Secure Your Future with Keystone Elder Law
The death of a family member often brings shock and grief to the loved ones left behind. In addition to preparing the funeral and burial, there is also the need to deal with legal issues related to the administration of the deceased individual’s property. Even if there is a detailed will and trust to provide guidance, the family members charged with carrying out their loved one’s wishes may still be left unsure of where to begin.
Keystone Elder Law, P.C., can help. We are experienced, compassionate Hershey estate and trust administration attorneys. Our job is to provide guidance on what steps to take when it comes to administering a loved one’s will, trust, and probate estate. We know that legal matters are often the last thing on your mind during this difficult period. That is why we will explain each step of the process to you and take on the burden of worrying about many of the legal details.
How Does Estate and Trust Administration Differ in Pennsylvania?
Not everyone has a will or trust. Some people have both. Others may have a will but no trust. Each scenario presents different legal challenges when it comes to administration. And it is easy for family members to get lost when trying to figure out how everything works.
To put it simply, a person’s will governs the administration of their probate estate. This is all of the property owned in the deceased person’s sole name at the time of their death. It excludes any assets owned jointly with someone else–such as a marital home co-owned with a spouse–or certain bank or retirement accounts with a designated pay-on-death beneficiary. The probate estate also excludes any property that the deceased placed into a trust.
A trust is an estate planning tool used to bypass the probate process. Many people serve as their own trustees during their lifetime. When they die, a successor trustee designated in the trust document takes over. That successor trustee can then distribute or administer the trust property as instructed by the deceased right away. In contrast, any property in the probate estate must go through a formal, court-supervised administration process. In many cases, the decedents will direct the personal representative of their estate to transfer or “pour over” any probate assets into the trust, which can further simplify administration.
Even if a person has no will, they can still leave a probate estate. Pennsylvania law determines who will serve as personal representative of these “interstate” estates. The law also directs the distribution of any probate property to the legal heirs of the deceased.
Contact Keystone Elder Law, P.C., Today
If you suddenly find yourself the nominated personal representative or successor trustee for a recently deceased family member, you will no doubt have many questions about what to do. We can help answer those questions. Contact the Hershey estate and trust administration attorneys at Keystone Elder Law, P.C., today to schedule a consultation.
Estate and Long-Term
Care Planning
register
here for estate planning
Long term care planning
REGISTER HERE for LONG-TERM CARE PLANNINGPower of Attorney
A Power of Attorney can be used to give another person the right to sell a car, home, or other property in the place of the maker of the Power of Attorney. A Power of Attorney might be used to allow another person to sign a contract for the maker of the Power of Attorney (the person who makes a power of attorney is called the “principal”). It can be used to give another person the authority to make health care decisions, do financial transactions, or sign legal documents that the principal cannot do for one reason or another. With few exceptions, Powers of Attorney can give others the right to do any legal acts that the makers of the Powers of Attorney could do them themselves. A General Power of Attorney gives the “power of attorney Agent” or simply “Agent” (the legal name of the person who is authorized to act for the principal) very broad powers to do almost every legal act that the principal can do. When Elder Law Attorneys draft general Powers of Attorney, they still list the types of things the Agent can do but these powers are very broad. People often do general Powers of Attorney to plan ahead for the day when they may not be able to take care of things themselves. By doing the General Power of Attorney, they designate someone who can do these things for them.
Normal Powers of Attorney terminate if and when the principal becomes incompetent. Yet many people do Powers of Attorney for the sole purpose of designating someone else to act for them if they cannot act for themselves. It is precisely when persons can no longer do for themselves that a Power of Attorney is most valuable. To remedy this inconsistency, the law created a Durable Power of Attorney that remains effective even if a person becomes incompetent. The only thing that distinguishes a Durable Power of Attorney from a regular Power of Attorney is special wording that states that the power survives the principal’s incapacity. Even a Durable Power of Attorney, however, may be terminated under certain circumstances if court proceedings are filed. Most Powers of Attorney done today are durable.
Yes. At the time the Power of Attorney is signed, the principal must be capable of understanding the document. Although a Power of Attorney is still valid if and when a person becomes incompetent, the principal must understand what he or she is signing at the moment of execution. That means a person can be suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease or be otherwise incompetent sometimes but as long as they have a lucid moment and are competent at the moment they sign the Power of Attorney, it is valid even if they do not remember signing it at a later date. At the time it is signed, the principal must know what the Power of Attorney does, whom they are giving the Power of Attorney to, and what property may be affected by the Power of Attorney.
Any competent person eighteen years of age and older can serve as an agent. Certain financial institutions can also serve. There is no course of education that agent must complete or any test that Agent must pass. Because a Power of Attorney is such a potentially powerful document, agents should be chosen for reliability and trustworthiness. In the wrong hands, a Power of Attorney can be a license to steal. It can be a big responsibility to serve as an agent.
For Medicaid
Medicare is health insurance and covers medical services such as physician appointments, therapy, blood tests, x rays, medical procedures and hospitalization. Medicare will sometime pay for rehabilitation in a long-term care facility for a period of 20 to 100 days, but not longer. In long-term care, Medicaid covers the cost of ongoing support services for daily functioning, such as room and board in a nursing home.
Medicaid is a federal program that is overseen by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). In Pennsylvania, Medicaid is called Medical Assistance and is administered by the Department of Human Services (DHS).
In Pennsylvania, Medicaid funds are not available to pay for assisted living or personal care.
For Medicaid to pay for care in a nursing home, an individual recipient must be determined to need a nursing home level of care by a physician and the local Office of Aging. An individual whose income is not greater than three times the poverty level may keep up to $8,000 of total resources, but may otherwise keep only $2,400. The cash value of life insurance counts as a resource, but one car and a residential home does not count as a resource.
What an amazing team you have!!! Taking charge and getting things done, but also being so understanding and compassionate
Empowering Clients with Holistic Planning at
Keystone Elder Law
At Keystone Elder Law, we believe that the physical, social, legal, and financial considerations of our clients all intertwine. We utilize an interdisciplinary approach to evaluate each area, which allows for the creation of a plan that addresses the concerns of the individual as a whole as well as the family. To this end, our model of practice includes a Care Coordinator (usually a nurse or social worker), whose expertise complements our team of attorneys.
When the road of life is smooth, decisions about legal and financial matters are easy to push aside for “a rainy day.” Planning ahead, however, will allow for more options as you view the map of where you’ve been and where you want to go. Don’t let a crisis limit your choices or derail your plans.
(717) 697-3223