Questions & Answers

AWith nursing home care in some parts of the country costing as much as $10,000 a month, providing for long-term can deplete even the best-planned estate. LTC insurance can help cover at least some of these costs, and may even cover care in the home or an assisted living facility. But the cost of the premiums is high, and you may not be able to purchase a policy due to age or health problems. You can, however, research the possibilities and talk with trusted professionals about the options, including combination or hybrid long-term care/life insurance policies (or adding an LTC rider to an existing life insurance policy).

AEven if you feel an obligation – both honored and burdened to have been chosen for this role – you can decline. Find out about the responsibilities involved and skills required before you accept. And don’t ignore personal factors. If you just don’t want the job – because of the time involved, your relationships with beneficiaries, and so on – you may say no.

ASpecial needs trusts (also known as “supplemental needs” trusts) are an important component of planning for a disabled individual. A trust may allow a disabled beneficiary to receive inheritances, gifts, lawsuit settlements, or other funds and yet not lose his or her eligibility for certain government programs.

ANo. Tell the truth, no matter what it is. If you have questions about where the money went, tell them that. Explain the circumstances, make the best argument you can, and let the chips fall where they may. Your application will be closely scrutinized and verified. Lying can jeopardize your chances of qualifying for assistance, so don’t take the risk. Again, the answer is NO.

AIn short, what happens when you die may not be what you would have chosen. If you do not have a will or an estate plan, your assets will pass according to state law regardless of your wishes, and your estate may end up paying more in taxes and probate fees. If you have minor children and there is no surviving parent, a judge may select their guardian, and that might not be the person you would have chosen. Relatives you would otherwise have left out of your will (or whom you have never met) may receive some or all of your assets.

AThe term ‘advance directive’ refers to your oral and written instructions about your future medical care in the event you are unable to express your medical wishes. If you had a terminal condition, would you want your dying artificially prolonged? The medical directive is a legal document allowing you to answer this and other, more detailed, questions in writing. This directive is used only if you have a terminal condition as certified by your physician, where life-sustaining treatment would only artificially prolong the process of dying; or you are certified by two physicians to be in an irreversible coma or other permanent unconscious condition and there is no reasonable hope of recovery. In either situation, the directive allows treatment to be withheld or withdrawn so that you may die naturally, if that is what you’ve said you want to happen.

AAdvance directives are the best possible assurance that decisions regarding your future medical care will reflect your own wishes, in the event that you are unable to voice these wishes when the time for such a decision arises. And a directive will save your family the anguish of trying to guess what your wishes are. For these reasons, every person aged 18 or over would benefit from having prepared a directive.