by Christine | Apr 17, 2012 | Elder Law, Healthcare, Marriage, Medi-Cal Long Term Care, Medicaid, Medicare |
There’s another layer of rules for families in which the person hoping to get government help paying for long-term care has a spouse who is still living independently. States are treating such “well” spouses in dramatically different ways. Marriage is a unique...
by Christine | Apr 16, 2012 | Depression, Elder Law, Medicare |
Depressed people are more likely to receive diagnoses and be treated in primary-care settings than elsewhere. Research shows that elderly people, in fact, prefer to deal with their primary-care provider on mental health issues. In that context, coverage of depression...
by Christine | Apr 10, 2012 | Elder Law, Hospice, Medical Directives, Palliative Care |
It takes strong doctors to stand up to [the kind of verbal abuse that palliative care doctors have to put up with], to explain that courts and ethics committees have approved care that’s intended to reduce suffering, to point out that the patient’s own wishes are...
by Christine | Apr 2, 2012 | Elder Care, Elder Law |
People without much family simply plan the best they can, setting up advance directives and crossing their fingers, hoping they can afford paid care when they need it. Ms. Cotter has taken her preparations a step further, however. When she consulted [with her elder...
by Christine | Mar 27, 2012 | Elder Law, Tax Deductions, Tax Planning |
If you're helping out a financially stressed relative in this still-lousy economy, you may be entitled to some tax breaks. Taking care of your elderly loved ones is a difficult task. It can be emotionally difficult, as well as financially crippling. In honor of...
by Christine | Mar 26, 2012 | Elder Law, Estate Law, Estate Planning, Estates, Trust Administration |
Death and taxes. Benjamin Franklin aptly noted that these are the only two certainties in life. Mr. Franklin perhaps should have added a footnote regarding the paperwork both certainties generate. A New York Times blog (The New Old Age) recently published a “public...
