Expert Home Care NJ - New Jersey Home Health

Continuing the real story of Senior Planning for long term care by a long distance family caregiver. Visit our blog post September 21 to read Part 1.

Expert Home Care in New Jersey - Providing Live-in Care for elders in NJ. Call (800) 848-2336.

We consulted a lawyer to determine how to proceed, and were informed that with regards to distributing her estate assets after death, there was nothing that we could do, and this responsibility would fall to the government. Unfortunately, as we were told, this could result in actions that were not coherent with her wishes.

After this scare, we felt helpless and were very distressed that we were not able to legally abide by my mother’s wishes during her recovery process; fortunately, she did have some insurance coverage and our family did have some savings to cover her hospital care and rehabilitation program.

My mom ultimately made a pretty miraculous recovery, and seemed to return to her normal self. Once she was legally able to do so, she went to a lawyer and prepared two legal documents; a Living Trust and a Last Will and Testament to ensure that, should her health fail again, we were well prepared and legal able to carrying out her needs. I’ve also learned through this situation, and have prepared a will of my own; something I now realize I should have done a long time ago.
 
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/25914/creating_a_legal_will.html?page=3&cat=17

FAMILY CHALLENGES WITH LEGAL WILLS

A long distance family caregiver asked Expert Home Care to provide in-home, non medical care for her mother, age 78. Her mother had not planned well for aging, therefore left the daughter to carry the bulk of her care and long term planning. She tells us her story…

When my mother fell ill in her late 70’s, our family encountered a number of challenges in dealing with her medical care and associated finances. Unfortunately, after having a stroke, she was no longer in a sound mind to determine what she wanted in terms of her medical care, and we were unable to access her finances that we knew she had set aside for emergencies of this type. 

My mother had previously discussed her wishes regarding long-term care should the need arise, as well as her limitations regarding resuscitation; and while it had been in her mind to create a Living Will to legally document her requirements, she never got around to it before this crisis hit and that made the whole process all the more difficult.

The doctors seemed to be under the impression that she would pull through, but she also hadn’t created a Last Will and Testament, and not being in a “sound mind” would not be able to put this together legally in order to distribute her assets and finances should a tragedy occur.

Visit tomorrow to read the full story.

Expert Home Care - (800) 848-2336.

Expert Home Care delivers home health services to seniors at home. We help seniors live at home safely and independently in New Jersey. Here’s more information on whether you should consider a will or a living trust for your estate planning in NJ. We can be reached at  (800) 848-2336.

NJ Seniors Seek Simple Wills

You probably have read and heard throughout your life that if all you is take care of your legal affairs, you should write a will. That’s great advice. Keep in mind that when you don’t make a will before your death, then state law will determine who gets your property - the bad news it may not be whom you would have chosen!

What might be worse.. is a judge may decide who will raise your children. In your will, you can make these decisions yourself. Forget the fancy trusts you’ve heard about: most people can get by with only a basic will.

Maybe all you need is a basic will, you can confidently use a good self-help book or software to make a legally binding will that:

• leaves your property to the people and organizations you choose
• names a guardian to care for your minor children if you can’t
• names someone to manage property you leave to minor children (yours or someone else’s), and
• names your executor, the person with authority to make sure that the terms of your will are carried out.

http://www.nolo.com/resource.cfm/catID/FD1795A9-8049-422C-9087838F86A2BC2B/309/

Expert Home Care delivers elder care services to the home. We help seniors in New Jersey plan for long term care. Here’s more information on whether you should consider a will or a living trust for your estate planning in NJ. We can be reached at  (800) 848-2336.

Wills

Wills are easier to set up. Wills can be less expensive to create and change. It allows you to name a guardian to care for minor children, something that’s not possible with a living trust, unless you implement a supplemental document with the will.

If you have debts, creditors face a cutoff date for bringing claims against your estate. They cannot seek assets from beneficiaries once ownership is transferred.

Living Trusts

For smaller estates, the setup and maintenance costs for a living trust may outweigh any “after “death savings. Yet estate planning attorneys, may say that a living trust is a more economical route, especially for those having an estate over $2 million for the 2008 tax year.

A will speaks for you only after you die. A living trust can help you while you’re alive a living trust can sometimes minimize probate at death.

Seniors in NJ should keep in mind when determing which to put in place that neither will change how property you own with another person is distributed at your death. And neither will affect assets with a designated beneficiary, such as individual retirement accounts or life insurance.

New Jersey Seniors - Beware of scams!

Beware of “free lunch” estate planning seminars and other scams that suggest that AARP endorses living trusts. AARP does not sell or endorse any living trust product. And trusts sold through these schemes often are more costly and don’t comply with state law.

Planning for home care in New Jersey can be difficult for most seniors. Deciding “how” to distribute your assets is another challenge for most aging Americans… Expert Home Care NJ has helped many seniors figure out “how to live independently at home and plan for the future when you can no longer care for yourself”. Call us when you need assistance with homemaker needs at (800) 848-2336.

Let’s talk about Wills or Living Trusts - most NJ elders and seniors cringe when thinking about which one is best for their assets.

The first answer to think about is who will get your money, your property, or even your favorite diamond ring or heirloom when you’re gone? We don’t like to dwell on these questions. The evidence? Few Hispanics have the main documents used to distribute property after death: only one in four has a will, and one in fivehas a living trust.

Yet if you decide early on exactly who gets what could relieve your loved ones of a the burden. After all, if you don’t decide, the government will. And you don’t want to go down that road!

Many seniors consider a will the best tool when making their wishes known to relatives. And in their opinion, the will is the best tool to carry out those wishes. That may be true in many cases. But according to some experts, a living trust, alone or with a will, offers a better solution.

Expert Home Care in New Jersey - (800) 848-2336, recently interviewed Mr. Donald D. Vanarelli, Esq. at The Law Office of Donald D. Vanarelli, located in Westfield, New Jersey, providing a broad range of legal services for the elderly, the disabled and their families. They successfully guide clients through the complex areas of estate tax law, public benefits law, and court procedures.

We know that many NJ seniors often wonder “what is the difference between elder law attorneys and attorneys?” This can be confusing and many families and seniors wonder if both professionals are the same.

We interviewed Mr. Vanarelli last week and asked him to please tell us what, if any, are the differences. Mr. Donald D. Vanarelli helped to clarify the confusion for some of us who are often confused. Being a board certified elder law attorney since 1998, we thought he would be the best to help us understand “what elder law is”. 

According to The National Elder Law Foundation defines elder law in more detail, saying it encompasses each of the following areas:

• Health and Personal Care Planning
• Pre-Mortem Legal Planning
• Fiduciary Representation
• Legal Capacity Counseling
• Public Benefits Advice
• Advice on Insurance Matters 
• Housing Counseling 
• Income, Estate, and Gift Tax Advice
• Counseling with regard to age and/or disability discrimination in employment and housing
• Litigation and Administrative Advocacy

What Makes Elder Law Unique?
Elder Law is the only area of law defined by the clients served rather than the areas of law in which the attorney practices.

What is a Certified Elder Law Attorney?
Elder Law is a legal specialty which has been formally recognized by New Jersey’s Supreme Court through the American Bar Association’s accreditation of legal specialties program.

To learn more, please visit The Law Office of Donald D. Vanarelli.

Call Expert Home Care provides help to seniors and elders in NJ - living independently at home. Please call 800-848-2336.

American’s lack of financial planning for the future also extends to long-term care insurance. More than half of Americans will need long-term care during their lives. But only seven percent of seniors own private insurance that could help them pay for this type of care, says the Journal of Financial Planning.

Long-term care is simply the help people need when a serious illness, injury or disability makes them physically unable to care for themselves. It can be expensive, with the cost for a year’s nursing home stay averaging $44,000 and adult day care typically $50 a day.

Medicare and Medicaid don’t cover many types of long-term care. And most people can’t afford to pay for it out-of-pocket. Consequently, family members are often left with the burden of providing care. Nearly half of adults age 50 or older provide some care to a family member or loved one, according to AARP’s “The State of 50-Plus America, 2004″. And 31 percent of caregivers quit work to care for an older person with a severe impairment, forfeiting thousands of dollars annually in wages and health benefits.

Expert Home Care when your aging seniors in New Jersey needs live-in care, elder care, or senior home care in NJ  800-848-2336.

*Better Business Bureau - BBBOnLine Participation Confirmed For Expert Home Care, Inc. meets all BBBOnLine participation and Better Business Bureau membership standards and is authorized to display the BBBOnLine trustmark.

Continued from our posting date August 13th - Estate Planning for New Jersey Seniors

The place seniors should start is with a complete financial inventory. This includes taking not of income, assets, expenses and even liabilities. Talk about what the senior is interested in long term. Is retirement living an option or will the family home be sold. These are important questions that should be worked out early on before a situation arises. Finally, determine what kind of insurance the senior will have as well as how much money for retirement.

Also, discuss a senior life settlement. This is an option for seniors who want to sell their life insurance policy for more than the cash value the life insurance company would give them to cash out. This means seniors can sell life settlements and get money to live their retirement on and the individual who bought the insurance policy will simply cash it out upon death.

Before making any of these serious decisions it is important for seniors to discuss their options with a professional. Lawyers well versed in senior matters or financial planers are two great resources for seniors to have their legal questions answered and to receive the help they need planning their retirement. Most of the time using an expensive attorney will be expensive in the short run but it will result in major savings down the road and is worthwhile.

New Jersey Seniors worry about aging and illness as well as who will take care of their family when they are gone. Estate planning is important - it helps eliminate our worry and concern for the future of our family. With estate planning, seniors can make a plan while they are still healthy as to how their estates will be handled upon their death and they will have the reassurance knowing their families are taken care of.

There are several things seniors in New Jersey need to do, but the first and most important is to create a financial plan.

To create a financial plan it is important to consider all the different retirement issues. The plan should include:

• Developing a retirement budget - retirement income may be reduced so budgeting is crucial.
• The plan should address consolidating income - a discussion of how long term care would be paid for and financing options. Have a basic understanding of what will pass.
• Investment planning should be included in the plan as well as any estate decisions that will need to be made.
• Tax issues are also important and should be discussed and included in the plan.

Visit us soon for more Estate Planning Tips - to read full article go to Estate Planning.

Expert Home Care delivers live-in and senior help to those living with Alzheimer’s in New Jersey. Call us at 800-848-2336, if you need in-home care to safely live at home.