by Bill Miller | Oct 10, 2018 | Elder Law, Medicaid
Jeanie lived several hours away from her parents, Norah and James. As they entered their 80s, Norah and James started needing a little more assistance, so they could stay in their home as long as possible. Unfortunately, Jeanie was unable to be with them as much as she would have liked. She started asking her friends whether her parents could get Medicaid to help with daily activities.
What is Medicaid?
It’s a needs-based government program. However, while most Medicaid funding comes from the federal government, individual state governments manage their own Medicaid agencies.
What are ‘daily activities?’
Officially, Medicaid calls these “Activities of Daily Living” or ADLs, which include:
Eating, bathing, dressing, caring for personal hygiene, toileting, transferring from bed to chair and vice versa, ambulation, maintaining continence, and medication management.
Health care providers may assess an individual’s ability to perform daily activities before deciding what type of care they need. For example, if Jeanie’s mom, Norah, is having trouble moving around the house, taking a bath, and remembering to eat, her medical providers may suggest she get someone to care for her.
Some people may also need assistance with Independent Activities of Daily Living (IADLs). These activities include meal preparation, using the telephone, doing laundry, making beds, dusting and vacuuming.
What services are offered?
When an individual needs assistance with ADLs or IADLs, Medicaid may pay for in-home and out-of-home assistance, medical supplies that help the individual perform ADLs. The services offered may depend primarily on the level of assistance needed with ADLs, but could include:
- Hiring skilled nurses to provide in-home care.
- Attending an adult day health services center.
- Transferring to an assisted living facility.
- Moving into a nursing home.
Medicaid also offers home and community based waivers. The Elderly and Disabled (E&D) Waiver Program assists people who are elderly and/or disabled. The person in need may get services like house cleaning, personal care, adult day health, adult companion, and home delivered meals.
Can Medicaid Help with Daily Activities?
Jeanie learned that Medicaid did indeed have programs that could provide her parents with the care they needed.
The attorneys at Miller Estate and Elder Law. help their clients get the benefits they deserve. For a free consultation, contact us at 256-251-2137 or use our convenient Contact Form. Although we’re located in Anniston, we also help clients in the Birmingham, Gadsden, Hoover, Talladega, Vestavia Hills, and surrounding areas.
by Bill Miller | Oct 8, 2018 | Business
Doug and Jackie finished preparing the paperwork to start their new business, Alabama Technology Partners, Inc. However, it soon became apparent that they would need to write, review, and sign many different contracts and agreements in the course of their work. Doug and Jackie didn’t know much about common business contracts – yet.
Contracts, Generally Speaking
Any legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties may be considered a contract. However, contracts usually need to have the following elements:
- The parties must be competent to enter into the contract.
- The contract must state the purpose for making the agreement.
- A benefit of some sort must be exchanged between the parties.
- Mutuality of agreement must be present, which means the parties agree to form the contract.
- The parties must agree that contract is mutually binding.
Although Alabama courts may consider oral contracts valid under certain circumstances, it’s best to get your agreements in writing.
Some Business Operations Contracts
A business might use a contract during formation:
- A joint venture agreement states the responsibilities of each party to a joint venture.
- A partnership agreement formalizes the details of a partnership.
Business owners may face other contracts very early in the life of their company.
Regarding Sales and Purchases
Leases or mortgages may be necessary to acquire office and work space. Additionally, raising capital is often a concern, so the new business owners may sign contracts like security agreements and loans.
If the new company hires employees, there may be employment agreements, independent contractor agreements, non-disclosures, and non-competes to prepare.
Whether it’s hiring vendors or buying supplies and raw materials, it’s probable that the new owners will be writing bills of sale and purchase orders.
Some contracts will be simple forms. However, contract law can be very complicated. Drafting and signing an ambiguous or erroneous contract could very well have unintended consequences, like litigation.
Consult with an Alabama Business Lawyer
Doug and Jackie worked with their attorney to make sure their contracts were in order. The attorneys at Miller Estate and Elder Law have the experience to help with your business-related questions and concerns. Contact Miller Estate and Elder Law at 256-251-2137 to schedule an appointment or fill out our convenient Contact Form. We help clients in Anniston, Talladega, Birmingham, Gadsden and surrounding communities.
by Bill Miller | Oct 5, 2018 | Estate Planning
Can you imagine letting a stranger make decisions that affect your loved ones? That’s what happens, however, when you pass away without leaving a valid Will. Like it or not, most if not all of your estate will go through probate. Without the guidance and instructions of your Will, a judge will decide how your estate will be distributed according to the intestacy laws of Alabama. Why let the state do your estate planning when you can do it yourself?
What Is Intestacy?
Intestacy is just a word that means someone died without leaving a Will. Even though there’s no Will, a deceased person’s estate will become probate estate assets – with some exceptions. For example:
- Beneficiary Designations. Financial accounts and insurance policies may name beneficiaries who will receive the funds in the account outside of the probate proceeding.
- Property Titles. Property may be owned jointly. If property is owned jointly with right of survivorship, the property typically becomes the sole property of the surviving owner(s) upon one owner’s death.
- Trusts. The deceased person may have transferred property to one or more trusts. Trust assets may pass to beneficiaries immediately upon the death of the trust grantor, depending on the terms of the trust.
Other assets typically become part of the probate estate. If there’s no Will, property passes according to Alabama law.
Sometimes, that’s a problem.
How Does Property Pass If There’s No Will?
If there’s a surviving spouse, then he or she typically is entitled to at least part of the estate. The Alabama Probate Code lays out the following progression:
- When the decedent left children behind, the estate passes based on whether they are the children of the surviving spouse also.
- When the decedent was not surviving by spouse or children, then his or her parents will inherit.
- If there are parents either, then to the children of the decedent’s parents. Usually, that will be the decedent’s siblings.
- And so it goes. Next in line would be the grandparents, then descendants of the grandparents.
- If there are no heirs, then the estate passes to the State of Alabama.
This is a simple explanation of laws that can be quite complicated.
It’s all carefully spelled out in the Alabama Probate Code. However, the person who passed away may not have wanted their estate to be distributed according to state law. By failing to leave a Will, though, the decedent lost the opportunity to state how their estate would be distributed.
Avoiding Intestacy
It’s fairly simple – prepare and sign an estate plan! Then remember to review it every so often and definitely after any kind of major life event.
The attorneys at Miller Estate and Elder Law help clients like you develop estate plans that meet their needs. For a free consultation, contact us at 256-251-2137 or use our convenient Contact Form. We also offer free workshops and guides with more information about topics that matter to you. Although we’re located in Anniston, we also help clients in the Birmingham, Gadsden, Hoover, Talladega, Vestavia Hills, and surrounding areas.
by Bill Miller | Oct 4, 2018 | Medicaid, Medicaid Planning, Medicaid Qualification
Failing to qualify for benefits you desperately need is distressing. Yet benefit programs have to have limits and requirements. Take Medicaid. It provides much-needed benefits to eligible persons. Eligibility is based, in part, on income and resources, or property owned by the person applying for Medicaid. When someone needs help, but their income exceeds the Medicaid monthly income limit, what options do they have?
Medicaid, Generally
This federally-funded, state-administered program provides services for a wide range of people and needs:
- Children,
- Parents and other caretaker relatives,
- Pregnant women,
- People in need of family planning,
- Nursing home residents,
- Elderly and disabled persons,
- Medicare recipients who need help making their payments, and
- Women suffering from breast or cervical cancer.
However, people in need also must have income and resources below Medicaid’s limits.
Medicaid Monthly Income Limits
Different programs have different monthly income limits:
- Aged, blind or disabled people qualifying through SSI: $770 (single) or $1,145 (married).
- Nursing home residents: $2,250
- Pregnant women, children, and those who need family planning: $1,478 (family of 1) to $3,054 (family of 4)
- Parent and Caretaker Relatives: $183 (family of 1) to $377 (family of 4).
These income limits may change from time to time. You or your attorney should check the limits before applying for Medicaid.
When Income Exceeds the Medicaid Monthly Income Limit
Some people, especially those who need long-term care, may benefit from a qualified income trust. When this trust is used, the person who established the trust can move extra income into the trust, where it is no longer counted toward the Medicaid monthly income limit. The trustee may use the trust funds to pay for personal needs, a portion of the person’s nursing home bills, and monthly support for the benefit recipient’s spouse.
Does Your Income Exceed the Medicaid Monthly Income Limit?
At Miller Estate and Elder Law, we help our clients qualify for and keep their Medicaid benefits. For a free consultation, contact us at 256-251-2137 or use our convenient Contact Form. We have offices in Anniston and Birmingham and we assist clients in the Leeds, Gadsden, Hoover, Talladega, Vestavia Hills, and surrounding areas.
by Bill Miller | Oct 1, 2018 | Estate Planning
Some things we can do on the fly, spontaneously, on the spur of the moment. Other events require planning to make them run smoothly. Estate planning, as the name states, is about planning. Unless you are a psychic and can tell the exact moment you will need an estate plan, you need an estate plan NOW.
An Estate Plan Helps Your Family
Preparing a Will, general durable power of attorney, and advanced directive may not seem that important. However, it may help to think about what each of these documents does:
- A Will sets out the final wishes of the testator. This includes naming an executor, making specific gifts, naming a guardian if there are minor children involved, and more. When someone dies without leaving a Will, most of their property will be passed to heirs through a probate proceeding.
- A general durable power of attorney names a trusted person to handle the principal’s affairs if necessary. Without this important document, family members may have to ask a court to appoint a guardian or conservator to care for you if you become incapacitated.
- Advanced directives inform families and doctors of your wishes regarding medical treatment. Again, without an advanced directive, your family may have to ask a guardian to be appointed.
Because you thoughtfully prepared an estate plan, your family may avoid the stress and inconvenience of a prolonged court case.
Future Is Uncertain
Passing away is a certainty. We just usually don’t know when and how. That’s possibly the most compelling reason you need an estate plan now. An estate plan needs to already be in place before you need it.
How many times do we read about people, sometimes celebrities, who have passed away unexpectedly. And how many times did those same people not have the estate planning they needed? Advance planning would have helped their families deal with their loss.
Do It While You Can
Your estate plan doesn’t just deal with death. Your general durable power of attorney and advance directive can give you and your family peace of mind now. Injuries, serious medical conditions, and accidents can occur at any time, at any age. Make sure if the unthinkable happens to you, that your plans are in place.
Medicaid Is a Complex Program
Schedule a consultation with one of the attorneys at Miller Estate and Elder Law, and find out where you stand. Our phone number is 256-251-2137, or you may want to use the Contact Form on our website. We have offices in in Anniston and Birmingham and assist clients in communities like Hoover, Vestavia Hills, Irondale, and Calera.
