Newsletter Archives - Asset Preservation

  There are a lot of people out there offering their services to help people qualify for VA pension benefits (most often “aid and attendance” benefits). Your choice of who to refer someone to assist them with that important process can have far-reaching financial consequences.  Here are nine things you need to consider before referring someone for assistance in planning and applying for VA benefits.   1.  The Department of Veterans Affairs ...

    A correction to the previous video "If You're Married & Over 65, Your Wills Are Probably Wrong." Wes Coulson explains the difference between leaving everything to each other and for each other.   Hi, I’m Wes Coulson and this is your Elder Law Minute. I kind of messed up last week, so I’m going to ask you to do what I meant and not what I said. ...

    Wes Coulson discusses income tax tips for giving to charity and how you can get the most out of your charitable contributions. Through planning, there are ways to save on your taxes when making charitable donations.     Hi, I’m Wes Coulson and this is your Elder Law Minute. You probably already know that you get a tax deduction for making charitable contributions. But did you know that ...

    There are planning opportunities that allow an elder to pay a family member to be their caregiver at home and establish eligibility for benefits. It is a great option for care, but you need to see an elder law attorney to make sure you're doing it correctly so it won't affect the elder's application for Medicaid.   Hi, I’m Wes Coulson and this is your Elder Law ...

  In order to begin to understand Medicaid eligibility, you first need to understand how Medicaid will treat your assets.   When you apply for Medicaid (known as MO Healthnet in Missouri) benefits, the caseworker who reviews your application will separate your assets into two categories.  The first category will be those assets which are “exempt”.  Exempt assets are those that the applicant is permitted to retain and still become eligible for Medicaid.   The ...

    Wes Coulson discusses how you can leave your inheritance as a retirement plan for your children.     Hi, I’m Wes Coulson and this is your Elder Law Minute. I saw something in the news a couple weeks ago expressing grave concern about the number of baby boomers who really haven’t set aside any money for retirement. We baby boomers are notorious for spending however much money we ...

  Louise had been in the nursing home for more than a year. She had already gone through much of her life savings paying for her care. She only had about $50,000 left, along with her house. Up to that point, no one had said anything to her children, Ben and Margie, about Louise going on Medicaid. But now the handwriting was on the wall. Despite her Alzheimer’s disease, Louise remained in ...

    If you are married and over 65, you probably have sweetheart wills, which means that if one spouse dies, they leave everything to their spouse. This can be problematic because it subjects your entire estate to the risk of being lost if the survivor ends up needing nursing home care. Wills that leave everything to each other instead of for each other are more effective ...

  In this Elder Law Minute, Wes Coulson discusses long-term care insurance and how more policies are now asset-based. Before, most long-term care policies were "use it or lose" which meant if you didn't need long-term care, you didn't get any benefit from the policy. Asset-based long-term care insurance isn't "use it or lose it", so it's more beneficial to you and your beneficiaries if you ...

  In this Elder Law Minute, Wes Coulson discusses the way to guarantee an inheritance for your family. Asset preservation planning protects your life savings and guarantees that you will not have to spend them to pay for long-term care. It can give you peace of mind knowing that you can take care of your family after you're gone.   Hi, I’m Wes Coulson and this is your Elder ...