Your Long-Term Care Plans Can Protect Your Children From Financial Hardship
We have all heard about disastrous scenarios where family conflict escalated into permanent rifts because of decisions about medical care for an elderly and infirm relative. The family member who provided the most direct care for the invalid might take the blame for the invalid’s decline in health and eventual death, while the rest of the family imagines that, if they had been in charge and done things differently, things would have turned out better. Siblings disagree with each other, or stepparents disagree with stepchildren, about whether a certain medical intervention is appropriate or about whether the ailing family member would consent to the treatment if he or she were well enough to voice consent. Situations like these are the worst-case scenario, and you can prevent them from happening in your family simply by signing a medical advance directive, also known as a healthcare power of attorney. This document indicates which medical treatments you are willing to undergo in the event of your serious illness or long-term ill health. Even if there is no controversy over what treatment you need or your consent to treatment, the bills from your long-term care can cause financial stress and family strife that lasts even after you are gone. You might have chosen not to write a will, but everyone needs to make a financial plan for long-term care, and you can design yours with the help of a Bronx estate planning lawyer.
Your Lack of Plans Can Still Be Financially Burdensome to Your Children, Even Without Filial Responsibility Laws
Your relatives, or even the AI chatbots to which you turned for consolation, might have stricken fear in your heart by saying that, if you don’t set aside money for your long-term care, your children will have to pay your nursing home bills. This statement does not tell the whole story. Sons and daughters often bear large parts of the costs of their parents’ care, either by contributing to the parents’ nursing home expenses or by spending more time on the unpaid work of providing direct care, which means spending less time on paid work.
New York does not have filial responsibility laws, which state that the children of a nursing home resident automatically become responsible for the costs of care when the resident’s own funds run out. Such laws were once common, but most states have repealed them, and the states that still have them on the books do not enforce them consistently. Any nursing home resident who runs out of money may receive Medicaid nursing home care benefits, but accepting Medicaid means losing your Social Security check, and it also means that Medicaid will file claims against your estate, costing your children their inheritance. The best protection against this is to buy long-term care insurance or hybrid life insurance.
Schedule a Confidential Consultation With a Bronx Estate Planning Attorney
An estate planning lawyer can help you plan for long-term care expenses so that the cost of your care does not ruin your family’s finances. Contact Cavallo & Cavallo in the Bronx, New York to set up a consultation.
Source:
apnews.com/article/nursing-home-medicaid-personal-needs-allowance-poverty-2e0a2d90d7d63d4b476397a50a9cddff