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Encino Trust Attorney Answers, “What Should a Special Needs Trust Pay For?”

Trustees of special needs trusts shoulder an incredible amount of responsibility. In addition to providing care for the individual with special needs, they must also make sure the assets in the trust are spent wisely and will not disqualify the person from any benefits they may be receiving.

How to Qualify for Medi-Cal – Even If You Have Too Many Assets

Medi-Cal is a needs-based program meant to help those without considerable resources access medical care and benefits. Since it is needs-based, there are significant asset and income limits attached to eligibility, which can easily lead to a disqualification from receiving benefits if the assets are not monitored closely. However, there are several ways to prevent a Medi-Cal eligibility disqualification through the use of trusts. For the purposes of this article, we’ll focus on how an irrevocable trust can help if a person expects to receive Medi-Cal benefits in the future and a First-Party Special Needs Trust if a person is ready to receive Medi-Cal benefits.

Encino Estate Lawyer: What Happens to Your Digital Assets After You Pass Away?

Digital assets and what happens to them after you pass away are fairly new concerns for people. However, this issue must be given significant thought, since so much of our lives are impacted by the digital age. To help alleviate these concerns and give more control to those managing estates of the recently incapacitated or deceased, Congress passed The Revised Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, otherwise known as RUFADAA. This act allows fiduciaries (executors, trustees, and agents working with a Power of Attorney) to manage digital accounts owned by others, while at the same time affording the account owner a level of privacy.

LA County Elder Law Attorney: How to Help an Elderly Parent Manage Money

A concern for many adult children with an aging parent is whether or not they can still handle money and make sound choices regarding their financial affairs. There are many reasons why an elderly parent would have trouble handling their own finances, usually due to some physical or mental ailment or the loss of a spouse who normally handled the finances, though there are other times when the parent just decides they would rather have someone else handle financial decisions, so they may focus on other things.

Encino Trust Lawyer Answers: “What is a Qualified Personal Residence Trust (QPRT)?”

Family homes and other real property are usually the most valuable assets in an estate. While homeowners may want to leave these properties to children or other beneficiaries as part of an inheritance, tax burdens can throw a wrench into those plans. Unfortunately, without proper planning, most beneficiaries cannot afford the taxes that come along with inheriting property, which usually forces the sale of a family home or other property after the homeowner dies.

Belly Buttons, Noses and A Picture of Mom….

My daughter, Taylor, is 15 this month! Because she is a dancer and had recitals around her “Big Day,” we had to wait and celebrate that Sunday, which meant she shared her birthday festivities with me for Father’s Day. Last year, Taylor made up her mind that she wanted to …

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After 30 Birthdays…

Thank you everyone who sent Karen Happy Birthday Wishes recently! She had a fantastic day, having lunch with friends and dinner with her husband… She has a theory about getting older. She hates it. She has developed a way of coping for Post-Three O, and it’s worked very nicely to …

So your Child is Turning 18 … What do you need to know?

–Written by Gerry Kane So your child is graduating high school and moving on to college and I’m sure you are so proud. As soon as your baby turns eighteen the child now makes their own health care decisions, you as a parent can’t receive confidential medical information and if …

Feng Shui eZine…Marriage… and the Purple Belt

We have a new look to our newsletter, and I hope you like it as well or better than our previous format. We want to offer some more content that is difficult to access through an email, so we are bridging it through to our blog. And we’re going to …

Proactive Medicaid Planning-A Smart Move for your Family’s Future

Pro-active planning, in advance if possible, can help protect what you’ve worked so hard for so you can leave it all to your family instead.
Pro-active planning for long-term nursing care can be done in one of two ways: 1) purchasing long-term care insurance or 2) by making sure your assets are structured so you are fully eligible to receive the benefits you’re entitled to under the government’s Medicaid programs.

What If…

Most people start the process of estate planning to deal with “What If”. What If you died and your children were still too young to care for themselves? What If you were no longer physically able to care for yourself? What If you had very specific instructions for how your …

When It Comes To A Supplemental Needs Trust, Out of Sight Should Never Be Out of Mind

You’ve been a responsible planner for your family’s future, especially your child with special needs.

You’ve met with an attorney, set up a Supplemental or Special Needs Trust and you can breathe a sigh of relief. Your work is done, right?

Wrong.

Funding and forgetting about a Trust can be as detrimental as not forming one at all. And having one that isn’t properly written can render it completely useless.

Supplemental Needs Trusts (sometimes called Special Needs Trusts) allow people with mental or physical disabilities, or even people with chronic or acquired illnesses, to have unlimited assets held in Trust for their benefit. If you have a child, grandchild, or even a spouse with a disability, a Supplemental Needs Trust can ensure that they have the funds they need to maintain their lifestyle after you’re gone.