What Is Elder Law?

Estate planning concerns distributing assets after one dies, including the use of last wills, trusts and preparing the estate to minimize assets passing through probate. Elder law is more focused on protecting the individual during their lifetime.

Elder law provides people with legal rights and protections, as they become older and become vulnerable. The field of elder law covers a range of issues impacting seniors, including long-term care planning options, end-of-life and estate planning and problems including nursing home abuse or neglect. There are a variety of issues for which seniors benefit from legal assistance, says a recent article titled “Elder Law: A Complete Guide” from Forbes.

Medicare Planning and Social Security. An elder law attorney can help seniors understand their options to maximize Social Security benefits. Claiming benefits before full retirement age results in a reduction in monthly benefits, while a delayed claim leads to a larger monthly income. Signing up for Medicare can be daunting, with so many options and decisions to be made. An elder law attorney can help get it right the first time.

Incapacity Planning. While one can become incapacitated at any time in life, the chances of becoming physically or mentally impaired increase as one ages. Having a living will allows you to specify what kind of medical treatments you want to accept or decline. A durable power of attorney allows you to name an agent to control your assets, and a healthcare power of attorney lets another person make medical decisions on your behalf.

Guardianship. If no incapacity planning has been done and action needs to be taken on your behalf, the court will assign a guardian. This could be a family member, or if none is available or the court does not deem the family member to be a good candidate, a professional guardian might be assigned.

It takes time for a person to be declared legally incapacitated and for a guardian to be appointed. The process can be costly and is stressful for all concerned.

Long-Term Care Planning. Someone turning 65 today has as much as a 70% chance of needing some type of long-term care during their lifetime. Long-term care planning addresses making decisions in advance for having care at home or moving into a nursing home for rehabilitation or as a permanent resident. Long-term care planning includes planning for Medicaid and protecting assets.

Elder Abuse Laws. Unfortunately, seniors are vulnerable to abuse, especially when they must rely on others for care. Elder abuse laws exist to protect you from physical, mental, emotional, sexual, or financial abuse. An elder abuse claim can be pursued to recover compensation for medical bills, loss of assets, emotional distress, or physical pain.

An elder law attorney can help create a plan to address issues and protect those who are lucky enough to enjoy a long life.

Reference: Forbes (Jan. 11, 2023) “Elder Law: A Complete Guide”

You Need a Digital Estate Plan

Laws about intangible assets used to be a legal niche practice area. However, today’s estate planning attorney addresses digital assets as much as tangible assets, according to the article “How to Start Digital Estate Planning in 2023” from yahoo! Social media, emails, websites, photos and even the contents of a hard drive contain a vast amount of digital assets. Managing these assets is known as digital estate planning.

Digital estate planning is the process of including online and digital assets, a simple concept but one which is quite complicated. Assets in your digital estate include (but are by no means limited to):

Social media accounts
Websites and domain names
Online stores and businesses
Software and code
Pictures, video, and other media
Financial records or financial assets owned digitally
Contents of hard drives, phones, tablets and other devices
Contents of cloud storage

Today, your digital assets can be some of the most important assets left behind. Photos are the photo books of today, and websites are often the family’s business. Neglecting to plan for digital assets is the equivalent of putting family heirlooms, photos, stock certificates and cash into a storage unit and neglecting to tell anyone of the existence of the storage unit, or how to access it.

Passwords and logins. The sheer volume of passwords, combined with the increase in two-factor authentication, makes it difficult to keep track of information for users. Imagine what your executor will face when trying to locate digital assets. You need to have a secure record of accounts, including the platform, your user name, login and password information. Keeping an old-school logbook of important user names and passwords is an option, since online password storage sites themselves are occasionally hacked.

Legal authority for access. There are a surprising number of laws about who is allowed to access your digital access. Your last will needs to be clear in directing your executor as to what you want to happen to specific digital assets. Make it clear who is to inherit the account and what you want them to do with it.

Distribution and rights. One of the growing problems with digital assets is that often companies are selling indefinite licenses disguised as purchases. You may think you own something, only to find you simply rented it. On Amazon Prime, the button may say “Buy,” but you are actually downloading a licensed product and the company retains the right to end your access at its discretion. Such licenses typically expire upon the death of the buyer, with no ability to transfer the data or product to anyone else.

Your estate planning attorney will be able to explain how to prepare your digital estate, so it is as protected as your traditional assets. While making a complete inventory of digital assets may be overwhelming, consider the value of such assets as family photos and videos. Chances are, they’re worth passing down to your descendants.

Reference: yahoo! (Jan. 28, 2023) “How to Start Digital Estate Planning in 2023”

Can a Dementia Patient Sign Legal Documents?

Once a diagnosis of dementia has been received, families need to immediately begin advance care planning, as explained in a recent article titled “Can Someone With Dementia Sign Legal Documents” from Health News. Depending on their medical condition, some patients with dementia, particularly in early stages, may be capable of making their own decisions regarding legal decisions. However, discussions must begin early, so the person can be involved and understand the planning process.

When family members don’t know the wishes of their loved ones, they are more likely to experience distress and difficulties in making decisions. Families report feelings of guilt, self-doubt and stress while making advance care decisions with no input from their loved ones.

Laws concerning advance care vary from state to state. An elder law attorney can help older adults interpret state laws, plan how their wishes will be carried out and understand financial options.

Advance care planning focuses on both long-term care and planning for funeral arrangements. These documents typically include a durable power of attorney for healthcare, a living will and Do-Not Resuscitate orders, often called a DNR. Depending on state law, there may also be a MOLST document, short for Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment.

The durable power of attorney for healthcare names another person who can serve as a proxy for the person with dementia, if and when the person is not able to make informed healthcare decisions for themselves.

A living will states a person’s wishes for end-of-life treatment. This documents their views about specific medical procedures including but not limited to dialysis, tube feeding or blood transfusions. If the person should become unconscious, then families may make treatment decisions based on what their loved one wanted.

A Do-Not-Resuscitate order is placed in a patient’s medical chart if the person does not want to receive CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) if their heart stops or breathing ceases. This must be signed by a doctor before it is placed in the chart.

Planning for a funeral is a difficult task. However, it will alleviate stress and possible guilt in the future. People with dementia can tell their loved ones in advance what they want regarding a funeral or memorial service, burial, or cremation. If any arrangements are already in place, such as the purchase of a burial plot, providing details to family members will make it easier to manage.

Advance care planning can be a sensitive topic but seeking legal advice early on is useful so the family can focus on making sure their loved one has the care they want. Involving the person with dementia in the process is respectful. An elder lawyer attorney will be able to guide the family to ensure planning is done properly.

Reference: Health News (Jan. 11, 2023) “Can Someone With Dementia Sign Legal Documents”

What Is Included on a HIPAA Authorization Form?

HIPAA Journal’s recent article entitled “What is HIPAA Authorization?” explains that the authorization form must be written in plain language so it can be easily understood. In addition, and as a minimum, the authorization form must have these components:

Specific and meaningful information, including a description of the information that will be used or disclosed
The name of the individual authorized to make the requested use or disclosure
The name of the person or class of persons to whom information will be disclosed
A description of the purpose of the requested use or disclosure
A specific time frame for the authorization, including an expiration date; and
A date and signature from the individual giving the authorization.

Statements must also be included on the HIPAA authorization to notify the individual of the right to revoke the authorization in writing and either:

exceptions to the right to revoke and a description of how the right to revoke can be exercised; or
the extent to which the information is included in the organization’s notice of privacy practices.

In addition, the statement included on the HIPAA authorization to notify the individual of the ability or inability to condition treatment, payment, enrollment, or eligibility for benefits on the authorization by stating either:

that the covered entity may not condition treatment, payment, enrollment, or eligibility for benefits on whether the individual signs the authorization; or
the consequences of a refusal to sign the authorization when the covered entity is permitted to condition treatment, enrollment in the health plan, or eligibility for benefits on a failure to obtain authorization.

The person giving consent must be provided with a copy of the authorization form for their records.

Reference: HIPAA Journal (Oct. 9, 2021) “What is HIPAA Authorization?”

Who Inherits TV Broadcaster Barbara Walters’ Estate?

Vim Buzz’s recent article entitled titled “Who Will Inherit Barbara Walters’ Estate?” says American broadcast journalist and television personality Barbara Walters also rose to fame and received praise for speaking with people like Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro, Anwar Sadat, Menachem Begin, Katharine Hepburn, Sean Connery, Monica Lewinsky and Vladimir Putin.

She hosted a number of television shows, including Today, the ABC Evening News, 20/20 and The View.

Walters was well known for her interviewing skills and popularity with viewers.

Her “coming out of retirement” for a special 20/20 interview with Peter Rodger, the father of the murderer of the 2014 Isla Vista shootings, Elliot Rodger, was announced on June 10, 2014.

She spoke in-depth with presidents and their wives, like Richard and Pat Nixon and Barack and Michelle Obama. In fact, she spoke with every sitting president and first lady of the United States during her tenure.

She also spoke with Joe Biden and Donald Trump, but not when they were president.

The newscaster’s estate will be inherited by her family. Chief among her assets was a Florida retreat she purchased in 2014. That was the same year she announced her retirement.

However, the property was placed on the market shortly after her dementia diagnosis took a turn for the worse.

She purchased the three-bedroom, four-bath waterfront condo in Naples for $3.4 million.

Just two years later, in April 2016, she transferred the unit to her daughter, Jaqueline Dena Guber.

The 54-year-old Guber subsequently listed the home three months later for $6.78 million. The home spent time on and off the market until September 2018, when it sold for $5.35 million.

The complex is called Moraya Bay. This luxury building has a concierge service, a private beach club, a large state-of-the-art fitness center and full security.

However, in New York City, Walters had lived in the same Upper East Side apartment overlooking Central Park since 1989.

An ABC program titled “Our Barbara” aired on January 1, 2023, and a 20/20 senior producer remarked, “For a lot of years, we maintained a close eye on Barbara.

Her final public appearance was in 2016, and her final on-air interview was with Donald Trump for ABC News in December 2015.

Reference: Vim Buzz (Jan. 3, 2022) “Who Will Inherit Barbara Walters’ Estate?”

What You Need to Know About Inheritance

Receiving an inheritance is a mixed blessing. It usually comes after a loved one has passed, while you are grieving and trying to figure out how to navigate finances. If you have received or anticipate receiving an inheritance, a recent article titled “Getting an Inheritance? Here are 4 Things to Consider” from Kiplinger, has some helpful information.

It takes time to settle an estate and distribute assets. When a decedent’s affairs weren’t prepared properly in advance, it takes even longer. A recent Gallup poll found less than half of all Americans have a will.

The probate process can be avoided if assets are held in trust. However, even trust distributions may have time-consuming complexities. It can take several months to a year or more to settle an estate.

Being aware of this will help manage heirs’ expectations. Plans for a big purchase should never be keyed to an inheritance, until after the assets are received.

The executor, the person named to administer the estate, must notify beneficiaries and interested parties, pay outstanding bills, close accounts, make an inventory of assets and discern how many of the assets must pass through probate.

They also have to file tax returns with the IRS for the estate and for the decedent’s last year of life. Only after all of this is completed can assets be distributed.

Getting an inheritance often leads to spending the money, not always wisely. Factors such as where the money came from and its intended use influence how it’s spent. However, every dollar inherited should be valued as much as every dollar you earn. Many people treat their inheritances like “fun money” and spend it without careful consideration. Consider using it to bolster your emergency fund, pay off high-interest debt and put some towards long-term savings goals. If there’s still money left over after you’ve covered the basics, then it may be time to spend it on a family trip or support a cause you believe in.

Seek professional advice. Inheritances often come with complications. For instance, there are times when an heir may have a step-up-in-basis provision for taxes. This allows heirs to have the valuation of their inheritance property be equal to its fair market value at the date of death, instead of the lower price at which it was first purchased. This helps minimize capital gains taxes on inherited assets that have appreciated over time. An estate planning attorney will be able to confirm whether this potential benefit applies to you, and what you’ll need to do to navigate any tax issues.

Take time to review your own estate plan. As an heir, or as an executor, you’re likely to be learning a lot about the estate planning process. This should motivate you to address your own estate planning and make it as easy as possible for your own heirs.

This includes keeping clear records of all accounts, along with creating any necessary estate planning documents, including wills, trusts, powers of attorney and advance health care directives. Keeping documents in a place accessible to those administering your estate will help your heirs, as will talking with your family while you are living about your finances, your estate plan and your wishes. The best inheritance of all is one that results from proper planning with an experienced estate planning attorney.

Reference: Kiplinger (Jan. 3, 2023) “Getting an Inheritance? Here are 4 Things to Consider”

What Documents are Included in Advance Care Planning?

Starting discussions earlier helps ensure that a person with dementia stays involved and understands the planning process. In the same fashion, regular reviews of plans over time are beneficial for ensuring that their wishes are carried out.

Health News’ recent article entitled “Can Someone With Dementia Sign Legal Documents?” cautions that, when family members don’t know the preferences of their loved one, they have difficulties and stress in making decisions. Family members may also have feelings of guilt, self-doubt and stress while making advanced care decisions.

Laws in each state may differ. Working with an experienced elder law attorney can help seniors interpret state laws, plan how wishes should be carried out and understand financial options.

Geriatric care managers, trained social workers, or nurses can also offer support to those living with dementia, as well as their families.

While advance care planning, families and their loved ones with dementia should create a plan for long-term care and plan for funeral arrangements in advance.

Advance care planning documents commonly include the following:

A durable power of attorney for healthcare names someone to function as a proxy for the person with dementia, when he or she may be unable to make healthcare decisions for themselves.
A living will includes an individual’s wishes for end-of-life treatment. This can concern specific procedures such as dialysis, tubal feeding, or blood transfusion. If the person becomes permanently unconscious (coma), families can make treatment decisions based on wishes expressed in a living will.
A do-not-resuscitate order (DNR) is put with a patient’s chart when the patient doesn’t want to receive cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) if their heart stops or breathing ceases. A doctor needs to sign these DNR orders before they can be placed in the patient’s charts.

Advance care planning can be a sensitive topic for families and those with dementia.

Getting medical and legal advice early is helpful in planning advance care. Involving the person with dementia in the planning process also helps families ensure that the wishes of the patient are respected.

Reference: Health News (Jan. 11, 2023) “Can Someone With Dementia Sign Legal Documents?”

Do I Really Need Eight Glasses of Water a Day?

Researchers say individual water needs vary from person to person. Therefore, general recommendations for water intake shouldn’t be used. Their recent findings were published in Science, a journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Money Talks News’ recent article entitled “8 Glasses of Water a Day? Nonsense, Says a New Study” reports that for decades, study co-author Dale Schoeller, a University of Wisconsin-Madison emeritus professor of nutritional sciences, has studied how water intake impacts the body.

In a summary of the study findings, he says, “The science has never supported the old eight glasses thing as an appropriate guideline, if only because it confused total water turnover with water from beverages and a lot of your water comes from the food you eat.”

Schoeller says the new research is the best to date for measuring daily water turnover and the factors that influence it.

“Water turnover” is the amount of water going into and out of the body. As a result, it serves as a measurement of how much water the body actually uses each day.

In the study, the researchers measured water turnover in more than 5,600 people of all ages and from 26 countries.

They found that daily averages of water consumption range from one liter per day to six liters per day. (There are about 33.8 ounces in 1 liter.)

The study measured the time it took water to move through a person’s body by tracking the turnover of what researchers call “labeled water.”

In short, the study participants drank water containing trackable isotopes that allowed researchers to know how much water went into and out of their bodies.

The biggest factors that impacted water turnover in the participants included, activity level, sex, age, pregnancy, socioeconomic status and environmental characteristics (latitude, altitude, air temperature and humidity).

In addition, another primary factor was the Human Development Index of the county a participant lives in. This was developed by the United Nations. It’s a measure of a country that combines life expectancy, schooling and economic factors.

In the end, the study findings suggest that given how much variation there is in people’s water turnover patterns, “pointing to one average doesn’t tell you much,” Schoeller says.

Reference: Money Talks News (Nov. 28, 2022) “8 Glasses of Water a Day? Nonsense, Says a New Study”

What Is ‘Food Insecurity’?

“The pandemic has exacerbated existing trends in food insecurity,” Cindy Leung, ScD, MPH, assistant professor of public health nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, in Boston, said in an email. “People who were already experiencing food insecurity found themselves at more severe levels, and other people were experiencing food insecurity for the first time. Older adults were no exception, on top of a higher risk of COVID-related disease burden and hospitalizations.”

MedPage Today’s recent article entitled “Food Insecurity Among Older Adults Remains a Problem” explains that food insecurity, which is defined as a lack of access to a sufficient amount of nutritious foods, was an issue in the U.S. even before the pandemic started.

Leung and her then-colleagues at the University of Michigan conducted a survey of about 2,000 older adults in 2020 that found that 14% of those ages 50-80 had experienced food insecurity in 2019. This appeared to be connected to worse physical and mental health, the researchers reported.

“Nearly half of adults aged 50-80 who were food insecure rated their physical health as fair or poor (45%), compared to 14% of those who were food secure,” while “almost a quarter of those who were food insecure reported fair or poor mental health (24%) compared to 5% of those who were food secure.”

The researchers also found that about 54% of food-insecure respondents had multiple (two or more) chronic conditions, compared to 41% of food-secure individuals. Food-insecure individuals were more likely than food-secure individuals to report having these conditions than food-secure respondents:

Asthma
Chronic bronchitis or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Chronic pain; diabetes
Kidney disease; or
A sleep disorder.

There were no significant differences in cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease by food security status, however, they noted.

“Food insecurity is actually a really big problem among older adults,” Nicole Heckman, vice president of benefits access at the AARP Foundation, said in a phone interview at which a press person was present. “Nearly 9.5 million adults ages 50 and older are food insecure.”

Heckman gave several reasons for the problem. “One is obviously a lack of income,” she said. “Those that are at or below the poverty line struggle to afford the food they need, especially when we think about the inflation and just the crazy food prices and how much they have gone up over the last 2 years.”

The federal government addressed the general issue of food insecurity during the pandemic in part by expanding access to food programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), as well as expanding the dollar value of available benefits. However, Heckman said, “many older adults aren’t actually aware of the programs and benefits to help them put food on their table. Research shows there are over three million older adults that missed out on more than $200 a month in SNAP benefits” during the pandemic.

Reference: MedPage Today (Jan. 10, 2023) “Food Insecurity Among Older Adults Remains a Problem”

What’s the Most Common Debt for Retirees?

A recent survey of about 2,000 American retirees between the ages of 62 and 75 found many of them burdened with debt.

Some likely ran out of time to pay off their debts before retiring. Others may have entered the red or simply deepened their debt level after leaving work.

Money Talks News’ recent article entitled “This Is the Most Common Debt Among Retirees — by Far” provides the most common type of debt retirees report — along with other debts that are part of retirement for many people.

Credit card debt. Retirees who said they had this type of debt in 2022 was 40%, compared to 42% in 2020. Credit card debt is almost always expensive, but it’s much worse if you don’t have a regular paycheck to help you pay bills.
Mortgage. Retirees who said they had this type of debt in 2022 was 30%, with no report for 2020. A home loan is one of the few types of borrowing that can be classified as “good debt.” Many experts suggest paying off a mortgage before retirement. but others argue against such a strategy.
Auto loans. Retirees who said they had this type of debt in 2022 was 23%, and in 2020, it was 30%. Unless you saved a bunch, an auto loan is hard to avoid, retired or not. As a result, about a quarter of retirees still are paying off this type of loan.

Retirees said they also are carrying these types of debt in 2022:

Medical debt: 11%
Home equity loan: 7%
Student loan: 4%
Business loan: 1%

Reference: Money Talks News (Jan. 9, 2023) “This Is the Most Common Debt Among Retirees — by Far”

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