Keystone Blog
What Estate Planning Really Looks Like
As a car accident victim lies unconscious in a hospital bed, a group of strangers who make up the hospital’s ethics committee meets to decide this patient’s future. The committee will decide what life-saving measures will be taken for this patient. The committee...
Vaccination and Pandemic Life
Have you received the COVID vaccination? If not, why? If so, what happens next? Governor Wolf said that two-thirds of Pennsylvania’s 1A priority status category has been vaccinated. President Biden says that a vaccination should be available to all...
Sharing Family Resources Without Penalty
Ideally, families provide care out of love. Compensation is a secondary concern, and family resources are shared as a token of appreciation. However, for many families during economically challenging times, the lines between ownership of parents’ and their children’s...
Financial Liability for Nursing Home Care
This article is directed primarily to the attention of adult children who have parents living in Pennsylvania. If care in a nursing home becomes necessary, under PA law the children could potentially have financial liability for the cost of this care. Many families...
Social Security Disability Income
Last week we highlighted a benefit available to children and adults who are disabled and have limited income and resources. https://keystoneelderlaw.com/disability-and-income-benefits/ This benefit, available through the Social Security Administration (SSA), is called...
Disability and Income Benefits
March is Developmental Disabilities Month. The National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities seeks to raise awareness about individuals living with these types of disabilities and improve their lives. This column has previously touched on some...
Pets and Older Adults: Benefits & Risks
Are pets and older adults a good match? The answer depends on whom you ask. The Humane Society of the United States estimates that 50 percent of U.S. households have at least one dog and 34 percent have at least one cat. The American Pet Products Association reports...
Wills & Inheritance: 7 Assumptions That May Derail Your Intentions
Many readers of this article are being more careful these days. A global public health crisis and an unstable economy are causing people to take a harder look at their wills and planning. Even people who normally stick to a personal budget, have some retirement...
A POA and Planning While You Can
Have you heard the story about the frog that was swimming happily in a pot of cold water, not noticing as the water was gradually warming to the point that the frog eventually was cooked in boiling water? I cannot vouch for whether that is true from my...
Your Home and the Cost of Nursing Care
Perhaps the greatest mistaken fear that we hear is that “they” will take the home of a person who qualifies for Medicaid to pay for nursing care. My first question to a potential client who is concerned about this is: Who are “they?” The possible...
