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2024

• Create a Supplemental Needs Trust During Lifetime or in Will
• Medicare and Social Security Collide with Health Savings Accounts at Age 65
• SSA applicants’ wait time reduced by expanded Compassionate Allowances list
• How does a reverse mortgage on home work?
• When Your Child With Special Needs Transitions to Adulthood
• After You Pass Away, Who Pays Your Debts?
• Medicaid Terminology in Texas for Nursing Home Medicaid and Medicaid at Home
• When someone outside the family handles a person’s affairs upon death
• Moving to a Nursing Home? Ask About Ratio of Medicare to Medicaid Beds

2023

• Preparing for upcoming estate tax law changes
• Heading home for the holidays doesn’t mean loss of Medicare or Medicaid skilled nursing benefits
• What to do when a Loved One Receiving Public Benefits Receives Unexpected Funds
• What is the impact on Medicaid benefits of the 2023 TRS stipend and possible cost of living increase?
• How Does Divorcing Your Spouse Affect Your Will?
• What’s the Importance of Estate Planning for Cryptocurrency?
• Benefits May Change When a Disabled Adult’s Parent Retires or Passes Away
• Paying Family Members as Caregivers
• Take note of changes in laws affecting older adults and people with disabilities
• The Probate Process in Texas When There is No Will

2022

• Important Legal Documents to Have in Place
• Deciding whether to select an individual or corporate entity as trustee of a trust
• What are the advantages of including a Supplemental Care Trust for your spouse in your will?
• Lady Bird Deeds helpful to Medicaid long-term planning
• Helping family members with college costs
• Choosing a nursing home offers some challenges
• What is the Medicaid answer to excess income?
• Common and not so common questions about safe deposit boxes
• Who Makes Decisions About a Loved One’s Remains After Death?
• Here are property tax topics for veterans and older or disabled homeowners
• Can you own a farm, ranch, or other business and qualify for Medicaid?

2021

• What is the difference between SSI and SSDI?
• Learn the Probate Process in Texas
• Medicaid for the Middle Class
• There’s more than one way to provide for a grandchild with disabilities
• What issues supersede premarital agreements?
• Benefits of Pre-Need Funeral Contracts
  
• Planning is Key for Caregivers
  
• Can my spouse’s heirs take part of my IRA?
• Texas ABLE accounts are for individuals with disabilities
• What is the Difference Between Estate Planning and Elder Law Planning?

2020

• What are the do’s and don’ts of being an executor of a will?
• Will The State Take My Home After My Death If I Receive Medicaid?
• Do You Need a Supplemental Care Trust in Your Estate Plan?
• Elder Law: Elderly people should get estate planning documents done now
• How Well Is Your Estate Plan Prepared for the Pandemic?
• Medicaid offers some help at home
• Living wills, do-not-resuscitate orders differ
• Effect of COVID-19-Related Payments to Recipients of Medicaid, and other governmental benefits
• Texas Probate, although simple, some still try to avoid
• Giving Away Assets, Applying for Medicaid Can Produce Bad Results
• What is the SECURE Act of 2019?
• Will You Plan Now or Pay Later?

 

2019

• The Roles of a Power of Attorney, Executor and Trustee Explained
• How Your Homestead Affects Your Medicaid Eligibility
• AARP May Help Older Citizens Avoid Poverty
• Seniors can get help from the BBB
• How Much Money Will You Leave Your Children?
• Navigate Medicaid Planning with Irrevocable Trusts
• Spending Card Protects Seniors, Disabled Persons
• To Whom Will Your Burial Plots Pass Upon Death?
• Learn About Legal Documents and Medicaid
• Medicaid Makes Serious Change to Treatment of Retirement Accounts
• Which Should I Have – A Living Trust or a Will?
• Coordinate Non-Probate Assets with Your Estate Plan
• Medicare Won’t Pay for Long-Term Care

2018

• End of the Year Good Time to Get Those Estate Planning Documents Done
• Dying Without a Will Complicates Passing of Community Property
• Make a Plan for Those You Love
• New Rules Make Changes to Veterans’ Needs-Based Government Benefits
• Probating the Will in a Blended Marriage
• Later In Life Marriages Can Be Tricky Legally
• Trust Allows Assets to Pass to Disabled Family Members
• Do You Have to ‘Spend Down’ for Medicaid Requirements?
• Burial Benefits for Veterans Explained
• Keeping Separate Property Separate Isn’t Always Easy
• Do You Have Money Waiting to be Claimed in Texas Unclaimed Property Fund?
• Death, Taxes and Changes in the New Tax Act
• Estate Planning is Part of Retirement Planning
• When possible, It’s Best to Resolve Body Disposition Issues While Living

2017

• Be Careful When Revoking Estate Plan
• New Laws Affect Powers of Attorney
• Some Unforeseen Issues Usually Arise for Survivors, Executor
• Don’t Miss Opportunity to Protect Your Home from Estate Recovery
• Nursing Home Residents Have Specific Rights
• Social Security: Many Fail to Apply for Death Benefit
• How Will You Pay for Long-Term Care?
• Elder Law: Special Needs Trusts and Public Benefits Examined
• Plan Well When Leaving Assets to One Child for Another Disabled Child
• Safeguarding Will Extremely Important

2016

• Numerous Decisions Must be Made After Death of Loved One
• How Do People Choose Executors, Trustees and Agents?
• House Passes Special Needs Fairness Act
• Even George Washington Set Aside Time to Make a Will
• Here’s Something to Discuss with Graduating Grandchildren
• Misconceptions Abound About Common Medicaid
• Assess Alternative Retirement Withdrawal Strategies
• Gifting Aids Guardianship when Ward is Public Benefits Candidate
• Take Financial Care when Helping Grandchildren with College Costs
• Lifetime Giving Creates Impact on Taxes

2015

• Consider Updating Last Will and Testament As Year Comes to Close
• Alzheimer’s affects rich, poor alike
• Note Qualifications Needed For Executor
• Medicaid planning legal only if service offered by attorney
• The Medicaid Application: A Tough Process
• Executor must have access to original will
• Long Term Care Medicaid Not Limited to Low Income
• When Medicaid Planning for Parent Encounters Sibling Rivalry
• Texas Medicaid Offers Home-Community-Based Waiver Services
• The Department of Veterans Affairs Proposes Three Year Look-Back for Gifts
• Can You Give Away All Assets Before Moving into Nursing Home?
• ABLE Act Designed to Promote Health, Independence, Quality of Life for Individuals with Disabilities

2014

• Be Aware of the 2015 Public Benefits Update
• Moving to a Nursing Home? Ask about Ratio of Medicare to Medicaid Beds
• October is Special Needs Trust Month – so when do you need a Special Needs Trust?
• JTWROS Have Potential Risks
• Special-Needs Adult Children Need a Plan For Their Future
• Nursing Home Care Often Unavoidable
• Avoid Problems with Do-it-Yourself Estate Planning
• Trusts Affect Texas’ Homestead Exemption
• Expanded Compassionate Allowances List Shrinks SSA Applicant’s Wait
• ‘Home-grown’ Advice about Medicaid May Cause Harm
• Qualifying for Veteran’s Benefits Improves Care for Vets and Their Families
• Texas has a new Statutory Durable Power of Attorney

2013

• Keep Documents with You on USB Cards
• The Heir Hunter Trap
• Elderly Drivers as Risky as Teens
• The Best Way to Revoke a Will Is to Make A New One
• Choosing a Nursing Home for a Loved One
• Communicating Your End-of Life Wishes
• Texas Drug Card benefits many, regardless of age or income
• What is Elder Law?
• Trust Protects Autistic Children
• Senior Financial Abuse ‘A Hidden Epidemic’
• New act clears up Estate, Gift tax confusion
• Planning helps long-distance caregivers lend a hand

2012

• MERP doesn’t have to be a worrisome prospect
• Medicare open enrollment offers opportunity for beneficial changes
• Alternative ways to vote available for those eligible
• Medicare under the Affordable Care Act
• Trust Can Help Some Qualify for Nursing-Home Medicaid
• Life Care Planning: Preparing for Illness, Death
• It’s Best to be Proactive When it Comes to Post-Death Decisions
• Lady Bird Deeds a Mechanism for Medicaid Long-Term Planning
• Plan for Your Longevity
• Medicaid Now a Safety Net that Includes the Middle Class
• Consider Changing Needs when Choosing Retirement Community
• Hoarding Can Be Costly to Heirs

2011

• Home for the Holidays?
• Caregiver Stress Not to be Ignored
• Before Your COBRA Coverage Ends
• Beware of Social Security Overpayments
• Discount Drug Programs Can Make a Difference – July
• Three Ways to Finance Long Term Care
• Recognize the ‘Four Ds’ of Mental Illness in Seniors
• Senior Financial Abuse ‘A Hidden Epidemic’
• The Elder Care Continuum Conundrum
• Estate Tax Laws in Place for 2011-2012

2010

• Medicaid Provides Vital Services for Elderly and Children
• Scammers Target Seniors
• There are High-Risk Insurance Options
• Care-Giving Spouses Must Learn to Overcome Guilt
• Some Issues Supersede Premarital Agreements
• Divorce Has Special Problems for Seniors
• Houston Attorney to File Suit Against Nursing Homes that Violate Federal Law
• Social Security Expands Automatic Disability List
• Similar Estate Planning Terms are Confusing
• There’s More than One Plan to Provide for Disabled Grandchildren
• VA Benefits Not Just for Low-Income Families
• Medicaid Proposes Exemption of Real Property

2009

• Approach of the New Year Signals a Time to be Proactive About Your Future
• When VA, Medicaid Rules Collide
• Title Company Reverses Policy on Medicaid Claims
• Attorneys Help with Medicaid Estate Recovery
• Note the New Changes in VA Claims Procedures
• When Should the Elderly Stop Driving
• Disinheriting A Child May Leave Scars
• Will I Lose My Home if I Accept Medicaid in a Nursing Home
• Trust Can Allow Assets to Pass to Disabled Family Members
• Relief Could Come for Disabled in Medicare Wait

2008

• Life-Care Planning Helps Maintain Sense of Dignity
• In Texas, New Long-Term-Care Partnership Program Outlined
• Privatized MA Programs Can Hurt Beneficiaries
• Medicaid Is Not The Same In Every State
• Continuing-Care Retirement Communities Not for Everyone
• Veterans Often Overlook Benefits
• How Do You Talk to Elderly Parents When They are No Longer Able to Take Care of Themselves?
• Beware: Many Nursing Homes Don’t Follow Nursing Homes Reform Law
• SSA CHALLENGES ARC OF TEXAS TRUST
• Medicaid Programs often Overlooked
• Medicaid-Friendly Trusts
• 2008 Public Benefits Update

2007

• Texas Passes Judicial Review of Medicaid Denials
• Medicaid Protects Holocaust Victims Receiving Reparation Payments
• New FDIC Limits Increase Insured Personal Savings for Retirement
• New Rules Regarding Assets, Medicaid Assistance
• Medicaid Makes it More Difficult for Seniors to Protect Assets

2003

• Statutory Trust Helps Disabled Obtain Public Benefits
• Master Pooled Trust Allows Sheltering of Assets
• The Abuse of Annuities
• Medicaid Estate Recovery
• Reverse Mortgages

2002

• Avoid Guardianships and Family Disharmony with Healthcare Planning
• Medical Power of Attorney
• Communicating End-of-Life Decisions Now May Avoid Problems Later
• Out of Hospital DNR May Avoid Disrupting Wish to Die at Home
• Who Will Transact Your Business When You No Longer Can?
• Housing Options for Older Adults
• State Retains Medicaid Technique to Help Preserve Spousal Assets
• Selecting a Nursing Home
• Lack of Knowledge or Bad Knowledge Hurts those Needing Benefits
• Transfer Rules for Medicaid Different Than IRS