“There is a time for many words, and there is also a time for sleep.” — Homer Sleep, like food and water, is essential for humans to survive. Sleep affects almost every type of tissue and system in the human body. The brain, heart and lungs perform functions while…
As we get older, changes to our sleep patterns occur. In fact, a normal part of the aging process is different sleep. People often report that they have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep as they age. Every night, people achieve sleep, by experiencing periods of light and deep sleep.…
Very few people look forward to living in a nursing home the last years of their lives. There is a growing segment of the population that wishes to remain in their homes as long as possible. To do so however, assistance is needed from medical professionals and home health aides.…
A recent story out of Virginia recently received a great deal of national attention. An 83-year-old grandmother of five and great grandmother of five received a “Notice of Lease Violation” from the management office of her assisted living facility. What was the infraction? It appears that Ms. Elsie Cruey…
Is an advance directive enough to ensure that your wishes are followed when you cannot express them because of disease or illness that affects your ability to make decisions for yourself? Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST Orders) for short, are often confused with advance directives. These medical care planning…
Earlier this month the Center for Medicare Advocacy and the Long Term Care Community Coalition made a joint announcement regarding changes to the Nursing Home Compare website. Nursing Home Compare is a service provided by Medicare.gov to help prospective nursing home residents or nursing home residents and their families obtain…
More seniors than ever are carrying high debt into retirement. Managing high debt simultaneously with managing the cost of daily living and medical care on a fixed income is a recurring problem in many households. The amount of debt burden has skyrocketed over the past decade. The National Council…
Adding trust instruments to your estate plan can help a surviving spouse and other beneficiaries have access to assets while the rest of the estate is wound up. Especially if there are young children or children with special needs ensuring continuity of financial security to survivors is at the forefront…
This is the last post in our in-depth series of trusts and why and how to include them in your estate plan. For prior topics, click here. We were last discussing common mistakes we see in the establishment of trust instruments. Our last post examined failing to fund the trust.…
We’ve been examining adding a revocable (a/k/a living or inter vivos) trust or irrevocable trust to your estate plan. Trust instruments are an important part of your estate plan, particularly if you have a spouse and young children you wish to provide for upon your death. When mistakes are made,…