A Miller Trust is a irrevocable qualified income trust used for Florida Medicaid planning. Generally, when an individuals income is over the limits a Miller trust or Medicaid Qualified Income Trust can help.
Generally a Medicaid Qualified Income Trust will distribute your income in such a way that your income will not disqualify you.
If your live in Florida and you do not qualify for Medicaid coverage because your income is over the limits, Contact a Florida Elder Law Attorney
What happens if Grandpa needs to Nursing home coverage and he owns a Class3 weapon like a Machine Gun?
Title II Firearms (sold by Class 3 SOT dealers) or those controlled by the National Firearms Act are not exempt assets when it comes to Medicaid Planning.
There are ways to preserve these assets for your family but it involves converting the asset from an exempt asset to a non-exempt asset. On my other blog, Gun Trust Lawyer I wrote a Gun Trust Information article addressing this issue.
Although there are no current verdicts against Florida Companies, many states have taken action against living Trust Scams / Trust Mills / and Elder Law Planning Seminars. Michael Bonasera of Buckingham Doolittle & Burroughs, LLP and author of the The Ohio Trust & Estate Blog wrote an article titled Living Trust Scams/Trust Mills/Elderlaw Planning Seminars – STAY AWAY! where he mentions a previous posting on this Blog, Florida Estate Planning Lawyers Blog, on a similar topic dealing with a Texarkana Arkansas class action suit.
I thought I would start a list of Living Trust Scam Articles and resources on my blog.
1. Texarkana Arkansas Living Trust Seminar Class Action suit
2. California Living Trust Mill Judgment 3.Texas Bar story reported by Professor Beyer of Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog– Living trust Scams and Senior Consumer
There are many places to get advice on the Internet. Be sure when you are looking for legal advice, you are working with a licensed lawyer. Below is the finding of the Ohio State Bar in regards to one such service.
We the People is a franchise that provides forms and help in legal matters including wills, trusts, divorces, bankruptcy and other areas of law.
The Ohio State Bar found that they were practicing law without a license because they were owned and operated by attorneys not licenced in Ohio and advised individuals with respect to the completion of forms for filing a personal bankruptcy, application of probate, advising individuals on how to complete the forms and what answers to put down, directing individuals to execute documents and charging them for services, instructing completion of forms in disregard for proper procedures and determination by the Bankruptcy Court that the filing was incomplete, preparation of unnecessary and incorrect form for administration of an estate, preparing improperly completed forms for a bankruptcy, issuing advertisements, and advertising the preparation of services for living trusts, wills, powers of attorney, and incorporation’s.
Last Sunday April 13, Dateline NBC had a story on tricks insurance agents use to sell insurance policies to our nations seniors. Insurance is a $14 trillion dollar business. They used hidden cameras. For those of you who missed it, here is a link to the transcript of the show. Here is a link ot a video of some of the interviews on the show.
In Florida, the Life tenant is generally responsible for the costs of repairs, but the remaindermen are responsible for the payments for improvements to the property.
If the life tenant paid for the costs of improvements on a property, this would constitute an uncompensated transfer or gift which could result in a period of ineligibility for Medicaid.
If repairs are being done on the property, it is important to have he contractor and suppliers specify that everything is begin done as a repair to avoid the possibility of the DCF worker classifying it as an improvement and creating a gift.
The Miami Herald reported that Florida lawmakers on Wednesday added language to a state budget companion bill (HB 5085) that would expand a Medicaid pilot program that shifts some beneficiaries to private managed care plans, such as health maintenance organizations, the Miami Herald reports. The bill seeks to expand the pilot program to nine additional counties in 2010. Critics of the pilot program say that many beneficiaries have had difficulty finding a health plan that meets their needs and that it is not clear the program saved money or improved care. The state Agency for Health Care Administration had said it would not ask lawmakers to expand the program this year, after the agency’s inspector general acknowledged problems with the pilot. However, the agency’s new secretary, Holly Benson, supports expanding the Medicaid overhaul more quickly, and state Reps. Bill Galvano (R) and Aaron Bean (R) are pushing for further expansion of the program. Galvano said officials are learning from the pilot program and will make adjustments accordingly.
As we get older long term care insurance premiums can become expensive. To qualify for a deduction on the insurance costs the policy must be a “qualified policy” as defined by the IRS.
A qualified policy is one issued after January 1, 1997 that adheres to certain regulations established by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Policies purchased before January 1, 1997 may still be treated as “qualified” if they are approved by the insurance commissioner of the state where it was sold.
If you policy is qualified then premiums are treated as un-remibursed medical expenses for income tax purposes. To qualify for the deduction of the premiums these un-reimburesed medical expenses must exceed 7.5 percent of the adjusted gross income. In determininging whether you meet the threashold you can use the lesser of the premium paid or the value. If on 12/31/2008 you are:
The JC FLorida reported on recent cuts on proposed cuts in state funding.
This week both the Senate Health and Human Services Appropriations Committee and the House Health care Council introduced their 2008-09 budgets. The Senate reduced nursing home funding $163 million and the House reduced funding $278 million.
Florida legislators approved landmark elder-care facility reform legislation in 2001 that mandated increased minimum staffing requirements, tougher regulation and quality improvement, and risk management programs. Since then, nursing home quality has steadily improved. Now, Medicaid funding cuts threaten this progress and the vulnerable elderly who have nowhere else to go.
Florida and The Medicaid Look Back Period -“Why you Can’t Just Give It All Away”
Many people simply try to give their assets away to their children in an attempt to safeguard their estate. The Medicaid people have caught on to this. Many years ago, a popular planning technique was to transfer your assets into an irrevocable Medicaid Trust. This technique attempted to move your assets out of your name and control so that the would not be counted towards the asset test. Now any transfer to a Florida Revocable Trust is a disqualifying transfer for Medicaid purposes.
In 1993, the federal government partially closed this loop hole. Prior to February 2006, there were “look back” periods of 36 months or 60 months. Florida implemented these guidelines as of November 2007. This means is that if you have transferred assets to anyone other than your spouse (for less than value) within 36 months of applying for Medicaid, you will be denied Medicaid benefits and subject to an exclusionary period. The exclusionary period is equal, in months, to the dollar amount of the transfers divided by the average cost of a month of nursing home care (currently $3,300.00 in Florida). It is important to note that this number was rounded down and the exclusionary period was calculated from the date of the gift.
Florida Estate Planning Lawyer Blog