Recent natural disasters have highlighted the need for more comprehensive emergency and evacuation plans for nursing home facilities. Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Marie each caused significant property damage, resulted in loss of life, and left many seniors stranded for days without electricity, air conditioning, sufficient access to medications and doctors,…
A CCRC (Continuing Care Retirement Community) is a facility that allows residents to move from independent living to assisted living to skilled care as their mental and physical states change. They are usually a facility where a person can buy in to the community, pay a monthly sum and receive…
Gary Cohn, a White House advisor on tax-planning, uttered these words to a group of senate Democrats recently. To Cohn, his comment underscored the fact that very few of the uber wealthy pay estate taxes anyway so eliminating the tax would do very little to the revenue side of the…
Many clients ask, ” Do we have to sell their loved one’s house when she enters a nursing home?” Our response is usually, “Not necessarily”. One of the ways to avoid a sale, is to use the Five Year Plan when doing Medicaid Planning. This strategy entails the transfer of the house at least…
Many of our clients have children or grandchildren (beneficiaries) that need protection from their own proclivities even as adults. Some of these habits include addictions, poor spending habits or just not living up to their potentials. So what is a parent or grandparent to do? Why not use an “Incentive Trust”? An Incentive…
When a Petition for Guardianship of an Adult with an Alledged Disability is filed, the Court will often times appoint a Guardian ad Litem (GAL) to conduct an investigation. The GAL is a local attorney who is responsible for representing the best interests of the Respondent in the guardianship proceeding.…
On February 9, 2017, Representative Bill Mitchell of Decatur, introduced HB3089 to the Illinois House of Representatives. The proposed legislation would amend the Probate Act of 1975, by adding an additional subsection to 755 ILCS 5/18-3, which provides the notice requirements for probate estates. This bill has not yet cleared…
Probate is the process by which a court will supervise the administration of an estate when someone passes away. Many clients prefer to avoid probate because the process can be time-consuming and costly. This article will examine the various ways probate can be avoided. Joint Tenants with Rights of Survivorship.…
Wills do not expire, but certain changes can render them useless. It is important to review your will periodically to ensure it still does what you want. The following are five ways your will can become out of date. Your beneficiaries have died. For example, if your will leaves your…
The Illinois Living Will Act has been in effect since 1984. It is based on the common law doctrine of informed consent. This right gives individuals the authority to refuse medical treatment. It also gives individuals the ability to record directions about future medical care should they become terminally ill…