Yes, and yes. You can take out a reverse mortgage, and you can get reimbursed from the mortgage for money you advance for repairs to the house. However, be very careful to document every dollar that you spend. The best approach is to lend the money to your mother and...

A New Jersey appeals court holds that the state wrongly required a Medicaid applicant to produce information that did not exist to verify her assets and that the state should not have denied benefits for that reason. L.A. v. Division of Medical Assistance and Health...

Beezer the cat can be a member of the family, but what happens to Beezer or [insert your pet's name] after you are gone? How can you ensure your pet will be cared for? One option is to create a pet trust. While you can give directions in your will to leave your pet to...

The knowledge that we will eventually die is one of the things that seems to distinguish humans from other living beings. At the same time, no one likes to dwell on the prospect of his or her own death. But if you postpone planning for your demise until it is too...

Trust protectors -- long popular in offshore trusts set up by high rollers -- are growing more common in trusts established here in the U.S. by less affluent folks. A trust protector is someone who is appointed to watch over a trust that will be in effect for a long...

Medicare covers preventative care services, including an annual wellness visit. But confusing a wellness visit with a physical could be very costly. As part of the Affordable Care Act, Medicare beneficiaries receive a free annual wellness visit. At this visit, your...

By: Kristen M. Armstrong, Attorney I am frequently asked to present on probate avoidance techniques, in addition to meeting with seniors who have questions about how to best avoid probate. When I ask a room full of seniors who wants to avoid probate nearly everyone’s...

One area that causes a lot of confusion with regard to Medicaid is the look-back period. Medicaid, unlike Medicare, is a means-based program, which means that you are only eligible for it if you have very few assets. The government does not want you to transfer all...

Paying for day care is one of the biggest expenses faced by working adults with young children, a dependent parent, or a child with a disability, but there is a tax credit available to help working caregivers defray the costs of day care (called "adult day care" in...

Making sure your end-of-life wishes are followed no matter where you happen to be is important. If you move to a different state or split your time between one or more states, you should make sure your advance directive is valid in all the states you frequent. An...

More than 420,000 people with disabilities nationwide are being paid less than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, according to the Department of Labor (DOL). Some of these workers have been performing the same routine tasks for decades, earning less than $1...

At their 128th annual meeting, the Uniform Law Commission passed several acts. Of particular note is the Uniform Electronic Wills Act which permits testators to execute an electronic will and allows probate courts to give electronic wills legal effect.  Most documents...

One of the great benefits of gaining eligibility for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) is that beneficiaries also become eligible for Medicare after two years, even though they are under age 65.  However, Medicare plans A and B cover only a portion of...

You can certainly challenge the new estate plan. The question is whether it is easier to do it now or after your mother’s death. To do it now, you would probably need to seek a conservatorship over your mother. This would likely be very expensive, but it would help...