New York Estate Planning & Elder Law Blog

When Should You Get A POLST Order?

Published on: December 5, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

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 tools are very different from each other.

What is an advance directive?

An advance directive consists of a living will and a health care power of attorney. Every adult, regardless of age, should have one and update them from time to time, especially following a diagnosis of a serious medical condition.

How to Stop Hesitating and Finally Write Your Estate Plans

Published on: December 4, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Many people understand that they should create an estate plan, but there are many reasons why they hesitate to do so. One of the most common reasons is that it can be difficult to accept that a person will not be around one day.

If you die without an estate plan in New York, however, you risk dying without an estate plan that could make sure that your assets are protected and that your loved ones receive what they deserve.

This article follows some strategies that you should follow to make sure that you end up writing your estate plan sooner rather than later.

How Beneficiary Designations Can Complicate Your Estate Plan

Published on: December 2, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Many people who have engaged in estate planning understand that beneficiary designations play an invaluable. Despite this, the value of beneficiary designations is overlooked by some people. After signing estate planning documents, it is critical to make sure that your beneficiary designations are consistent with the rest of your estate plan. Otherwise, the possibility arises that the intent expressed in your will or other estate planning tools might override beneficiary designations.

The purpose of this article is to review some of the other critical issues that everyone should consider when it comes to beneficiary designations and the potential complications that can arise.

# 1 – Be Wary of Naming Spouses as Beneficiaries

Changes to Nursing Home Compare Facility Information

Published on: November 27, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

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 information about every Medicare and Medicaid certified nursing home in the country.

A nursing home is a place for people who can’t be cared for at home and need 24-hour nursing care. Over 15,000 nursing home facilities around the country will be affected by this change. Nursing home residents and their families will be able to easily identify if the nursing home they are considering has a history of resident abuse, neglect, and exploitation of its residents.

What’s happening?

Estate Planning Documents Every Young Child Needs

Published on: November 27, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Parents can make medical decisions for their children. After a child reaches the age of 18, however, and is viewed in the eyes of the law as an adult and a parent’s ability to make these decisions ends.

Fortunately, through the use of a few simple estate planning documents, young adults can avoid this situation as well as many others.

# 1 – Financial Power of Attorney

Understanding the Role of Trust Protectors

Published on: November 25, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Trust protectors are becoming an increasingly common part of estate plans in New York as well as the rest of the country. A trust protector refers to someone who is appointed to look over a trust and make sure that the trust is not adversely affected by changes in the law.

Appointing a trust protector is not a decision that benefits everyone. As a result, this article reviews some of the biggest advantages that people realize throughout appointing a trust protector.

# 1 – Make Changes to a Trust without Formal Amendments

An Army of Volunteer Helpers

Published on: November 24, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Many of you may recall when President John F. Kennedy founded the Peace Corps in 1961 and may have even signed up as a volunteer to help provide social and economic development assistance abroad. Borrowing on this model, an initiative is underway to establish an internal national volunteer care corps to help older adults age in place by relying on the assistance of volunteers to help people manage their day-to-day living needs.

Introducing the National Volunteer Care Corps

The National Volunteer Care Corps is a government initiative run by the Administration for Community Living, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The National Volunteer Care Corps seeks to build an army of domestic volunteers to help older people live better and longer in their homes, especially if they can still take care of their primary needs. From teens, to college students, or civic minded adults, volunteers would perform the following tasks:

Advice on Handling Specific Bequests in Wills

Published on: November 20, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

The Supreme Court of Montana recently affirmed a judgment by the district court distributing assets from a trust established by a husband and wife to the couple’s three children.

The district court had interpreted the trust creator’s handwritten codicil as a wish and not a specific bequest of the woman’s stock in a company that the couple had created and grown. Before the husband’s death in 1993, the couple executed identical wills under which the assets of the first spouse to die passed into a trust with the assets in the trust intended to be distributed equally between the three children of the surviving spouse.

As a result of the Supreme Court’s decision that the codicil was lacking in testamentary intent to specifically devise shares, this specific bequest was not passed on.

What You Should Know About the New York Survivor’s Benefit Program

Published on: November 18, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

The Mississippi Court of Appeals recently decided that a man convicted of DUI manslaughter that led to the death of his wife can collect survivor benefits from the state. The late woman had designated her husband as a 40% beneficiary while the deceased woman’s sister was a 60% beneficiary. While Mississippi law permits spouses in the husband’s situation to still receive benefits, some states have prevented this type of result by altering statutory language. The husband previously pleaded and was sentenced to 25 years in prison with 10 years suspended and 15 to serve. The man later received a separate two-year sentence for possession of contraband.

While the Mississippi Court’s decision might seem strange, it emphasizes the importance of understanding the basics about the New York Survivor’s Benefit Program, which will be briefly reviewed in this article.

The Role of the New York Survivor’s Benefits Program

Can Debt Collectors and Creditors Garnish My Retirement Benefits?

Published on: November 17, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

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 on Aging commissioned the Survey of Consumer Finances to study debt and how it impacts seniors economic security. The key findings are listed below:

Percentage of households headed by an adult 65 or older with any debt increased from 41.5% in 1992 to 51.9% in 2010 and then to 60% in 2016.