Here is a scenario that many people find themselves in: they have to find a way to pay for a nursing home or other long-term healthcare facility that they cannot afford. Realistically, most people can’t pay these sort of costs out of pocket. It would not be out of the question to discover that someone would need to pay upwards of $7000 -$10,000 a month to stay in one. These same people are put into a (seemingly) Read More

Women tend to outlive men, which raises the question of how they may cover their needs without a husband or second income. As reported by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, women represented 74% of the solo income households over the age of 80 in 2018. Women with sufficient financial resources to live alone, such as a pension or retirement fund, may obtain the personal health care assistance they need by hiring a live-in Read More

When you work on your Georgia estate plan, you may decide to use different estate planning tools to accomplish different estate planning objectives. While a will is an important component in your estate plan, certain circumstances may warrant the creation of a trust. How does a trust work, and what might you be able to accomplish with one that you could not with a traditional will? Per Kiplinger, a trust is an estate Read More

As people in Georgia progress towards their later years, the issue of where they will get the benefits they currently earn through their employment inevitably arises. Chief among these benefits is healthcare, and the fear of not having adequate healthcare coverage may even prompt some to put off retirement (or return to the workforce after retiring). Yet health insurance through Medicare is there for those over the Read More

Estate planning is not a “one and done” process. Even the best laid estate plans can and do become obsolete as things change in our lives. They need regular maintenance to ensure they continue to provide the best protection possible for the testator him or herself and the loved ones left behind. For example, you may have a current will that leaves the majority of your belongings to your spouse. A divorce later, Read More

To meet federal requirements, nursing home facilities must undergo premises inspection and respond to standardized surveys at least once every 15 months. As reported by Georgia Public Broadcasting, the Peach State ranks second to last in conducting the required inspections of its nursing homes. As of May 31, 2021, at least 90% of Georgia’s nursing homes have failed to comply and no trained survey teams have performed Read More

One of the most important reasons to create a special needs trust for your child is to ensure that his or her Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits remain protected. In the event that your child receives a large inheritance, this can disqualify them from SSI. In essence, a special needs trust allows your child to rely on SSI monies for essentials like clothing, food, shelter and medical care. The special needs Read More

You love your child, and you want their inheritance to provide them with a comfortable life. However, if you do not entirely trust your child’s spouse — whether because their marriage has gone through recent challenges or because of financial issues — you may want to take additional steps to protect those assets. What can you do to protect your child’s inheritance from their spouse? Speak to your child about a Read More

If you do any amount of research for elder law or estate planning, you will see terms such as “crisis” and “long-term planning.”  Though both of these terms apply to elder law, they represent different situations and needs. Even people new to elder law should understand how these two terms are used because they can impact how you plan now. What Is A Crisis? In terms of elder law, a crisis is when you have to plan for Read More

If you have elderly parents, you should understand the difference between nursing homes and assisted living facilities. While nursing homes offer skilled medical care, assisted living facilities tend only to help with basic needs, such as bathing or eating. You do not want to place your aging parents into the wrong facility, of course. Fortunately, watching for some signs may tell you when it is time to move your Read More