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Should Retired Persons Consider Converting Their IRAs to Roth IRAs?
Beginning in 2010, the federal tax law allows all persons who have IRAs to convert them, in whole or in part, to Roth IRAs. A special 2010 rule allows taxpayers to divide the taxable income cause by...
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2009 Hernon v. Hernon Will Contest Case in Massachusetts
In the 2009 case of Hernon v. Hernon, a successful will contest was upheld by the Massachusetts Appeals Court. A nephew had moved in with the decedent, then the decedent had executed a new will 2...
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Jointly-Held Assets in Massachusetts: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Adding someone’s name to an asset of yours can be done all too easily, without your realizing all of the ramifications. There are many issues that come into play when deciding whether making an asset...
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Fitting Medicaid Issues and Long-Term Care Insurance into Estate and Gift Tax...
Proper Estate Planning Should Not Ignore Long-Term Care Issues Any gifts or other transfers for less than full value, including $13,000.00 gifts and other annual exclusion gifts, are considered to be...
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Problems with Outright Gifts in the Medicaid Planning Context
An Irrevocable Trust Is Often a Better Planning Maneuver Than an Outright Gift There are several problems with outright gifts in the Medicaid planning context that can lead to the recommendation of the...
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Proper Medicaid Planning May Permit Keeping the Home in the Family
As published in the April 2001 issue of Estate Planning (Note to reader: The Medicaid lookback/disqualification laws changed to 60 months on 2/8/06, after this article was published; otherwise, the...
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Preserving Assets and Maximum Income for the Healthier Spouse When the Other...
The Spouse Who Remains At Home or in Assisted Living Often Has Some Important Choices to Make With an Unbiased Legal Advisor One of the biggest mistakes that many spouses make when the other spouse...
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A Potpourri of Cutting Edge Issues in Massachusetts Medicaid Planning
Most Living Trusts Sold at Seminars Don’t Work for MassHealth Purposes Often overlooked in the estate tax planning process is that a funded trust that avoids probate is often considered available by...
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When Is a Special Needs Trust Considered a Qualified Disability Trust for...
Many Special Needs Trusts established by persons other than the disabled beneficiary have in the past been treated as “complex” trusts for federal income tax purposes, and allowed only a $100 personal...
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A Question for Practicing Lawyers: Could It Be Legal Malpractice to Ignore...
Long-Term Care Insurance Is a Necessary Option to Consider Many elderly clients initially think they are somehow benefiting themselves by engaging in the impoverishment aspects of Medicaid planning....
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Applying and Appealing to Receive Retroactive Medicaid Benefits
In Massachusetts, Medicaid coverage of nursing home costs is obtained by filing a MassHealth long-term care application. Any MassHealth application can be retroactive to the first day of the third...
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In Medicaid Planning, Some Trusts Can Put Elderly Persons in a Worse Position...
If Assets Can Be Given Back to or Taken Back by the Original Owner, the Assets of the Trust Are Not Protected for MassHealth Purposes If a Nursing Home Stay Becomes Necessary In trust law, there is no...
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Despite Medicaid Transfer Restrictions, Some Transfers of the Home are Always...
The Home Can Sometimes Be Given Away Without Penalty Even After a Nursing Home Stay Has Begun While many transfers of the home are subject to a period of disqualification from payment of nursing home...
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Minimum Monthly Maintenance Needs Allowance for Nursing Home Resident’s...
When one spouse is living in a nursing home and the other spouse is living anywhere else, the spouse who is not living in the nursing home (known under Medicaid and MassHealth law as the “community...
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Last-Minute Medicaid Planning in Massachusetts
Even After a Nursing Home Stay Has Begun, Some Asset Protection Planning Can Still Be Done Lookback and Disqualification Periods Many persons, including some who are rendering advice about Medicaid...
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Are You Personally Responsible for Your Spouse’s Nursing Home Bills in...
It may come as a surprise to some people, but you can be held personally responsible for your spouse’s bills if they are for payment of necessaries. In the case of East Longmeadow Management Systems...
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Doherty Case Should Cause Some Concern about Irrevocable Medicaid Trusts in...
In Doherty v. Director of the Office of Medicaid, the Massachusetts Appeals Court rendered a 2009 decision that could be viewed as an assault on irrevocable, income-only trusts in Massachusetts that...
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Using Reserved Special Powers of Appointment in Medicaid Planning
(Note: this is an update of an article of mine published in NAELA Quarterly in 1992.) Due to their concerns about possible impact of nursing home costs (and the Medicaid disqualification period) on...
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How Does the Massachusetts Medicaid Program Treat a Sale of a Life Estate?
When a person who has a life estate wants to sell the real estate, the life tenant is legally entitled to a share of the proceeds. The amount of the proceeds the life tenant is supposed to receive is...
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Minimum Monthly Maintenance Needs Allowance for Nursing Home Resident’s...
When one spouse is living in a nursing home and the other spouse is living anywhere else, the spouse who is not living in the nursing home (known under Medicaid and MassHealth law as the “community...
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End-of-Life Care: Nursing Home Residents Rights
Approximately 20% of all persons who die every year are residents of nursing homes. Since a nursing home is the last place of residence for such a large percentage of our population, it is very...
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Protecting Assets and Maximum Income for the Community Spouse When Applying...
One of the biggest mistakes that many spouses make when the other spouse enters a nursing home is not getting legal advice from an elder law attorney about Medicaid, known in Massachusetts as...
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Pre-eligibility Medical Expenses Can Be Paid from MassHealth Recipient’s Income
Often, medical bills arrive after a MassHealth application has been approved, and the MassHealth applicant is out of funds to pay these bills. At that point, MassHealth should be asked to allow...
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Should a MassHealth Applicant Accept Help from the Nursing Home’s Lawyer to...
Many nursing homes offer help to families who need to apply for MassHealth to help pay for the elder’s nursing home bills. In simple financial situations, that help is beneficial to both the elder and...
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Minimum Monthly Maintenance Needs Allowance for Nursing Home Resident’s...
When one spouse is living in a nursing home and the other spouse is living anywhere else, the spouse who is not living in the nursing home (known under Medicaid and MassHealth law as the “community...
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Obtaining Free Banking Information for MassHealth Applications
When applying for MassHealth long-term care benefits to pay for nursing home care in Massachusetts, it can be expensive to obtain copies of up to 5 years of banking information. Under Massachusetts...
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Protecting Assets and Maximum Income for the Community Spouse When Applying...
One of the biggest mistakes that many spouses make when the other spouse enters a nursing home is not getting legal advice from an elder law attorney about Medicaid, known in Massachusetts as...
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Is It a Good Idea for an Elderly Person to Purchase a Deferred Annuity?
I have been seeing an increasing number of older clients who have purchased (or, perhaps more accurately, have been talked into buying) a deferred annuity. Sometimes the annuity fits into the client’s...
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Is a Deferred Annuity Helpful from a Medicaid or MassHealth Standpoint?
A deferred annuity is almost never helpful from a Medicaid or MassHealth standpoint (despite whatever someone selling an annuity says). For older married couples, the correct first move if one of them...
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Should You Buy a Deferred Annuity at a Bank?
Many of my clients walk into banks where they used to be able to trust in the safety of their investments, and are concerned about how little the interest rates are. Many banks have now “investment...
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Should You Ever Buy an Immediate Annuity at a Bank?
The “financial consultants” or “investment advisors” at banks don’t seem to know much about how MassHealth works, so my suggestion is that you never buy an immediate annuity at a bank without running...
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Minimum Monthly Maintenance Needs Allowance for Nursing Home Resident’s...
When one spouse is living in a nursing home and the other spouse is living anywhere else, the spouse who is not living in the nursing home (known under Medicaid and MassHealth law as the “community...
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Massachusetts Appeals Court Case of Kaptchuk v. Director of the Office of...
In the 2013 Massachusetts Appeals Court case of Kaptchuk v. Director of Office of Medicaid, a MassHealth denial was upheld. An application for MassHealth benefits for Nina Kaptchuk had been denied due...
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An Analysis of the Tax and Medicaid Aspects of Various Types of Transfers of...
Different types of gifts and transfers of assets have very different results for tax and Medicaid purposes. The following is an analysis of the tax results of some basic types of transfers of a...
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Protecting Assets and Maximum Income in 2014 When Applying for MassHealth to...
One of the biggest mistakes that many community spouses (i.e., any spouse who is not in a nursing home) make when the other spouse enters a nursing home is not getting legal advice from an elder law...
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When Can Spouses Make Gifts to Each Other in 2014 without Causing a...
by: Brian E. Barreira, Esq. Under federal Medicaid law and MassHealth regulations, spouses have the right to transfer assets to each other at any time without causing a period of ineligibility from...
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How Does MassHealth Treat a Sale of a Life Estate in 2014?
by: Brian E. Barreira, Esq. When a person who has a life estate wants to sell the real estate, the life tenant is legally entitled to a share of the proceeds.The amount of the proceeds that the life...
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32 Things You Should Know When Applying for MassHealth to Cover Nursing Home...
by: Brian E. Barreira, Esq. MassHealth (nationally known as Medicaid) is the Massachusetts health care program that can help pay for nursing home care. MassHealth has lots of complicated rules, and you...
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Did the Office of Medicaid Intentionally Violate Federal Medicaid Trust Law...
Before January 1, 2014, the Office of Medicaid in Massachusetts had an official, published position on what the term “available” meant in its MassHealth regulations, but the Office of Medicaid has...
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Does the Director of the Board of Hearings at the Office of Medicaid Realize...
Under a MassHealth regulation governing fair hearings, 130 CMR 610.052 (B), a MassHealth appellant has the right to a subpoena, either requiring the attendance and testimony of a witness or the...
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When Can a “Payment” of a Home Be Made from an Irrevocable Trust in Violation...
Lawyers currently practicing elder law in Massachusetts will tell you that just about any trust will be challenged by the Office of Medicaid in a MassHealth application. (See IrrevocableTrust.info for...
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