The Perils of GoFundMe – Part 3
In my blog post last week, I discussed crowd funding sites like GoFundMe. We see families dealing with a sudden catastrophic illness or injury attempt to use these sites to raise money to pay for medical and other bills. It rarely is a solution if only because of the amount of money
The Perils of GoFundMe – Part 2
In my post last week, I wrote about a particular solution - really attempted solution - to the financial burdens caused by a catastrophic illness or injury. In the age of the internet, crowd funding websites have made it easier to raise money from a large group of people. The GoFundMe site
The Perils of GoFundMe (Part 1)
In this week’s blog post, I write about a particular solution - or really attempted solution - to the financial burden caused by a catastrophic illness or accident. A family member calls concerning a loved one who has suffered a serious illness or accident, one that will result in needing extensive
Dispute Over a Retirement Account – Part 2
In my blog post last week I told you about a recent Wall Street Journal article that caught my eye. Jeffrey’s siblings sued to recover their brother’s retirement account. In 1987 Jeffrey designated his girlfriend at the time as the beneficiary of the account. He broke up with her in 1989 but never
Dispute Over a Retirement Account (Part 1)
A recent Wall Street Journal article about a fight over a $1 million dollar retirement account reminded me of a similar case I had in my office 25 years ago. First about the case highlighted in the Journal. To summarize, Jeffrey, single with no children died in 2015. He had no will. The majority
Medicaid Redetermination – Part 7
In my blog post last week, I discussed the calculation of Mary’s elective share. That is the amount Mary is entitled to receive as a result of her husband, George’s death, which turned out to be $300,000. Obviously this is more than the $2000 in assets she is entitled to keep to
Medicaid Redetermination – Part 6
Picking up where I left off in my blog post last week, George died leaving his wife, Mary who is on Medicaid which has a strict asset limit of $2000. While George was alive we had him change his will to leave Mary only the minimum amount required to satisfy New
Medicaid Redeterminations – Part 5
In my post last week, I talked about what happens when the healthy spouse dies leaving a surviving spouse who is on Medicaid. The elective share requires that a minimum amount - 1/3 of the deceased spouse’s estate less what the surviving spouse already has - must go to the deceased
Medicaid Redeterminations – Part 4
In this week’s 4th blog post on Medicaid’s annual redetermination process I address how the death of a spouse can create issues. In the case of a married couple where only one spouse has been approved for Medicaid, the non-Medicaid or “community spouse” is entitled to keep a home if residing
Medicaid Redeterminations – Part 4
In this week’s blog post I continue my discussion on Medicaid’s annual redetermination process and the changes that can cause problems with achieving a renewal. In the case of a married couple where only one spouse has been approved for Medicaid, the non-Medicaid or “community spouse” is entitled to keep a