Sometimes homes and portfolios lose value or income and investments increase significantly. If this is the case for you, do you need to change your will? If your finances have changed markedly since you wrote your will, you should check your estate plan to see if you...

Emotions can run high at the death of a family member. If a family member is unhappy with the amount they received (or didn't receive) under a will, he or she may contest the will. Will contests can drag out for years, keeping all the heirs from getting what they are...

An Alabama appeals court holds that if property belonging to a Medicaid applicant's community spouse is used to determine a spouse's community spouse resource allowance, it also can be counted in determining the applicant's Medicaid eligibility even if the spouse is...

Raising a grandchild can be tough financially, but grandparents should be aware that there is a tax credit available that could help them. Working grandparents who are supporting their grandchildren may qualify for the earned income tax credit, which could reduce the...

A proposal tucked into the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) 2020 budget, released March 18, is raising fears that people applying for government disability benefits will soon have their posts on Facebook, Twitter and other social media networks scrutinized....

Answer: YES! Medicare beneficiaries may discuss options for care at the end of life with their health care providers. Beneficiaries of course were already free to talk about advance care planning with their doctors or other qualified health professionals, but the...

In most states, transferring your house to your children (or someone else) may lead to a Medicaid penalty period, which would make you ineligible for Medicaid for a period of time. However, there are circumstances in which transferring a house will not result in a...

Caring for an ailing family member is difficult work, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be unpaid work. There are programs available that allow Medicaid recipients to hire family members as caregivers. All 50 states have programs that provide pay to family...

The Voice® Newsletter July 2019 - Vol. 13, Issue 4 The Voice is the email newsletter of The Special Needs Alliance. This installment was written by Special Needs Alliance member, Lee M. Holmes, of Holmes, Holmes and Neisent, PLLC in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The law...

The older the population gets, the greater the potential for elder abuse. States have laws in place designed to combat elder abuse, but some states are doing a better job than others. The consumer finance website WalletHub researched the protections in place in all 50...

Grandparents often are particularly generous to grandchildren as they see their family’s legacy continuing on to a new generation. In many cases, grandparents feel they have ample resources and their children or grandchildren may be struggling financially. Assistance...

  Medicaid has strict asset rules that compel many applicants to "spend down" their assets before they can qualify for coverage. It is important to know what you can spend your money on without endangering Medicaid eligibility. In order to be eligible for...

The number of older Americans with student loan debt – either theirs or someone else’s -- is growing. Sadly, learning how to deal with this debt is now a fact of life for many seniors heading into retirement. According to a study by the Consumer Financial Protection...