Help our WWII vets: Keep Honor Flights flying

You can help fulfill a dream for South Florida's aging World War II veterans: a visit to the Washington, DC memorial that was built to honor them. The vets are aging, and time is growing short.


Honor Flights Southeast Florida has made the dream come true for 1,600 veterans since 2009, flying our aging heroes to the World War II Memorial for a day, at no cost to them, sometimes with volunteer guardians who assist them to get around during the trip. You can see pictures of the 2011 trip here. 


Honor Flights needs our help to keep the dream aloft. The next trip is scheduled for October 24, 2015, but with a major donor recently bowing out, the non-profit is scrambling to find $65,000 to cover expenses, which include chartering an American Airlines jet, bus transportation to and from airports and around Washington, a police escort, meals for the day and t-shirts and hats. The typical trip accommodates 85 veterans.

Here is how you can help: Roger Dean Stadium is hosting a fundraiser film night on August 26 at 7:30, featuring a film about the evolution of honor flights and the World War II vets. Find out more here.


You can also make a direct donation; see how here. Also, if you would like to volunteer in any capacity, click here. 



I would be remiss if I did not mention two outstanding members of our community who have stepped up to make sure the October Honor Flight is a go: Dr. Shamsher Singh, a Port St. Lucie dermatologist who has accompanied many frail vets on prior trips, and has pledged to match every dollar of the first $10,000 raised. Also notable is Max Houss, a Palm Beach Gardens retiree and World War II vet, who has made the same pledge. Our hats are off to these wonderful people.

Let's do it for the veterans.

What happens to Whitney Houston's millions now?

Bobbi Kristina Brown, daughter of the late singer Whitney Houston, has just passed away at the too-tender age of 22, following six months of medical limbo. Now, it's her estate, and her mother's estate, that may be in limbo. 

Houston's only child, Brown was set to inherit her mother's millions by the age of 30, in installments, and had already received one installment at age 21. As I noted in my February post, a pivotal question now is, was Brown married at the time of her death? On social media she referred to her longtime boyfriend Nick Gordon as her husband, but to date there has been no proof that they were legally married. The State of Georgia, where she resided, does not recognize common law marriage. 

If they were married, Gordon inherits Bobbi's estate. If not, her father, Bobby Brown, will get it. That assumes that Bobbi died without a will, which appears to be the case.

Further complicating things: authorities are investigating how Brown came to be found, unconscious, in her bathtub in January. Various family members have speculated about Gordon's possible involvement. If he is criminally charged, that will obviously be a game-changer. He is also being charged with physically abusing Kristina and stealing money from her in a civil suit filed by her guardian.  

As to the her mother's millions that remain in trust for Brown, Houston's estate plan calls for that to be distributed to Houston's two brothers and mother.

This family tragedy could well morph into a legal morass that keeps a lot of lawyers busy for a long time. Very sad.

Domestic partners who marry can still achieve estate planning goals

If you are in a domestic partnership and have employer-sponsored health coverage or other employer-sponsored benefits for your partner, stay alert to the changing legal landscape. Many companies may phase out coverage for domestic partnerships. You may need to take steps - including marriage - in order to ensure your partner's continuing benefits.

Domestic partnership contracts can be useful for unmarried couples, both opposite-sex and same-sex, who wish to avail themselves of a partner's employer-sponsored benefits, such as health insurance. Many couples opt out of marriage and choose domestic partnerships for estate planning purposes: they want to protect the inheritance of children from a prior marriage. And of course, until June's Supreme Court ruling, same-sex couples did not even have the option of marriage.

Two thirds of Fortune 500 companies provide domestic partner benefits to same-sex couples, and of those, 62% also cover same-sex couples, according to the Human Rights Campaign. Many public employers also recognize domestic partnerships, including Palm Beach County and many states.  

Now, in light of the Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage, some employers that in the past offered domestic partner benefits are re-thinking their policies. For example, Delta Airlines, Corning and Verizon have announced they will no longer provide domestic partnership benefits, and have given their employees a grace period in which to marry, or lose benefits. Companies that have traditionally extended domestic partner benefits only to same-sex couples are considering dropping domestic partner benefits altogether.

Every employer is different, so be sure to inquire about your company's current policy. If you wish to marry now but have concerns about the estate planning ramifications, meet with an experienced estate planning attorney. A prenuptial agreement in which your spouse waives his/her right to the elective share and marital home, as well as other strategies, can be explored, giving you the freedom to marry while still meeting your estate planning goals.

Medicaid Personal Services Agreements must be properly structured

A Medicaid Personal Services Contract, also known as a Personal Services Agreement, can be a great strategy that permits an aging person to pay adult children for caregiving, while still preserving the parent's eligibility for long-term care Medicaid benefits. In the absence of a credible Personal Services Agreement, payments made to family caregivers during the look-back period (currently five years prior to application) will be considered "uncompensated transfers," and count against Medicaid eligibility. This is precisely what happened in the case of Widley David v. the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, which I discussed in my prior post here.

But just having a contract is not sufficient. The written contract must have integrity, must be properly structured and must be adhered to. Here are some of the key elements the agreement must contain:

• The nature and extent of the services must be specified.

• There must be proof that the payments are in line with fair market value.

• Documentation must be provided to prove that those services were, in fact, provided.

• The recipient must pay income tax on the income.

• The recipient must pay self-employment tax on the income.

If the contract does not meet these criteria, Medicaid benefits could be denied. A recent case out of New York State is informative:

New York resident David Scott signed a personal services agreement with his daughter and son-in-law. According to the document, Scott was to pay $5,000 monthly to them for caregiver services. However, the exact nature and frequency of the services were not spelled out. Nor was there any mention made of the fair market value of those services. In reality, no payments were made in some months. Other months, Scott's daughter and son-in-law would make withdrawals of varying amounts. Then, the month that Scott entered a long-term care facility, $60,000 was transferred to his daughter and son-in-law.

As you can surmise, New York State deemed the payments to be uncompensated transfers. Mr. Scott was denied Medicaid benefits. He appealed and the case made its way to the the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court. The court upheld the ruling, stating that Mr. Scott "gave no explanation of the services that were provided other than transportation on occasion, did not submit any documentation regarding the services, and offered no proof regarding the fair market value of any services." You can read the court's decision in Scott ex rel Dana v. Zucker here.

Paying a relative for caregiving can ease the financial burden on the caregiver as well as provide the best possible care for a loved one. However, these arrangements always require careful planning and a thorough consideration of the ramifications. Contact our law office for assistance. 

Medicare proposes covering voluntary end-of-life counseling

On July 8 Medicare proposed that beginning in 2016, it will pay doctors to discuss end-of-life care options with patients who request such counseling. Although many private insurance plans already provide coverage for this purpose, the proposal is a game-changer because the vast majority of people who seek counseling are older patients covered by Medicare.

A 2014 report from the Institute of Medicine, Dying in America, documents what is commonly known: Many people spend their last days unnecessarily uncomfortable, undergoing painful and invasive treatments that fail to extend life. Medicare's proposal, contend supporters such as the American Medical Association and the AARP, would educate patients and families about the full spectrum of  options, from palliative care to more rigorous life-extending options.  

The proposal has its critics, too. The National Right to Life organization, for example, has indicated that unmonitored counseling sessions could push people into foregoing life-saving treatments. This echoes the controversy that erupted over a similar proposal that was included in the first iteration of the Affordable Care Act. At that time, Sarah Palin and others characterized Medicare-funded patient-doctor discussions about end-of-life care as a precursor to "death panels." Ultimately, coverage for end-of-life counseling was scrubbed from the legislation.

As someone who makes his living helping people plan for the future and maintain their independence, I think everyone has the right to make informed choices about how they live their lives and manage their health care. Voluntary discussions between doctors and patients can only lead to more informed choices.

Comment period for the proposal closes on Sept. 8, 2015. Coverage would begin in 2016. You can read the proposal here.

Should "Aging at Home" always be the gold standard for the golden years?

Ask people where they wish to grow old and the answer almost always is, at home. Aging in place has become the gold standard for the golden years, offering familiarity, continuity and comfort. 

And yet... growing old in your own home may turn out to be less comfortable than some think. In my many years of counseling families with aging parents, I have discovered that aging in place can have a darker side. It can be lonely, limiting, non-stimulating and even physically unhealthy. 

I recently ran across two articles about this issue. In his recently released book, Aging in the Right Place, University of Florida Gerontology Professor Stephen Golant argues that at-home health care providers, sellers of reverse mortgages, and the home renovation industry have oversold the notion that remaining at home is always best. He contends that the decision to remain at home, based on emotional attachments, is often made without fully understanding the potential problems, which may include inability to get out of the house,  a hard-to-navigate or even dangerous home, and reliance on family members who may be overwhelmed and unable to meet their loved one's needs. Read more of Golant's views in this Washington Post article.

This topic was also addressed in a New York Times article published recently. Aptly titled, "At Home, Many Seniors are Imprisoned by Their Independence," the article describes the day-to-day lives of seniors who have become effectively homebound as they "age in place." Read the article here.

Of course, I am not advocating not staying at home. And I completely understand the deep resistance most people have to moving, especially later in life. I am merely pointing out that the at-home choice should not be a knee-jerk reaction. Many factors must be evaluated, including health issues, proximity to family, the ability of the family or others to provide caregiving, the layout of the home, a family's financial circumstances, and more. Sometimes an assisted living environment, or even a nursing home, can do more, and better, for an older person.

We all want our aging loved ones to be healthy and happy, but we must be mindful that "aging in place," a comforting notion, is not always the best option for everyone.