Category: Long Term Care

My special needs child is about to turn 18 – What should I do?

Posted on | by Renee Bechamps

Children with special needs, who are under the age of 18, are considered minors in the state of New Jersey. Until then, parents have full authority to act on behalf of their child(ren) when it comes to making important decisions. But once the child turns 18, parents are often caught off guard when they discover that although the child continues to be dependent on his or her parents long after they turn 18, parents no longer have the same authority as before, as the children are now deemed adults under the eyes of the law. Financial, legal, and healthcare decisions can no longer be made as before, and in the unfortunate situation when one or both parents pass away, assets passing to the child as an inheritance could trigger adverse consequences if the child has been receiving critical government benefits.

So what can you do now to avoid a disaster from occurring?

As a first step, you will need to begin the process of a guardianship (typically, this should be started a few months before the child turns 18). This involves filing a Verified Complaint with the courts, requesting your (and your spouse, where applicable), appointment as legal guardian of your child.  While it is rare for a judge to deny guardianship to a parent, the formalities of the guardianship process still need to be adhered to. 

The application must include, among other things, certifications from two physicians (one of these could be made by a licensed psychologist). The court will then appoint an attorney to conduct an investigation of the interested parties and then prepare a report for the judge, either confirming or rejecting the appointment of the Petitioner. Finally, a hearing is conducted before the judge, so all relevant parties can appear and be heard in court. Once the judge approves the appointment, a final judgment containing the decision is circulated to all parties. 

At this time, the parent(s) will need to appear at the surrogate’s office to become qualified and collect their Letter of Appointment. Be prepared to incur some expenses associated with the filing fees and legal costs, especially if you choose to go with private attorneys for both the submission of your application (as opposed to going pro se) and for the court appointment. Depending on the situation, a court may also be able to appoint an attorney from the Public Defender’s office at no charge to the parents, but this could delay things a bit. A final judgment signed by the judge at the end of the proceeding will then grant you the right to procure Letters of Guardianship.

The next step is to consider whether or not you want to set up Special Needs Trusts (SNT) for your child. Here you have an option to set up (1) a first-party special needs trust and/or (2) a third-party supplemental needs trust as stand-alone trusts. These trusts can hold assets of your child’s or assets passing from you, respectively, without jeopardizing your child’s government benefits. These assets are meant to supplement, but not supplant, any other benefits so your child can have an enhanced quality of life without concern that the critical benefits provided by the government would be denied.  

Finally, you should definitely consider setting up or updating your own existing estate plan to ensure that all of your assets passing to your child upon death are protected by either having the assets pass into the stand alone SNT that you set up (see above paragraph), or have it pass into a SNT under your Will. It is  important to consult with the estate planning attorney as to which trust should hold the inheritance.  Inadvertently naming the wrong SNT could result in having the assets inside of the trust going to the estate, instead of the family or other heirs.  

SSI and Spousal Impoverishment Standards for 2021

Posted on | by Renee Bechamps

Every year the Social Security Administration publishes its list of Supplemental Security Income & Spousal Impoverishment Standards that are adjusted for inflation. These standards define the minimum and maximum amount of resources and income limits that an individual and/or their spouse can have in order to be on Medicaid. Here are the new numbers for 2021 (also available on the Medicaid Website):

 

Individual Limits

Income Cap Limit for an Individual: $2,382.00 per month

Resource Cap for an Individual: $2,000 per month (same as previous year)

 

Spousal Limits

Minimum Monthly Maintenance Needs Allowance (MMNA): $2,155.00

Maximum Monthly Maintenance Needs Allowance: $3,259.50

 

Community Spouse Resources:

Minimum Resource Standard: $26,076.00

Maximum Resource Standard: $130,380.00

 

Home Equity Limits:

Minimum: $603,000.00

Maximum: $906,000.00

 

The expense of nursing home care can devastate a family’s resources as expenses for a nursing home rise. Currently, a stay at a skilled nursing facility can easily cost $15,000 or more per month. It seems hard to fathom how a couple can survive on the above thresholds, especially if there is a “Community Spouse” (i.e. spouse living in the community). There are strict rules for the use of income of the spouse on Medicaid and an even stricter limit for resources. These rules are complex and hard to navigate. However, with the proper legal guidance and direction, you can help plan for your or your loved one’s nursing home care costs, or plan to receive home and community-based waiver services. Whether you or a loved one is looking to qualify for Medicaid or continue to remain eligible for Medicaid to supplement the cost of long-term care, Rao Legal Group is here to help! Contact us via our website at www.EstateElderPlanning.com or call our office at 609-372-2855 to see how we can help you!

The Unicorn of Long-Term Care Insurance

Posted on | by Renee Bechamps

As an estate planning firm that also specializes in elder law, we are always heartened to see a potential Medicaid applicant client’s portfolio containing a long-term care insurance (“LTCI”) policy. This is because, as planners, we know that the client is uniquely positioned to take advantage of creative strategies to accelerate his or her eligibility for Medicaid while protecting some assets from getting swooped up to pay for long term care.  More importantly, it buys us and our clients precious time to think and plan.

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As excited as we are when a potential Medicaid applicant has a long-term care insurance policy, we get even more excited for the rare moment when we discover that the client’s long-term care insurance policy participates in the New Jersey Long-Term Care Insurance Partnership Program – making them “unicorns” among LTCI plans! This is truly a happy occurrence because in these cases we can protect assets by setting aside amounts equal to the insurance benefits received from such a policy so that such assets are treated as “unavailable” or “disregarded” for Medicaid qualification purposes.

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Here is how it works–

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Medicaid has strict limitations on income and assets.  Typically, an unmarried individual Medicaid Applicant (Institutionalized or Ill Spouse) can only have $2000 in resources.  For a married couple, the spouse of the Medicaid applicant (“Community Spouse”) can only keep $130,380 in resources (2021 figures).  These numbers are adjusted for inflation, and every year the government circulates information establishing the thresholds for the following year. If an individual has more assets then the established threshold when applying for Medicaid, he or she is at  risk for being considered over-resourced and therefore would be denied eligibility.

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Due to these strict thresholds, elder law attorneys like myself analyze our client’s countable assets that are deemed “available” for Medicaid purposes and separate those from exempt or “unavailable” assets prior to submitting the application. We want to ensure as much as of the client’s assets as possible are exempt from Medicaid and any excess assets are “spent down” in a Medicaid permissible manner to achieve the maximum benefits.

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This is where long term care insurance and the NJ Long-Term Care Insurance Partnership Program comes in.

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The Partnership Program is a public/private arrangement between the state government and private long-term care insurers to assist individuals in planning for their long-term care needs.  People who purchase these specific types of policies can protect more of their assets should they later need to have the state pay for their long-term care. According to the bulletin issued by the State of New Jersey, “These special rules generally allow the individual to protect assets equal to the insurance benefits received from a Partnership Policy so that such assets will not be taken into account in determining financial eligibility for Medicaid and will not subsequently be subject to Medicaid liens and recoveries”1. For example, if you received $100k in benefits under your long-term care insurance, you may be allowed to protect an additional $100k in assets at the time you apply for Medicaid through a feature known as “Asset Disregard” under the New Jersey Medicaid Program.

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Our office has had the good fortune of being presented with such a “unicorn-like” situation recently.  Because of  our thorough oversight together with our patience & persistence working with the Medicaid caseworkers, we were able to  have them disregard a significant amount of our client’s assets over and above the Medicaid threshold limits and get  our client eligible for Medicaid.  The amount set aside in turn has helped the Community Spouse retain more of the assets than originally anticipated, which became a win-win for all.

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If you have a stand-alone long term care insurance policy, look at the benefits to see if you have this “unicorn plan” or call your agent to find out.  And if and when the time comes where the policy needs to be triggered, call our office immediately so we can provide the proper assistance and guidance on what your next steps ought to be.

 

  1. 1. The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, Public Law 109-171, (the “DRA”) allows for the expansion of Qualified Long Term Care Insurance Partnership Programs by states (nj.gov)