Elder Law Attorney

Lawyer serving Stamford, Darien, New Canaan, Norwalk, Westport, Harrison, Rye, Mamaroeck, Rochelle, and White Plains Areas

Elder law is a concentration of areas of law that affect the elderly and the disabled. These areas of law are:

• Document preparation
  Durable powers of attorney
  Inter vivos trusts
  Supplemental needs trusts
  Living wills
  Healthcare proxies
• Long-term care and Medigap insurance policies
  Insurance policy review
  Insurance company review
  Compliance with state regulations
• Contested medical care decision making
  Consent/refusal of medical treatment
  End of life decisions
• Medicaid
  Asset preservation
  Eligibility
  Spousal support
  Applications
  Fair hearings and appeals
  Compliance and certification
  Recovery of Medicaid expended by the state
• Medicare
  Eligibility
  Appeals
  Claims administration
• Social Security
  Retirement benefits
  Disability benefits
  Supplemental security income
  Disabled widows benefits
• Veterans benefits
  Aide and assistance
• Hospital discharge plan issues
  Safe discharge plan
  An appropriate discharge plan
  A timely discharge plan
• Nursing homes and assisted living issues
  Admission contract review
  Admission issues and payment
  Level of care
  Patient's rights issues
  Transfer and discharges
  Medication/restraint issues
• Guardian/conservator proceedings
  Guardian/Conservator of the person
  Guardian/Conservation of the property
  Court accounts of Guardian/Conservator statutes
• Employment law
  The Age Discrimination Employment Act of 1967
  The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990

The stress and worry over a catastrophically ill parent or spouse can be overwhelming. With the help of a qualified elder law attorney the elderly parent or spouse can receive quality medical and custodial care while preserving the elderly person's assets. With the guidance of a qualified elder law attorney, the elderly person can receive quality medical and custodial care while preserving his or her assets and those of their spouse.

Linnea J. Levine, Esq. is a Certified Elder Law Attorney[*] (CELA) with 18 years of experience serving the elderly and disabled. She is experienced and competent in all of the areas of law described above and has established a law firm that will provide quality and caring assistance to her clients.

ADVANCED ASSET PRESERVATIONS PLANNING

Ideally every estate plan should include a contingency plan in the event that a person does not die suddenly, but instead encounters a catastrophic illness. In the event that a person becomes catastrophically ill, two of the advanced planning asset protection tools that are useful are the Grantor Income Trust and the Life Estate Deed.

Grantor Income Trust

The Grantor Income Trust holds the individuals property so that it cannot be reached by creditors. However, all of the income generated by the trust assets is distributed to the individual funding of the trust for his or her support. Further, the trust income paid to the individual is taxed at the individual's income tax rate not the trust income tax rate which would be higher. The Grantor Income Trust avoids the need for a guardian/conservator of the trust property, avoids probate of the trust assets, and ancillary probate of any out-of-state property in the trust.The trust principal although excluded from the individual's probate estate is pulled upon death into the person's taxable estate where the property receives a stepped-up rate basis and thus avoids capital gains tax on the sale of the property after the death of the individual funding the trust.

Life Estate Deed and Personal Residence

The life estate deed gives an individual full possession of his home during his life, but upon death, the property immediately goes to the person named as the remainderman on the deed. The life estate deed avoids probate of the property, and gives the property a stepped-up basis upon the death of the individual. While the individual is alive the individual can claim any real estate tax deductions for the elderly, for veterans and under the Star Program in New York. However, if the house is sold while the individual is living his or her capital gains exclusion applies only to the value of the life estate ownership in the deed. In order to sell or transfer the property all persons on the life estate deed must sign the deed of transfer. Pursuant to current law, the life estate deed avoids Medicaid recovery of the personal residence upon death of the Medicaid applicant in Connecticut. As of March 30, 2011 New York will recover from life of state interests upon the death of the medicaid recipient or spouse.

CRISIS PLANNING

Often advanced planning is not an option when a person encounters and unforeseen catastrophic illness. Crisis planning is more intense and can be more costly than the Advanced Asset Preservation Planning. However, Linnea Levine uses sophisticated planning tools such as promissory notes, personal care contracts between the elderly person and a family member, spousal annuities, and trusts for disabled persons to preserve assets even after the elderly person is in a nursing home.

Each case is fact specific and state Medicaid law specific as to the percentage of the elderly person's assets that can be preserved. Most often our clients are surprised and relieved after an asset preservation consultation with Linnea Levine

AVOIDING GUARDIAN CONSERVATOR PROCEEDINGS

There are two documents that every adult should have. One is the durable power of attorney and the other is the healthcare proxy. The durable power of attorney allows an appointed agent to manage a disabled person's financial and legal affairs after the disabled person can no longer communicate their wishes. By having this document in force there is no need to have a guardian appointed over the property of the disabled person who is unable to manage their financial and legal affairs. The healthcare proxy appoints an agent to communicate with the doctor regarding consent or non-consent to medical treatment once the individual can no longer communicate his or her own wishes to her treating physician. By having this document in force there is no need to have a guardian or conservator appointed over the person and personal decisions and medical decisions of the incapacitated person.

Government Benefits

The Law Offices of Linnea J. Levine LLC. has a trained staff of paralegals that prepare and file clients' Medicaid applications. The staff has a working relationship with the Connecticut and New York case managers who process Medicaid applications.

For 18 years Linnea and her staff have successfully obtained Medicaid for the elderly and the disabled in an efficient cost effective manner.

At times Medicaid Fair Hearings are required in order to obtain financial support for the well spouse in excess of the amount of support permitted by statute. Linnea has represented the elderly in fair hearings to obtain additional Medicaid exempt assets for the well spouse.

Nursing Homes

Linnea has advocated for nursing elderly persons whose Medicaid benefits have been prematurely stopped.

She advocates to ensure that the nursing home performs the customized care plan for her elderly clients and her client's patient rights are enforced pursuant to the Federal Nursing Home Reform Act of 1989.

Joint Bank Accounts

A joint account gives all parties named on the account the right to complete withdrawal of all funds. An individual's name cannot be removed from a joint account. The account has to be closed and a new account opened in order to return full control to the original owner. Joint Bank accounts avoid the probate estate. All of the funs are part of the decedent's taxable estate unless funds are jointly owned by the spouse in which case half of the account values belong to the taxable estate. All joint account funds are not protected for Medicaid eligibility purposes. By placing assets in joint accounts one waives the need for a Guardian/ Conservator of the property of the incapacitated individual.

[*] Elder law certification requirements approved by the American Bar Association. To become a Certified Elder Law Attorney (CELA), the attorney must:

1. Have practiced law for at least five years.

2. Be in good standing with her state bar association.

3. Pass a five-hour written examination covering 25 areas of law that affect the elderly and the disabled.

4. Be recommended for certification by five qualified elder law attorneys.

5. Document that her elder law practice comprises a substantial portion of the law firm's overall practice.

6. The attorney must take 75 hours of continuing legal education in elder law topics every five years.

7. The attorney must apply every five years to renew her certification as an elder law attorney.