Elder Law Today Podcast
81 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 14 years ago - ★★★★★ - 7 ratingsAre you a senior citizen? Or perhaps you have a parent, relative, close friend or neighbor who is one. If so, then you won’t want to miss this important and informative podcast. Learn about elder law, a relatively new area of law, that encompasses the legal issues that acutely affect seniors and their families. Yale Hauptman, an elder law attorney, discusses the various problems and issues of aging in America today and interviews guests from other elder care fields.
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Episodes
Why are Some Wills 2 Pages and Others 20 - The Alternate Executor
January 19, 2009 11:00Very often, when I prepare wills, powers of attorney and health care directives (living wills) for clients they react with surprise when they see the length of my documents. “Why”, they say, “is the will you are preparing 20+ pages when my previous one was only 2?” “The document is designed to cover as many scenarios as possible”, I explain, “not knowing which scenario may in fact occur”. It is not good enough to simply address the most likely ones, especially if yours turns out to be o...
Elder Law Today Podcast Show #13 Married Couple - Early Action Long Term Care Planning
January 15, 2009 03:22 - 12 minutes - 8.73 MBIn the first show of Season 2 of his Elder Law Today Podcast, by listener request, Yale Hauptman has modified the format and shortened the length of his audio podcast. In a concise 10 minutes, Yale presents a common scenario that many families today are faced with. Dad has just recently been diagnosed with early stages of Alzheimer’s Disease (you can substitute any other long term care illness because the issues remain the same). What lies next for Mom and Dad? What should the family be doin...
Alzheimer's Disease - A Long Term Care Planning Lesson
January 12, 2009 11:00Mom is in her late 40's and divorced. She owns her own home worth approximately $250,000 but with a substantial mortgage with a balance of $150,000. Probably describes a lot of people. Except that Mom has Alzheimer’s. While the disease mostly affects the elderly, early onset Alzheimer’s is not uncommon. It is hereditary and can hit people in their 30’s. I received a call from Jane, her daughter. Mom can’t work and has no income. The home is a mess and falling into disrepair because ...
The Problem of Second Marriages and Long Term Care
January 05, 2009 11:00A very common scenario we see is what I’ll call the case of the late in life second marriage. We all need companionship, especially after a spouse has died or after going through divorce. It’s lonely being alone. So we have Joe and Mary. They marry in their 60’s. He has 2 children from a previous marriage and she has 3 from her first marriage. 2 years later Joe’s health starts to deteriorate. It’s looking like he will need long term care. Mary comes to see me. “I love Joe but I am ...
The Savages
December 22, 2008 01:45This weekend I rented an excellent movie entitled "The Savages". Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Laura Linney and Philip Bosco, it is the story of a brother and sister, estranged from their father, who receive a call when Dad's girlfriend, whom he has been living with for 20 years, dies. Dad has dementia and the children are told by his girlfriend's children that they must take Dad back with them since the home is not his. They fly him back to New York and place him in a nursing home. Th...
Elder Law Today Podcast Show #12 The Talk - How to Communicate with your Parents about Aging and Long Term Care
December 04, 2008 12:10 - 48 minutes - 33.5 MBIn show number 12 Yale Hauptman, a practicing elder law attorney sits down with Barbara Salvador of Nannymama.com and Barbara Friesner of Agewiseliving.com, a generational coach and author of “The Ultimate Caregiver’s Guide” to discuss how to have “the talk” with aging parents. Generational differences and lack of communication pose some real challenges to children who are trying to help care for their parents. So many families never discuss long term care and finances until a crisis hits an...
Elder Law Today Podcast Show #11 The Current Economic Crisis. What Does it Mean for Medicaid and Long Term Care
November 08, 2008 00:23 - 49 minutes - 34.3 MBMuch has happened in both the economic and political arenas since the last show, including the steep drop in the stock markets and the election of President Obama and changing of power in Congress from Republican to Democrat. In show number 11 of his podcast, Elder Law Today, practicing elder law attorney, Yale Hauptman discusses how this all will affect the average American who needs long term care. Some of these changes have already begun to occur. Yale explains how rising unemployment...
Son Responsible For Mom's Nursing Home Bill
October 19, 2008 17:13Many times the children of my elderly clients ask whether they can be held responsible for Mom or Dad’s nursing home bill. My answer always was that there wasn’t anything to worry about unless you take your parents money. That no longer appears to be the case. A recent case in Connecticut highlights how the new Medicaid laws passed as part of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 are really hurting residents and nursing homes alike and now potentially also affecting other family ...
The Risk of Going Through Medicaid Application Process Alone
October 05, 2008 21:14When money is running out and the family is faced with the need to apply for Medicaid to pay for long term care the question becomes “should we do this ourselves or should we hire an elder law attorney to help?” Sometimes the hospital or the nursing home tells the family they will qualify without too much difficulty. So they try to do it themselves. The pitfalls of going it alone are many and varied, especially since the latest round of Medicaid changes effective February, 2006 made the ...
Elder Law Today Show #10 The Ins and Outs of FDIC Insurance
October 01, 2008 13:25 - 43 minutes - 30 MBIn show number 10 of his podcast, Elder Law Today, practicing elder law attorney, Yale Hauptman interviews Anthony Aiello, a compliance officer at Commerce TD Bank on the hot topic of FDIC insurance. For many Americans, the collapse of financial giants such as Lehman Brothers, AIG, Merrill Lynch and Wachovia reminds them of other troubled economic times. Many seniors grew up during the Great Depression of the 1930’s and remember the Savings and Loan scandal of the late 1970’s and early 19...
How to Lose Medicaid
September 15, 2008 22:28The long term care system is a maze and Medicaid in particular is quite complicated. A recent call to our office illustrates that even after receiving Medicaid there are pitfalls to avoid that can cause one to lose Medicaid. Mary (names have been changed) called us because she had been sued for $80,000 by the nursing home caring for her mother, Jane. Jane had entered Nursing Home on private pay and after spending down her assets qualified for Medicaid. Under Medicaid rules Jane’s Socia...
Elder Law Today Podcast Show #9 Planning Needs of Elderly Parent with Disabled Adult Child
September 02, 2008 00:46 - 38 minutes - 26.5 MBIn show number 9 of his podcast, Elder Law Today, practicing elder law attorney, Yale Hauptman welcomes as his guest Lauren J. Siegel, a registered nurse and certified life care planner. Lauren explains how she is typically brought into lawsuits brought by parents of disabled minor children and asked to devise a plan of care covering the various needs that the child may have over his/her life. Yale and Lauren then discuss how this same planning is just as important to elderly parents of a...
Pitfalls of Improperly Drafted Will
August 27, 2008 16:00A number of years ago, I received a call from a potential client who had the following tale to tell. The woman’s husband had died leaving a will and some assets, one of which was a 401k. The marriage was a second for her husband, who had 2 sons from his first marriage. While he was single he had changed the beneficiaries of his life insurance and 401k plan to his sons and had redone his will. After his second marriage, the husband and his new wife bought a new home together. They aske...
Elder Law Today Podcast Show #8 Medicaid Horror Stories
August 06, 2008 20:10 - 1 hour - 46.4 MBIn show number 8 of his podcast, Elder Law Today, practicing elder law attorney, Yale Hauptman, discusses some real life case studies to illustrate how the Medicaid laws can trip people up and cause much stress and financial loss for the unprepared and unwary. Yale first discusses the case of the granddaughter caring for her grandmother full time, with Grandmom providing the funds to support both of them. Things go wrong when Grandmom’s condition deteriorates to the point where nursing hom...
Adult Day Care as an Alternative
July 18, 2008 21:28Adult Day Care is a wonderful alternative for families struggling with the care of an aging or disabled parent, spouse or loved one. Adult Day Care centers can also provide supervision and assistance each day for a senior who is not quite ready for assisted living or long term care. Each center has a staff of trained health care professionals, including registered nurses and therapists, to help those members with complex physical or psychological problems and needs. Adult Day Care centers...
Elder Law Podcast Show #7 Seniors and their Home
July 03, 2008 04:11 - 25.4 MBIn the seventh installment of his podcast, Elder Law Today, Yale Hauptman focuses on seniors and their home. Sometimes the senior can’t stay at home any longer. Yale discusses with Dan Yanofski, the owner of Elite Realtors of New Jersey, some of the challenges he faces in helping seniors sell their homes. Dan shares his opinions on how to make a home more marketable when it is a bit outdated and the two talk about when is the best time to sell. For others, staying at home is still a via...
Trying to Outsmart the Government
June 24, 2008 06:46I had a call not too long ago from a woman who was concerned about avoiding probate and paying estate taxes upon her death. She had figured out, or so she thought, how she could solve both problems and wanted confirmation from me that it would work. She had written out a check to her son leaving the dollar amount blank. She then instructed her son that upon her death, or if her passing was imminent, that he should write in the dollar amount and deposit the check in his account. Of course...
Elder Law Podcast Show #6 Long Term Care Planning - Are You Prepared?
June 05, 2008 03:07 - 46 minutes - 31.7 MBIn the sixth installment of his podcast, Elder Law Today, Yale Hauptman invites guests Heidi Rinsky Schnapp and Lisa Cook Bayer of Life Management Resources, an elder care consulting firm and Gregory W. Bushwell, of B & M Brokerage Services, a long term care insurance specialist to a roundtable discussion on long term care. The panel first discusses preplanning options and Greg shares his advice on long term care insurance products and services. Learn why there is no such thing as one siz...
How to Stay Out of a Nursing Home
May 17, 2008 05:00A recent study of long term care shows that the percentage of elderly Americans living in nursing homes is on the decline. This appears to be in part because of improved health and partly because of more choices. According to census statistics, 7.4% of Americans 75 and older lived in nursing homes in 2006, down from 8.1% in 2000 and 10.2% in 1990. At home care and assisted living facilities, on the other hand, have been growing. Of the 85 and older group, fewer than 16% are now living in...
Elder Law Today Show #5 VA Aid and Attendance - The Best Kept Secret in Long Term Care
May 01, 2008 04:12 - 56 minutes - 38.5 MBIn the fifth installment of his podcast, Elder Law Today, Yale Hauptman, takes Elder Law Today on the road to a Caregiving Symposium he spoke at recently. Yale interviews a geriatric care manager, a contractor who makes modifies homes for the elderly and other vendors who attended the symposium about the variety of services they provide to the elderly. In the second segment Yale discusses in greater depth the Veterans Administration Aid and Attendance program, which provides wartime ve...
Paid Family Leave
April 23, 2008 14:25Two weeks ago New Jersey became the third state (California and Washington being the others) to pass into law a bill requiring companies to offer paid leave to employees. The benefit will operate in a similar fashion to state disability benefits in that all employees will contribute an additional amount from their paychecks to help pay for this benefit. Employees who are caring for a newborn or a newly adopted child are eligible. In addition, however, employees caring for a sick family me...
Elder Law Today Show #4 Long Term Care Planning - The Way to Avoid Nursing Home Care
April 02, 2008 04:22 - 21 minutes - 14.7 MBIn the fourth installment of his podcast, Elder Law Today, Yale Hauptman, a practicing New Jersey elder law attorney, discusses how long term care planning actually decreases the likelihood of ever needing nursing home care. Learn how the long term care system actually works to push people towards nursing homes when they have no more money. Medicaid home based benefits often pay only a part of the cost of aides needed on a 24 hour 7 day a week basis, but will pay the entire cost of care...
Negative Inheritance
March 20, 2008 01:30A term that has come into increasing usage is "negative inheritance". It describes the situation where an adult child, rather than receiving an inheritance when a parent dies, instead spends his/her own money to cover the parent's long term care needs because the parent has run out of money. It is caused by poor, or in most cases, no planning and is entirely avoidable. A common scenario that we see is a parent living at home with round the clock home health aides. The parent has run out ...
Elder Law Today Podcast #3 Live Call in
March 06, 2008 23:24 - 43 minutes - 29.6 MBIn the third installment of his podcast, Elder Law Today, Yale Hauptman, a practicing New Jersey elder law attorney, answers listeners’ questions by phone and email. Yale corrects common misconceptions people have about some of the basic legal issues facing seniors today. For example, Yale explains that making gifts up to the annual gift tax exclusion amount will carry a Medicaid transfer penalty. Yale explains what probate is and why you don’t necessarily have to fear and avoid it. Le...
Veteran's Benefits - The Hidden Benefit
February 25, 2008 13:00The discussion of long term care and government benefits to pay for that care most often leads to the topic of Medicaid, however, there is another benefit available to qualified veterans of the U.S. military through the Veterans Administration that can be a source of funds to pay for assisted living and home based care. Eligible veterans and their widowed spouses may be eligible for a non-service connected pension, as much as $1801 per month for veterans, $976 per month for widowed spouses....
Talk Live with Yale Hauptman. Call In Show March 3, 2008
February 16, 2008 20:34Elder Law Today LIVE Here is your chance to talk live with show host Yale Hauptman on his first live call in show. If you have important questions that you need answered by an experienced elder law attorney here is your chance. On March 3 at 8 PM eastern time Yale will host his first live show. In addition to answering questions live Yale will have some special guests on the show. This will surely be and educational and entertaining experience. Click here to join us. Here is the in...
Top Long Term Care Planning Mistakes
February 13, 2008 02:45Over the past 13+ year I've been able to help many families through what we call the elder care journey from healthy vigorous senior through home assistance, assisted living and nursing home care. Some of the more common mistakes that I see people make are the following: 1. Believing Medicare covers long term custodial nursing home care (it does not); 2. Thinking that a transfer of $12,000 per person per year will not cause Medicaid ineligibility (there is no gift tax but there is a Med...
Elder Law Today Podcast Show #2 The Basics of Medicaid
February 01, 2008 16:00 - 46 minutes - 42.3 MBIn the second installment of Elder Law Today Podcast, Yale Hauptman, a practicing New Jersey elder law attorney, explains the basics of the Medicaid nursing home program. Yale explains how this needs-based program works, including the asset and income tests for eligibility. Learn what countable and non-countable assets, Medicaid transfer penalty and lookback period are and why Medicare will not cover most nursing home stays. Yale also explains why long term care planning must be done wel...
Medicare Part B Premiums for 2008
January 29, 2008 14:00I was speaking with someone the other day who told me her Social Security monthly check declined from 2007 to 2008 and asked if that was possible or a mistake. While the government does on occasion make mistakes (hard to believe), an increase in the Medicare Part B premium may have resulted in the decrease. Part B generally covers outpatient services, such as doctors visits and home health services. Medicare recipients pay a portion of the premium for this benefit, which increases every y...
Medicaid Mess
January 18, 2008 16:30 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBEvery so often, I come across a situation that illustrates so clearly the dangers of going it alone or getting bad advice when dealing with the common issues and dilemmas that are aging in America. I received a call this week from a son in Mississippi. Mom and Dad, no longer able to live at home alone, moved in with Son. They owned their home in New Jersey which they transferred to Son. Dad's health deteriorated to the point where he needed nursing home care. The couple then spent dow...
Elder Law Today Podcast #1 What is Elder Law? Special Needs Planning with Guest Matthew Glass
January 01, 2008 20:40 - 26.1 MBIn the debut of his podcast, Elder Law Today, Yale Hauptman, a practicing New Jersey elder law attorney, explains what elder law is and how an elder law attorney can be a valuable counselor to seniors and their families. Learn how elder law differs from traditional estate planning. A will, while important, addresses only one scenario, what happens when one dies. Elder law, however, encompasses so much more, what can be termed life planning or long term care planning. In other words, what...