net worth and annual income meet the current Congress threshold
The veteran’s net worth excludes specific property, like the family home, car, and furniture. Currently, the maximum net worth to qualify for a veteran’s pension is $138,489.
A veteran benefits attorney can help you understand whether you or your family member is eligible for a veteran pension and guide you through the application process.
Depending on age and disability status, veterans may also qualify for Age and Attendance Benefits and/or Housebound Benefits, programs that provide additional benefits. These programs target veterans who reside in nursing homes, cannot leave home without assistance, or have severely limited eyesight or other disabilities.
Like other VA programs, the veteran’s eligibility depends on asset and income thresholds. The maximum benefit amount depends on how many persons the veteran may list as dependents.
Our experienced veteran benefits planning lawyer can ensure you or your loved one is receiving the full extent of the VA pension benefits for which you qualify.
Veterans of all ages may qualify for the VA’s Standard Medical Benefits Package if they finished their service with an honorable discharge and meet certain length-of-duty criteria.
The package includes the following:
- Geriatric evaluation
- Outpatient and inpatient services
- Preventive care and surgery
- Prescription drugs
Any eligible veteran may enroll in the program at any time. Participants may need to make co-payments based on their income.
An experienced veteran benefits lawyer from Family First Firm can check your loved one’s eligibility for specific medical benefits.
Veterans enrolled in the VA healthcare package may also qualify for home care, assisted living, and nursing home services. Like other medical benefits, long-term care may involve co-pays based on the specific services and the veteran’s income.
VA healthcare covers:
- 24/7 medical care
- Assistance with daily activities
- Physical therapy
- Pain management and palliative care
- Respite care for spouses, family members, or other regular caregivers
Our competent veteran benefits lawyers can counsel you on the full scope of long-term care services available to you or your loved one as an older veteran.
Family First Firm
Asset Protection FAQs
Asset protection refers to the tools and strategies to guard property and wealth. There are several options for safeguarding different types of property or accounts from issues involving creditors, taxes, liabilities, or mismanagement. Asset protection also helps seniors be less susceptible to scammers.
The elderly are often in the precarious position of having amassed assets while facing threats that did not exist when they were younger. Beyond the obvious reason of holding onto what you’ve worked a lifetime to accrue, we can help clients protect assets in order to qualify for Medicaid without draining their savings, make it more difficult for scammers to take advantage, and guarding wealth against taxation, judgments, seizures and other legal liabilities.
Since every family is different, we may employ one or more of the following asset protection strategies:
- Trusts (including our Family Fortress Trust)
- Retirement and long-term care planning
- Establishing joint tenancies
- Setting up LLCs or other business entities
- Acquisition of protected assets
- Other safeguards that prevent property from being seized in a judgment
Asset Protection Trusts, abbreviated as APTs, are a type of irrevocable trust. Funds from the trust can still be accessed, but distributions are at the discretion of an independent party. A Family Fortress Trust is a type of irrevocable trust that combines asset protection with Medicaid Planning to safeguard assets.
Rather than seeking an irrevocable trust lawyer or an asset protection law firm, it often helps to focus on a more holistic family strategy. That is why we designed our Family Fortress Trust. You can protect your family’s assets and future while positioning your loved ones to avoid many costs that tend to blindside people in their elder years.
Perhaps the better question to ask is this: “Can a trust help you avoid nursing home costs?”
Yes, the right kind of trust can greatly assist you with exorbitant nursing home expenses by helping you qualify for Medicaid. Medicaid eligibility requires years of proper planning, guided by an asset protection law firm focused on elder law concerns. By working with Family First Firm to implement a Family Fortress Trust, you can shield assets that might otherwise compromise your eligibility for Medicaid assistance. You can do so without depriving a loved one of the income from the assets in that trust.
The average monthly cost of a nursing home in Florida is around $10,000, which increases by about 10% yearly. Imagine how quickly savings can vanish when more than $100,000 is being expended to pay nursing home fees! Understandably, Florida families come to Family First Law Firm looking for solutions to avoid these six-figure outlays. An asset protection lawyer at Family First Firm can help you strategize elder law concerns, such as qualifying for Medicaid with long-term care options in mind.
Family First Firm
Special Needs Planning FAQs
What does special needs planning for my loved one entail?
You can take several steps to plan for loved one with special needs or disability, including:
- Appointing a guardian to make decisions for your family member when they turn 18
- Establishing and funding a special needs trust
- Applying for government benefits for your loved one
- Naming beneficiaries for your retirement accounts and life insurance policy
- Arranging future care for your loved one
Contact a special needs planning lawyer at Family First Firm to learn more about special needs planning.
An adult with special needs can qualify for Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) under certain circumstances. Requirements to be eligible for these government programs include the following:
- Assets and income below a certain level
- Diagnosis of specific disabilities or developmental delays
- A disability that affects a person’s ability to work
In Florida, any person who qualifies for SSI is automatically eligible for Medicaid coverage. A special needs planning attorney at Family First Firm can help you better understand how to qualify.
A Special Needs Trust (SNT) manages assets for a person with special needs. These trusts keep assets separate from the individual in order to qualify for SSI and Medicaid’s income and asset limitations, and can pay for things outside of the regular cost of living expenses.
Some people with special needs can perform limited work and earn income; our special needs lawyers can help you determine an appropriate disbursement schedule for a special needs trust, factoring in regular income.
The Achieving a Better Life Experience Act (ABLE) created ABLE accounts, a special type of savings account that can pay for more qualified disability expenses than a Special Needs Trust. ABLE accounts have an annual contribution limit of $16,000.
If your loved one became disabled before age 26, they are eligible for an ABLE account. ABLE account funds can cover cost of living, education, transportation, support services, technology, and other comfort items and services.
Family First Firm
Elder Law FAQs
Your loved ones have spent a lifetime acquiring assets and growing their net worth, but a nest egg can be wiped out without careful planning, especially in a nursing home scenario. Elder law attorneys help by assessing threats and taking preventive steps to help ensure your loved ones’ golden years are not marked by financial frustration or unwelcome surprises.
Elder law and estate planning attorneys advise clients on creating and managing Trusts, drafting Wills, and making arrangements for long-term care insurance. Proactive planning can protect assets and ensure that your loved one’s wishes are carried out appropriately.
Elder law attorneys act as an advocate for the elderly and their loved ones, ensuring that their legal rights and interests are protected. Areas of elder law include:
- Financial planning
- Wills and estate planning
- Asset protection
- Powers of attorney
- Guardianship
- Elder abuse and neglect
- Medicaid planning
- Government and private health benefits
- Strategies and budgets for long-term care facilities
- Probate and estate administration
By leveraging the knowledge and experience of an elder law firm in Florida, you can anticipate and mitigate many potential problems that threaten a happy future for your loved ones and your family.