Are Digital Wills Coming Soon?

Digital Wills

I was surprised to find that some states have opened the doors to digital wills. As described in The Lawletter from The National Legal Research Group, Vol 37, No 7, it is inevitable that states will soon have to address the rise of the digital will. At presentNevadais the only state to have codified requirements for such wills. TheNevada“Electronic Will” statute is instructive regarding how will execution formalities might be modified to accommodate digital will execution. It also highlights areas of technological improvement necessary to put digital wills on a par with paper wills in protecting against fraud and undue influence. The Nevada Statute requires the testator’s electronic signature as well as an “Authentication Characteristic”. This phrase is designed as “a fingerprint, a retinal scan, voice recognition, a digitized signature or other authentication using a unique characteristic of the person.” Such protective features are not widely available in the market it seems so how practical is this statute? It is easy to imagine the potential for abuse. It is difficult enough to avoid abuse when utilizing the ancient tried and true will formalities. One can only wonder whether future (evil) computer wizards can be restrained from attacking will formalities by staying one step ahead of the authorities. Can we rely upon a digital will “written” twenty years before the death of the decedent at a time when the computer world might have changed so drastically in that twenty year period. Think a 3.5 “ floppy disc written in 1985 on MacWrite, now obsolete. While society is racing into the digital age, this is one advance that will require a lot of thought before implementation.

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 The Law Offices of Jeremy W. Howe, LTD. are ElderLaw attorneys in Rhode Island who specialize in wills and trusts, estate planning, guardianship, probate, and Veterans Aid and Attendance Benefits.

They also are Newport Rhode Island Divorce Lawyers, Attorneys, Mediators, and Arbitrators providing services for family law issues such as divorce, child custody and visitation, support, and military family law.   

Call them today at 401-841-5700 or visit them on the web at http://www.CounselFirst.com.

Specialists Help Seniors Buy or Sell a Home

Buying a Home as a Senior

Seniors who are buying or selling a house often have very different issues than younger buyers and sellers. Seniors may be contemplating downsizing or moving to a more accessible home, or they may be looking for a way to age in place. A Seniors Real Estate Specialist (SRES) can help senior sellers, buyers, or renters navigate these issues.

SRESs are realtors who have completed a series of courses on how to help seniors and their families with real estate transactions. They specialize in helping people age 50 and older, and they can be used for selling, buying, or renting. An SRES can help seniors look at all the options available, from staying in their home to buying a new home to moving to an assisted living facility.

The first thing to consider is whether you need to sell or whether there might be alternatives that would allow you to remain in the home. If a sale is necessary, then an SRES can help guide you through the process. Seniors who are selling their homes may need help de-cluttering and staging their houses for sale. SRESs also are familiar with the senior housing options in an area and can help you buy a home. For example, if you are purchasing a home later in life, you may want to make sure you have a property that has a good market value and can be easily sold by your heirs. Other things to keep in mind when buying a home are transportation access, too many stairs, and a friendly neighborhood.
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 The Law Offices of Jeremy W. Howe, LTD. are ElderLaw attorneys in Rhode Island who specialize in wills and trusts, estate planning, guardianship, probate, and Veterans Aid and Attendance Benefits.

They also are Newport Rhode Island Divorce Lawyers, Attorneys, Mediators, and Arbitrators providing services for family law issues such as divorce, child custody and visitation, support, and military family law.   

Call them today at 401-841-5700 or visit them on the web at http://www.CounselFirst.com.

How Gifts Can Affect Medicaid Eligibility

Gifts Can Affect Medicaid Eligibility

We’ve all heard that it’s better to give than to receive, but if you think you might someday want to apply for Medicaid long-term care benefits, you need to be careful because giving away money or property can interfere with your eligibility.

Under federal Medicaid law, if you transfer certain assets within five years before applying for Medicaid, you will be ineligible for a period of time (called a transfer penalty), depending on how much money you transferred. Even small transfers can affect eligibility. While federal law allows individuals to gift up to $13,000 a year without having to pay a gift tax, Medicaid law still treats that gift as a transfer.

Any transfer that you make, however innocent, will come under scrutiny. For example, Medicaid does not have an exception for gifts to charities. If you give money to a charity, it could affect your Medicaid eligibility down the road. Similarly, gifts for holidays, weddings, birthdays, and graduations can all cause a transfer penalty. If you buy something for a friend or relative, this could also result in a transfer penalty.

Spending a lot of cash all at once or over time could prompt the state to request documentation showing how the money was spent. If you don't have documentation showing that you received fair market value in return for a transferred asset, you could be subject to a transfer penalty.

While most transfers are penalized, certain transfers are exempt from this penalty. Even after entering a nursing home, you may transfer any asset to the following individuals without having to wait out a period of Medicaid ineligibility:

•     your spouse
•     your child who is blind or permanently disabled
•     a trust for the sole benefit of anyone under age 65 who  is permanently  disabled

In addition, you may transfer your home to the following individuals (as well as to those listed above):

•     your child who is under age 21
•     your child who has lived in your home for at least two years prior to your moving to a nursing home and who provided you with care that allowed you to stay at home during that time
• a sibling who already has an equity interest in the house and who lived there for at least a year before you moved to a nursing home

Before giving away assets or property, check with your elder law attorney to ensure that it won't affect your Medicaid eligibility.
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 The Law Offices of Jeremy W. Howe, LTD. are ElderLaw attorneys in Rhode Island who specialize in wills and trusts, estate planning, guardianship, probate, and Veterans Aid and Attendance Benefits.

They also are Newport Rhode Island Divorce Lawyers, Attorneys, Mediators, and Arbitrators providing services for family law issues such as divorce, child custody and visitation, support, and military family law.   

Call them today at 401-841-5700 or visit them on the web at http://www.CounselFirst.com.

Medicare's Open Enrollment Season Is Coming

It is that time of year again -- time to reassess whether your Medicare plan is working for you. 

Medicare's open enrollment period runs from October 15 to December 7.

During this period, you may enroll in a Medicare Part D plan or, if you currently have a plan, you may change plans. In addition, you can switch out of a Medicare Advantage (managed care) plan and return to traditional Medicare (Parts A and B), enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan from traditional Medicare, or change Medicare Advantage plans.  If you are in traditional Medicare, are happy there and don’t have or want a prescription drug plan, you don’t need to do anything. 

Beneficiaries can go to www.medicare.gov or call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) to make changes in their Medicare prescription drug and health plan coverage.

During the open enrollment period, you should review your current plan by looking at the costs and coverage for next year to determine if it is still the right plan for you. It is especially important to shop around for the best drug plan. The Washington Post is reporting that prescription drug plan premiums are expected to go up significantly. According to an analysis by Avalere Health, seven of the current top 10 prescription drug plans will have double-digit increases in premiums.

Remember that fraud perpetrators will inevitably use the Open Enrollment Period to try to gain access to individuals' personal financial information.  Medicare beneficiaries should never give their personal information out to anyone making unsolicited phone calls selling Medicare-related products or services or showing up on their doorstep uninvited.  If you think you've been a victim of fraud or identity theft, contact Medicare.  For more information on Medicare fraud, click here or here. 

In addition, you can now get the same information found in the handbook "Medicare & You" online.

Find out what’s new for the year, how Medicare works with your other insurance, get Medicare costs, and find out what Medicare covers. The handbook information on the Web is updated regularly, so it will always find the most up-to-date Medicare information.
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 The Law Offices of Jeremy W. Howe, LTD. are ElderLaw attorneys in Rhode Island who specialize in wills and trusts, estate planning, guardianship, probate, and Veterans Aid and Attendance Benefits.

They also are Newport Rhode Island Divorce Lawyers, Attorneys, Mediators, and Arbitrators providing services for family law issues such as divorce, child custody and visitation, support, and military family law.   

Call them today at 401-841-5700 or visit them on the web at http://www.CounselFirst.com.