New York Times: Aging at Home and with Dignity: August 19, 2007
The violent collision of the desire to age in place and the financial realities of long-term care are not unique to the wealthy. This collision occurs every day, in every town, and it does not discriminate by race, gender or socioeconomic class. The desire to remain independent and self-determining with dignity is a basic human goal. I have never met anyone who strives to be dependent on others and to have his or her dignity stripped away.
Statements like ''only the destitute are protected in old age'' do not begin to highlight our abandonment of the generation that built this country. Medicare is supposed to provide retirement coverage; most seniors assume that Medicare will cover all of their needs as they age; as the article points out, it does not.
Up until Feb. 8, 2006, a primary residence was an exempt asset under the Medicaid rules; this offered a safety net for seniors who were house rich and cash or income poor.
Now that senior will be forced to seek a mortgage or reverse mortgage to make ends meet, and only after he has reduced the equity in his home to the required limits will the Medicaid system provide benefits.
This article is an excellent example of the middle class being squeezed out and forgotten. The middle class do not qualify for Medicaid and cannot afford the existing and emerging options to age in place. We really should be ashamed of ourselves. Wendy H. Sheinberg
Garden City, N.Y., Aug. 14, 2007 The writer is a certified elder law attorney.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0CE3DF163CF935A2575BC0A9619C8B63
Personal experience leads to private elder law practice
Wendy H. Sheinberg, a former partner at Vincent J. Russo & Associates P.C., a firm with four offices on Long Island, has withdrawn from the firm and established her own practice, the Law Offices of Sheinberg & Associates.
Operating out of offices on Stewart Avenue in Garden City, Sheinberg's primary areas of practice are guardianship, elder law, trust and estate planning and trust and estate administration.
"The practice of elder law is different than other areas," Sheinberg said. "You're taking care of senior citizens, usually under very difficult circumstances, and you need that personal touch. You can't do that in a larger firm."
Sheinberg went into the practice area because of an experience with her maternal grandparents, with whom she was exceptionally close. Her grandfather learned he had cancer at about the same time her grandmother began showing signs of dementia. Sheinberg, who was practicing as a banking and real estate attorney, received a worried call from her grandfather in Florida.
She said she wasn't familiar with the field, but that he should contact the bar association to find an elder law attorney. With the attorney's aid, her grandfather was able to spend the last three years of his life talking about "real stuff, instead of worrying."
"I thought about what an amazing thing this woman had done for my family, and how cool it could be if I could do that for other people," Sheinberg said.
Sheinberg is a 1989 graduate of the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University and a 1992 graduate of the Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center.
Copyright 2007 Dolan Media Newswires http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4189/is_20070629/ai_n19339946
Newsday: Ask the Expert June 2, 2007
Ask the Expert: Wendy H. Sheinberg, Esq
Home transfer in Medicaid
The problem: My 91-year-old father gets community Medicaid and owns a Queens apartment. Eighteen months ago, my brother moved home to take care of him. If my father needs a nursing home, can my brother stay in the apartment, or will it have to be sold to pay Medicaid?
The expert: Wendy H. Sheinberg, elder law attorney, Sheinberg & Associates, Garden City.
The rules: The Medicaid Nursing Home Care program allows a parent to transfer his primary residence, without penalty, to a caregiver child who has lived with the parent for at least 24 months before the parent is admitted to a nursing home.
The strategy: Your father should transfer the apartment to your brother now. If he requires nursing home care within the next six months, the transfer would not be exempt, but other planning strategies could help. How it works: Since your father is receiving community Medicaid, an ownership transfer is prudent, even if your father never needs nursing home care. New York Medicaid estate recovery rules give the government a right to recover Medicaid benefits paid to recipients over age 55 after they die. However, this right of recovery is limited to the probated estate. If the apartment is transferred during your father's lifetime, it will not be part of your father's estate, and thus not subject to estate recovery. The transfer of the apartment will require the filing of a federal gift-tax return. As long as your father has not made more than $1 million in taxable gifts over his lifetime - including the value of this apartment - no gift tax will be due. If the apartment is a co-op, board approval will likely be required before the apartment can be transferred. Depending on how the apartment is transferred, your brother may lose certain real estate tax exemptions that your father was allowed. The results: Your father's apartment does not have to be sold. Consult with and follow the advice of an experienced elder law attorney who can give you alternative solutions.
Copyright (c) 2007, Newsday, Inc.
http://www.newsday.com/search/ny-expert5237600jun02,0,4663251.story
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