New York Elder Law Attorney Blog

January 14, 2021

4 Things To Appreciate About Theft and Nursing Homes

Placing a loved one in a nursing home is one of the most difficult decisions that many people make. It isn’t easy for a person to make the transition from living at home to living in a nursing home. To make the place feel more in common, it’s common to bring personal belongings to the nursing home to make your loved one feel more at ease. Unfortunately, however, items can sometimes go missing. As a result, this article reviews some critical things about nursing home theft as well as how to deal with it.

# 1 – What Type of Property Goes Missing Most Often

Any item can be stolen from a nursing home. Some objects, however, tend to go missing more often than others. Some of the most frequently stolen items include:

January 10, 2021

4 Things to Understand about Nursing Homes and Bed Sores

by Ettinger Law Firm

An elderly individual or person who is receiving care at a nursing home should not be required to live with bed sores. In many situations, bed sores are a good indicator that a person is being neglected. These sores can lead to infections that can jeopardize a person’s health and even lead to death. Sometimes also referred to as “pressure sores”, if you see these on your loved one you should not hesitate to speak with an experienced elder abuse lawyer. It also helps to understand some important details about the nature of bed sores.

# 1 – The Names for Bed Sores

Bed sores are injuries that occur when the pressure of a person’s weight reduces the blood supply to certain points on both the skin and underlying tissue. If not adequately treated, skin and other issues eventually die and leave an open wound. Bed sores occur among individuals who are unable to move to relieve that pressure, which is most common among the bedridden. While they’re frequently referred to as bed sores, these injuries are also sometimes referred to as pressure sores, pressure ulcers, or decubitus ulcers.

January 6, 2021

3 Tips About When Crisis Medicaid Planning Is Appropriate

by Ettinger Law Firm

Medicaid is a joint federal and state program available to people who meet certain asset requirements that help pay for long-term care costs. Long-term care unfortunately often presents financial challenges for individuals in the United States including both the elderly as well as others who provide care for family members and lose income as a result. Despite these potential challenges, Medicaid is still one of the best methods in countless situations to pay for long-term care. Adequate planning for Medicaid can let you qualify for the program without experiencing financial hardships. To better help you navigate Medicaid, this article reviews some important tips to understand about the Medicaid planning process.

# 1 – Inform Yourself in Advance

Given that it is both a federal and state program, Medicaid standards differ based on the state in which a person lives. While other states have different names for the system, New York state calls the program Medicaid. A person in New York qualifies for Medicaid if that individual has high medical bills, receives Supplemental Security Income (SSI), or meets certain financial requirements. Unfortunately, however, many people wait to learn about Medicaid until catastrophic events occur that necessitate immediate planning. An increased risk exists during crisis that a person will listen to misinformed individuals. If you have any questions or concerns about Medicaid or the role it can play for your loved one, it is a much better idea to speak with a knowledgeable attorney.

January 2, 2021

3 Pieces of Advice on Selecting a Trustee

by Ettinger Law Firm

If you decide to establish a trust, you will likely need to select someone to make sure that the trust is administered in accordance with your wishes. A trustee is a person who assumes the position of managing a trust’s assets. The regulations to which the trustee must comply are contained in the terms of the trust. While trustees are often the trust’s creator when the trust is formed, trustees can also be the beneficiary of a trust. Following the death or incapacity of the trust’s creator, a person or institution is named as the successor trustee to manage the trust’s assets. The person or entity named in a trust as a successor trustee should also be carefully appointed because an unreliable trustee can both mismanage and waste assets. Also, because trustees have substantial powers, a risk exists that an incorrect trustee might end up harming a beneficiary. While selecting a trustee is a critical aspect of estate planning, too many people appoint a trustee without sufficient planning or thought. As a result, this article reviews some important qualities to look for when selecting a trustee.

# 1 – The Ability to Perform the Job

To successfully administer and manage a trust, trustees must be capable of performing various tasks. These individuals must have an understanding of both trust terms as well as the applicable law. Trustees should also know how to successfully manage assets as well as be able to diplomatically deal with beneficiaries. While a trustee does not need experience with areas like finance or trust management, whoever is appointed as trustee should be able to show financial responsibility as well as successfully resolve matters with others. The person appointed as trustee should also be able to make ethical decisions and act in the best interest of the trust creator and beneficiaries.

December 27, 2020

4 Important Things to Remember about Guardian Ad Litem

by Ettinger Law Firm

Estate planning disputes can arise in countless ways. One of the most common types of disputes involves individuals who cannot successfully represent themselves or argue for what is in their best interest like mentally incapacitated adults or unborn beneficiaries. In these situations, a New York judge will often appoint a guardian ad litem to act in the position as a surrogate decision-maker. If you find yourself in such a situation, it helps to consider some important things about guardian ad litem, which are reviewed in this article.

# 1 – Reasons to Consider a Guardian Ad Litem

Guardian ad litem can be utilized whenever disputes have arisen involving custody, visitation, or any other issues addressing the subject. In the case of an older individual, a guardian ad litem is often utilized to make sure that the subject is receiving the best care possible. In accordance with New York’s Appointment of Guardian ad Litem statute, the topic comes before a court as the result of a motion by a party to a divorce action, a conservator, a guardian, or the court itself.

December 24, 2020

3 Ways to Reduce COVID-19 Risks in Nursing Homes

by Ettinger Law Firm

In September 2020, the nursing home staff at the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke Massachusetts were indicted on criminal charges in what the Attorney General described as the first criminal case against nursing home operators in connection to the COVID-19 pandemic. Seventy-six veterans at the hospital died as a result of the outbreak. The nursing home operators were indicted on charges of being the caretakers who wantonly or recklessly commit or permit bodily injury to an elder or disabled individual. The nursing home is a state-run, fully accredited center that offers 247 long-term nursing beds and a 24-hour care center. Due to staffing shortages, the facility consolidated two dementia units into one, which led to confirmed COVID-19 patients being placed on the same unit as asymptomatic residents. The facility also placed residents who were thought to be asymptomatic on nine beds in the dining room, even though some of the residents were displaying COVID-19 symptoms. These beds were allegedly not sufficiently distanced and allowed residents to socialize despite their COVID-19 status.

These charges suggest the focus on accountability for COVID-19 exposure by both the federal and state government. The Attorney General has also begun to scrutinize other long-term facility cases. The Attorney General has also stated that it is a good idea for long term care facilities to review their policies and procedures in regards to the pandemic. If you have a loved one in a nursing home, it’s understandable to be concerned about COVID-19. As a result, this article reviews some critical steps that you should follow in such a situation.

# 1 – What To Do If A Loved One Is In A Facility With No COVID-19 Cases

December 21, 2020

3 Tips on Having Long-Term Care Discussions Now And Not Later

by Ettinger Law Firm

It’s a common predicament. After the holidays have concluded, adult children are frequently left concerned about whether their parents can live safe independent lives. These adults often are left feeling uncertain about what the best decision is to make so that their parents remain safe but also do not have freedoms needlessly stripped. This year has made adult children more concerned than usual because with many people deciding to celebrate the holidays virtually, it’s becoming more difficult to recognize when someone can no longer live independently. Despite COVID-19, there are still several helpful strategies you can follow to have a conversation about long-term care with your parents now instead of later.

# 1 – Discuss Your Parent’s Daily Routine

Whether it’s in person, over the phone, or through video should, you should begin by chatting with your parents and discussing their lives as well as their routines. Some of the critical questions that you should ask include what are your parents’ daily habits and whether they find anything that limits their ability to live life as they once did. You should also inquire as to what modifications your parents have made to their daily lives as a result of the pandemic. Any clues that a parent’s basic daily living activities have ceased or are substantially limited should give rise to concern about the parent’s safety.

December 18, 2020

3 Ways Life Insurance Policies Play Vital Roles in Estate Plans

by Ettinger Law Firm

The best types of estate planning involves a multi-faceted approach, which both addresses financial as well as health concerns. While many people are aware of the benefits provided by estate planning tools like wills and advance healthcare directives, one helpful but commonly overlooked estate planning tools are life insurance policies. As a result, to widen the types of estate planning tools that you can consider utilizing as you plan for your incapacity or death, this article reviews the role that life insurance policies can play in estate plans.

# 1 – The Primary Purpose of Life Insurance Policies

Life insurance is often viewed as an income replacement for dependants. For people who are the primary or significant income providers in households, income replacement is not optional. Similarly, if a person is a homemaker or the primary caregiver of a minor or disabled child, it is critical to remember that the cost associated with hiring a replacement caregiver is substantial.

December 13, 2020

Four COVID-19 Scams To Avoid

by Ettinger Law Firm

Difficult times bring out the extremes in people. While the news is full of stories about altruism during the COVID-19 pandemic, there are countless examples of individuals who have come out with scams designed to capitalize on people’s confusion and fear. Besides being at increased risk of experiencing the most serious COVID-19 symptoms, senior citizens are also at an elevated risk of being the target of scams. To better protect senior citizens and help family members make sure their loved ones stay safe, this article reviews some of the most common scams that have been documented during the pandemic. Knowing about these disreputable tactics in advance is one of the best steps that senior citizens can take to protect themselves.

# 1 – Promises Covid-19 Cures

Major pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer are nearing the introduction of a COVID-19 vaccine to the general population, but there is still no known cure for coronavirus. As a result, anyone who tries to sell you a cure or a vaccine is lying. Some of the various offerings that the Federal Trade Commission and the United States Food and Drug Administration have identified that are falsely billed as cures or vaccines include:

December 9, 2020

3 Things to Remember About Passing Assets to a Financially Irresponsible Beneficiary

by Ettinger Law Firm

Sometimes creating an estate plan means more than just simply designating who will receive your assets. Instead, it sometimes becomes critical to think about how a loved one will receive what you leave them. Fortunately, estate planning presents the opportunity to contemplate the particular needs of your beneficiaries as well as the structure of such transfers. One of the most common but serious obstacles that exist in passing assets to a loved one is if a beneficiary is financially irresponsible.

Understandably, after decades of working hard, you want to make sure that the assets you pass on to loved one can be fully utilized. If a loved one does not treat assets with the same serious nature that you do, however, this intent can quickly defeat your estate planning goals. Fortunately, there are estate planning strategies that are available to make sure that assets last a long time and are responsibly managed. This article considers just some of the critical issues to remember about passing assets on to a beneficiary who is financially irresponsible.

# 1 – The Role of Trusts