When you practice in the field of elder law, part of your responsibility is to keep your finger on the pulse of all of the relevant trends as they are unfolding. As estate planning professionals that action word, “planning,” requires the use of long term projections. You cannot know with full certainty what the costs will be for essential services in the future.
In addition, you have no way of knowing what the state of the economy will be like in twenty years, how the tax laws will change, or exactly what the health care system is going to look like. So you need all of the information that you can get your hands on to be able to make intelligent and informed projections.
One of the eventualities of aging is the possibility of spending some time in a nursing home or assisted living facility. For people who have lived independently all of their lives this is not always a welcome thought, but aside from being uprooted from your home there is something else to consider. Long term care is expensive, the costs are rising, and experts predict that they will continue to trend upward.
Many seniors need all the help they can get addressing these costs, and those who have served our country may be eligible to receive some assistance via the Veterans Aid & Attendance pension. To qualify in terms of length of service, you must have served at least 90 days on active duty with a minimum of one of these days taking place during wartime.
Eligible veterans who are single can receive as much as $1,632 per month; married veterans can receive $1,949; and the eligible surviving spouse of a qualified veteran may receive a maximum of $1,055 each month (these figures are subject to change).
Mr. Kraft assists clients primarily in the areas of estate planning and administration, Medicaid planning, federal and state taxation, real estate and corporate law, bringing the added perspective of an accounting background to his work.
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