Elder Law Answers

The Great Wealth Transfer: • As baby boomers are the primary source of wealth, their death begin transferred to younger generations. • This is one of the most substantial intergenerational transfers of wealth in history & it is expected to continue for another couple of decades. • Some estimates put the amount of assets that will be transferred at $68+ trillion. • Potential to reshape individual financial futures and the broader economy. • Will provide opportunities that weren't previously available (early retirement, investment opportunities, or funding for personal passions). • Complexities require careful planning and decision-making.

Estate Planning and Elder Law We have dedicated our entire practice to providing estate planning to families in West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Our purpose is to ensure people of all ages and their loved ones have financial security now and in the future. Visit us online at: https://www.seamonlawoffices.com

Preparing for the possibility of long term care. Estate Planning and Elder Law We have dedicated our entire practice to providing estate planning to families in West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Our purpose is to ensure people of all ages and their loved ones have financial security now and in the future. Visit us online at: https://www.seamonlawoffices.com

Learn more about this special program created for West Virginian's with special needs. https://wvpacetrustfund.com Estate Planning and Elder Law We have dedicated our entire practice to providing estate planning to families in West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Our purpose is to ensure people of all ages and their loved ones have financial security now and in the future. Visit us online at: https://www.seamonlawoffices.com

This multi-episode series will follow a hypothetical couple through their lives to see what role estate planning had on their family. This hypothetical story is based on having worked with over 1500 families over the past thirteen years, but it is not based on a specific client.

"Keeping Control of Your Assets" Elder Law Answers Ep10 2021 by Seamon Law Offices

Most parents of younger children feel that nearly every day is focused on their children, but as we get older the tables begin to turn. I've worked with amazing children who sacrifice quite a bit to help their parents as they age. I am often touched at how much love and care so many adult children provide to their parents sometimes at the sacrifice of their own children or grandchildren. People often express that we do not take care of our elderly anymore and while there are many examples of that, I've been blessed to meet some pretty amazing ‘kids' over the years. Make it easier for kids, have good estate planning documents that give the appropriate power/controls for them to protect your care decisions.

The internet is a wonderful tool to learn about a myriad of topics, we can even watch YouTube videos that demonstrate exactly how to a variety of things. We ask Google, Alexa and Siri for television schedules, the weather report, and trivia questions. It used to be the younger generation who reached for their smartphone to look up the answers to questions that came up during conversation, but nowadays, it is folks of all ages. A common question on Facebook groups is for an estate planning attorney in the area and while some attorneys are named, there is usually at least one suggestion to use an online option. The internet is a great place to get information regarding estate and elder law issues, but I do not recommend relying on that technology for our estate planning needs. Beware of the potential pitfalls to getting online estate planning documents.

When a person marries (or divorces), they should update their estate plan. If they don't, state laws determine who their heirs are and how/when they inherit Interesting Fact: Traditionally, June has been the most popular month of the year to marry, there are many reasons this is thought to be true, here are a couple: • The Roman goddess of marriage, Juno, is said to be a protector of women, in particular in marriage and childbearing so for those who marry in June it was said they would be blessed with prosperity and happiness. • During medieval times, people only bathed about once a year and that was usually in the spring, so it was common to marry while the bride still smelled relatively fresh.

We Remember Our Veterans Background: Wartime veterans or their surviving spouses (or other dependents) may qualify for the Improved Pension to help them with their expenses. This pension is increased for those who are Homebound or qualify for the Aid & Attendance benefit. Topic: During May we celebrate our fallen war heroes on Memorial Day (which became a national holiday in 1971). This year it falls on Monday, May 31st. Let's take a moment to thank our heroes and make sure they know they may be entitled to the non-service connected pension. Issue: Let's make sure our non-service connected veterans, have the money to help pay for care whether at home or in a facility of their choosing. • Memorial Day: o Honoring the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military dates back to shortly after the Civil War. During this time, various towns and cities paid spring tributes to fallen soldiers. o 1968, General John A. Logan called for Decoration Day - a nationwide day of remembrance for those who had fallen during the Civil War. o Later, Decoration Day evolved to include honoring those who had served during all of our wars. o Renamed Memorial Day in 1971 when it became an official federal holiday. o Memorial Day traditions vary from visiting the resting place of our heroes, parades, picnics and a National Moment of Remembrance at 3:00pm local time. • Difference between service-connected disabilities & nonservice connected disabilities. o Most Veterans are aware that they could be entitled to compensation for service-connected disabilities o Many Veterans are not aware of the nonservice connected pension they (or their dependents and surviving spouses) may qualify for.  This basic pension is called the Improved Pension, with additional benefits for those who are homebound or who qualify for aid and attendance benefits. • Do not have to be ‘in the VA System' • Can qualify even if denied for other benefits in the past • Qualifications can be confusing, generally a veteran should qualify: o Served active duty at least 90 days but at least 1 day during wartime but more if served after 1980) o Not a dishonorable discharge

Money, Money, Money A lot of people just really don't understand what types of accounts/investments they have which makes it difficult to advise them on how to set up their estate plan to achieve their goals. April is National Financial Literacy Month. Take the time to talk to your trusted advisors (banker, insurance agent & financial advisor) to try to understand your assets. Don't be afraid to ask for help from ‘trusted' people. People spend a lot of time worrying about their finances, but don't always do something about it. Get the knowledge, then take action to make sure it is how you want it. • Recent survey by Bay Alarm Medical indicates that eight in ten Americans are very concerned that they may run out of money as they age. • More Americans are worried that they will face financial instability than they are of their spouse's death or even their own death. • Fear of financial instability is a fear we can mitigate with knowledge and action. • April is National Financial Literacy Month (per 2004 Senate resolution). • Senate's goal was to help raise public awareness regarding financial education and the consequences of not understanding personal finances. • Financial literacy: • Many Americans do not yet have the ability to understand and effectively use various financial skills such as personal financial management, budgeting, paying bills, setting financial goals and investing. • Test financial literacy on the National Financial Educators Council (NFEC) website.  30-question test called the National Financial Capability Test.  NFEC reports that of the 40,000 people who have taken this test, the average score was less than 68%, with 42% actually failing the test. • Tie into estate planning: What financial literacy has to do with estate planning, my answer would be ‘everything'. • My clients typically want to know how to achieve two goals.  First, how to protect their assets from the high cost of long-term care.  Second, how to pass their estate to their heirs without incurring unnecessary expenses or hassles.  My advice depends on what assets they have.

When The Luck of the Irish Just Isn't Good Enough Why people either choose to not have a last will & testament or one that doesn't properly address the probate issues and the effects of not having a last will & testament. Background: • Probate: The legal process a person's estate goes through after they die. Ensures their outstanding debts and taxes are paid before their assets are distributed to their beneficiaries. • Intestate Estate: If the decedent did not have a valid will or their will inadequately addresses the issues at hand, then the state's laws of intestacy fill in the blanks for the probate process. Basically, intestacy laws are the ‘default' laws for probate. • According to the American Bar Association, 55% of Americans die without a will. • According to AARP, 47% of Americans polled who did not yet have an estate plan in place cited just not “getting around to it” as their reason for not establishing a plan. • When you die intestate, you leave your estate to chance with the default laws in your state. • Instead of designating the person you wish to serve as your personal representative, whoever applies first to the courthouse may be appointed to administer your estate. • A will is needed to prevent the need for a bond. • Your verbal promises are worthless. The law equitably divides your assets according to degrees of relationship. • Even if a beneficiary disclaims an inheritance that wasn't intended for them, it still causes issues because they are considered to have predeceased. • Unintended beneficiary may refuse to or not fix the issue in a timely way. • Unintended beneficiary may have their own complications if they try to fix it. • Minor or disabled beneficiaries will probably need court to manage that inheritance while they are minor/disabled, but then they immediately get it at age 18 or when disability no longer exists. • A will is where we name guardians for our minor children. • Probate may take longer without a will which increases the costs incurred by your estate as well. • A poorly drafted will (especially if you do it yourself) may leave questions unanswered requiring the default laws to fill in those blanks.

Last month, we talked about how some people are hesitant to provide information to attorneys prior to an initial consultation, but that it is important to provide a comprehensive overview so you can get the most out of your estate plan. The same is true for the information we need from you once you've decided to proceed with a plan! Because many clients are accustomed to very brief wills lacking details, they often don't realize that properly done documents require you to provide much more information to your attorney than what you might need to input into an online estate plan document generator. This is definitely a situation where “you get what you pay for”! Hiring an estate planning attorney like our office means that we have systems in place to effectively gather the information we need to draft your documents. Today, we'll explain what we need during the gather information process prior to document signing and why we need it!

A good estate plan should provide for who will inherit your assets, how they will inherit those assets, provide guardians and protect minor beneficiaries' inheritances, mitigate taxes and avoid conflict among family. To help you accomplish these common goals, it is important for us to have an understanding of your family dynamics, your health, the health of your beneficiaries and those who depend on you, your assets and your income. We find it is common for people to be hesitant to share such private details of their lives regarding their family, health, and assets, even though that information is essential to getting the most benefit from your initial estate planning consultation.

Elder Law Answers "Making The Plan" Ep5 2020 by Seamon Law Offices

Elder Law Answers "Plan Ahead" Ep4 2020 by Seamon Law Offices

Elder Law Answers "Stories" Ep3 2020 by Seamon Law Offices

Elder Law Answers Ep 7 19 Retirement Trusts by Seamon Law Offices

There are many types of trusts that can be useful depending on the client’s goals. In January, we discussed trusts in general. In February, we discussed testamentary trusts that can be designed to manage an inheritance after we have passed away. This month’s show will focus on the revocable living trust which is created for the benefit of the person creating their trust during their lifetime and it may continue on after that person’s death for the benefit of one or more beneficiaries. A major benefit of the revocable living trust is avoiding probate!

Topic: Christmas time is a season where we enjoy gathering with our family and friends to celebrate. We cherish those memories, but sometimes we notice that a loved one has deteriorated physically or mentally. Now what do we do? • Today’s society considers it healthy to have certain physical ailments because almost everybody has them, but they are definitely warning signs • Ironically, this is a very busy time for our law office because over Thanksgiving and Christmas, as the family comes together (especially if some or all of them live out of town), they haven’t realized what was going on?

Topic: Aid & Attendance Pension (established in 1952) • It is a little-known VA non-service connected disability pension that can change the lives of our wartime veterans and their surviving spouses • tax-free pension that helps defray the cost of caring for elderly veterans and their dependents who cannot care for themselves • Most veterans don’t think they can qualify because they have never qualified for or applied for any VA benefits or that they were not actually in a war zone Background: We used to talk about this quite a bit on the radio show, but due to proposed sweeping changes to the rules that affected a number of areas including net worth, asset transfers, medical expenses and income deductions we were in a period of uncertainty. We found inconsistencies in the review process. Some applications were being denied based on the new rules – which they shouldn’t have been, while others went through. • After the proposed rules were published, they met a lot of opposition due to inconsistencies and unfair provisions in the proposed changes • After some revisions, the final rules were announced September 18, 2018 & they became effective October 18, 2018 • Finally we know the rules!

Elder Law Answers Ep 9 18 Alzheimers by Seamon Law Offices

The majority of our listeners probably don’t have a will, how do we know this? Every survey we find tells us they don’t: • A 2009 survey found that almost 75% of parents do not have a will. • A 2014 survey of 2,000 adults found 64% of those surveyed did not have a will • A 2017 survey found only 44% of adults have a will

We always mention nursing homes, the high cost of care, and Medicaid. But many people really don’t understand how all of this ties together. Today, we are going to discuss some real life examples of clients we’ve worked with. Obviously, we can’t share actual client’s names, but we can share enough of the stories for our listeners to get a better understanding! Basics – Healthcare insurance such as Medicare or your Medicare Supplemental policy will not pay for long term care (nursing home) – at most it may pay for up to 100 days. LTC insurance products that are substantially more expensive may pay for a portion of this care. Easy way to remember “Medicare doesn’t care anymore if you need LTC”; what you’d need after Medicare is private pay, LTC ins., or Medicaid Home & car = exempt during your life (and your spouse’s) Crisis Planning – when a person hasn’t planned in advance and uses our services after loved one is in nursing home or needs one in near future (within 5 years) Asset Protection (ie. 5 yr. planning) – when a person/couple plans 5 years prior to a potential care need to protect selected assets Medicaid – state pays most of care costs, but patient’s income will go toward care costs, married person’s outcome may be slightly different. Care costs does not include the maintenance, insurance, taxes related to the home Estate Recovery – WV is required by federal law to recoup what they spent on a Medicaid recipient from their estate upon their death. Countable assets become part of the recipient’s estate upon their death (or their spouse’s death whichever is later. Our more recent clients have received a letter from DHHR upon their death for the state to consider what assets remain. Life insurance – Combined cash value of $1500 counts as an asset. Most people have very little knowledge about what life ins. they have and its value. Keep better records on that! Crisis Planning Rule of Thumb: Marital status: Single person: Can usually save about ½ of assets while spending about ½ of assets on care Married couple: Can usually save most of the assets Pros: Can usually save some assets or proceeds of assets, but must move quickly and liquidate asap Cons: Usually have to liquidate all or most of the countable assets, but

Doreen explains the growing trend of "elder orphans" - seniors who are aging alone, with no spouse or family support. According to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, approximately 1 in 5 women in the United States now reach their 50s without having children. This figure is up from 10% in the 1970s. Ironically, many elder orphans have sacrificed their time and valuable resources as caregivers themselves, but they do not have anybody who will do these things for them. Many seniors value their independence and do not realize until a crisis they do not have the support they need so it is helpful to plan in advance. This show originally aired on WAJR Radio in January of 2018.