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Choose Carefully

There is, perhaps, nothing more intimate and nothing more important than making healthcare decisions for someone else. The person whom you name as your health care proxy may be asked to make decisions that you would have difficulty making for yourself. Accordingly, it is important to focus less on your legal relationship with that person and more on how much you trust that person to make what you consider to be the right decisions on your behalf. In other words, your health care proxy does not need to be your son or your niece. It does not even need to be a close relative. Instead, it may be a trusted and respected friend. Some exceptions do exist, however, for people with whom you have professional relationships. For example, your doctor or an employee of a hospital, nursing home, or other place where you are receiving care should not be your health agent.

Keep These Three Things in Mind

When you do choose someone to be your health agent, it is important to talk to that person to make sure that the person is willing to accept this responsibility. It is also important to name a second choice in case your first choice is unwilling or unable to perform his or her duties at a time when you need a health agent. Finally, it is important to make sure that your advance medical directive is appropriately executed and enforceable according to California law. Then, you can be confident that someone you trust will make your medical decisions for you if you are ever in a situation when you can’t do it for yourself.

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7 People Who Should Receive a Copy of Your Advance Health Care Directive

Who should receive a copy of your advance health care directive? The following is an overview of suggestions:

1. Your doctor
2. The person you appoint as your agent
3. Any person you cite as an alternate agent in the event your initial agent is unable or unwilling to serve in the role
4. Your other health care providers
5. The health care institution that is providing you with care
6. Family members, such as a spouse, sibling, or children
7. Other responsible parties who are likely to be called if there is a medical emergency, such as a friend or neighbor

Perhaps most importantly, your attorney should have copies of all your estate planning documents. That way, if something happens to you, your loved ones know where to turn for guidance. We have filled this important role for many clients and their families in the past. We are here to help you as well. Check out our client testimonials page today to learn more.

Related links:

• Naming an Agent in a Health Care Proxy
• Medical Decisions and Healthcare Directive
• What Is an Advance Directive for Health Care

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Understanding the Share of Cost of Medi-Cal

Attorney Holly Nabiey explains the share of cost of Medi-Cal and goes over what you need to understand and how you need to plan in order to protect your family and your future. Contact our office for more information or to set up an appointment

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Death is inevitable. Although a person cannot control when and how he dies, he may be able to control certain circumstances so that he dies the way he wants to. Doing so releases his children and loved ones from making critical decisions about his medical treatment.

Importance of Advance Directives

A healthy person should take the opportunity to talk seriously about the type of care he wants (and doesn’t want) in his final days. Having this conversation honors loved ones by keeping them informed.

It’s just as important that each person should prepare an “advance care directive.” An advance health care directive may also be referred to as a living will, personal directive, advance directive, or advance decision. An advance directive is a set of written instructions that specifies what actions a person wants taken if he is too ill or too incapacitated to make medical decisions.

An advance directive and in-person conversations serve as a roadmap for family members. Without these guidelines, the family members would have to decide what sorts of medical interventions the person should receive. If a person’s family were not available, the medical team would have to make those critical determinations. Knowing a person’s wishes in advance removes guesswork, and may eliminate fighting over which medical interventions should be attempted or skipped.

Is it time for you to consider what end-of-life care you may want? Contact our Orange County trust administration attorneys for more information. You may reach us by calling (714) 282-7488 or by filling out an online contact form.

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The Internal Revenue Service released a statement saying for federal tax purposes it recognizes all same-sex marriages that were entered into regardless of the state of residency.

In addition to the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Health and Human Services also issued guidelines on August 29. Under these new guidelines, the agency stated that all beneficiaries of Medicare will have equal access to coverage in a nursing home where their spouse currently lives, regardless of whether the spouse is of the same gender. From an estate implementation perspective, the results are highly significant. Previously, same sex couples did not enjoy the same benefits as opposite gender couples when it pertains to these nursing home and Medicare rights. The result was that same-sex couples faced higher costs of care and increased time being separated, in the event that one spouse requires Medicare-related nursing home stays.

In yet another victory for same-sex couples throughout California, a federal judge in Los Angeles issued a ruling on August 30 that same-sex couples are entitled to the same veterans’ benefits as their opposite-sex counterparts. As a result, same-sex military couples previously could not access certain benefits during the implementation of an estate plan.

To learn more, contact the experienced Anaheim trust attorneys at the Law Office of James F. Roberts & Associates, APC, for a consultation. Call our office today at (714) 282-7488.]

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Overview of Medi-Cal Benefits for Long-Term nursing Care

Medi-Cal is a state and federally funded program designed to pay for the long-term nursing care costs of eligible individuals who meet the resource requirements. While it may be difficult to believe even our wealthiest clients could potentially qualify for Medi-Cal and contrary to popular belief Medi-Cal is not reserved only for the indigent. Without the help of Medi-Cal paying for long term nursing care cost individual could be expected to pay $8,000 or more per month on their care each year. California publishes the official figures as to what the average private pay rate for long-term nursing care is, this year that number is $7,549 per month. In the course of one year that’s nearly $90,000 that an individual could expect to pay out-of-pocket for their care without the help of Medi-Cal. Thankfully there are programs out there such as Medicare to assist with those costs, the first step however is eligibility. So to qualify for Medi-Cal, you have to be eligible. In the next video we will explain that process to you. After viewing the videos if you have any questions please call our office. We’re here to help you and we will answer any questions you have along the way.

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Why should you ask your estate planning attorney to incorporate an Orange County HIPAA authorization into your plan? The following are five significant reasons for including this important tool:

1. A valid HIPAA release or authorization allows your family members to access your medical records so that they can make more informed healthcare decisions on your behalf.
2. A valid HIPAA release or authorization frees the hospital or other healthcare provider from potential liability for providing your named family members with private and confidential medical records.
3. A valid HIPAA release or authorization gives your family members the ability to receive updates about your medical condition.
4. A valid HIPAA release or authorization can be included with a living trust in order to permit successor trustees of your trust to obtain medical information about the original trustee in the event of incapacity.
5. A valid HIPAA release or authorization also enables your loved one to access the medical bills associated with your healthcare, in order to ensure that these bills are paid.

A HIPAA authorization works hand in hand with a revocable living trust as part of an estate plan. Our guide, Understanding the Revocable Living Trust – In Language that Anyone Can Understand in 8 Minutes, provides helpful information about how a trust is used as part of a plan.You need an HIPAA authorization is a vital aspect of a successful estate plan. View here for five important reasons why. For more information about HIPAA authorizations and creating an estate plan, contact an experienced Orange County estate planning lawyer today at (714) 282-7488.

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How are women paying to have their eggs harvested?

One option is to have parents make annual tax-exempt gifts of as much as $14,000. This allows the potential grandparents to feel as though they are part of the process, according to Manisha Thakor, CEO of MoneyZen Wealth Management. Family members can also pay fertility bills directly, without incurring gift taxes. To do so, however, the freezing of the eggs must be done in order to overcome infertility issues. The storage of the eggs also must be temporary.

In addition to using common estate planning techniques to fund the egg harvesting without incurring taxes, trusts and estates attorneys suggest setting up 529 college savings plans for the potential future children. Individuals will have to name someone to oversee the plan until the potential child is born.

Potential estate planning issues are rife in this new and emerging area of estate planning. For example, some states limit how long an estate can remain open after a mother or grandparent passes away. Therefore, there is a limit on how many years a mother may have before she must have a child who can receive distributions from a grandparents’ estate. Furthermore, a 2012 Supreme Court case found that children born after their parent died could not qualify for Social Security survivor benefits.

As more women harvesting eggs, estate planning issues grow. It is important to address the issue of harvested eggs if this applies to your estate. To learn more, contact the experienced Anaheim trust attorneys at the Law Office of James F. Roberts and Associates, APC, today for a consultation. Call our office at (714) 282-7488.

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Qualifying for Medi-Cal

Medi-Cal is California’s version of Medicaid, a government benefit program designed to help people with the costs of long-term care in a skilled nursing facility or custodial care facility. The program has very low asset limits for qualification, and many people must be impoverished before Medi-Cal payments become available. But our skilled attorneys help you know the difference between countable and exempt assets, and we show you financial strategies you can implement before you apply for benefits. These techniques include:

• Reducing your countable assets by using them to pay off your debts
• Making gifts to family members and friends in ways that minimize ineligibility periods
• Buying a Medi-Cal-approved income annuity
• Acquiring assets that Medi-Cal considers exempt
• Protecting your benefits and your home equity if your residence is sold

When both spouses move into a skilled nursing facility, often their home is sold. The proceeds from such a sale can endanger your Medi-Cal eligibility status. If you want to maintain the value of the home for your family, our lawyers can help protect the value of the home from recovery for nursing care costs. Contact us today to learn more about how you can prepare and plan for your future. You can also view our testimonials page to see how we have helped others. We also invite you to sign up for our regularly scheduled free seminars on estate planning held at our Anaheim office.

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