elder care law protects your elderly loved onesWhen the ravages of incapacity due to accident or serious illness such as Dementia and Alzheimer's disease begin to affect us our loved ones, AmeriEstate can help you navigate the complexities of elder care law to ensure proper care, protect your family from financial loss and abuse, and avoid conservancy. The elderly, in particular, deserve appropriate care and legal planning to avoid the loss of their home, estate and protection from abuse.

AmeriEstate's Elder Law Services/ELS division offers comprehensive and affordable legal planning with competent and compassionate support. We focus on providing concerned parties with an analysis of their specific needs and legal considerations. We educate and support you and your loved ones, so a plan can be implemented to provide for those in need of care and protection.

AmeriEstate's Elder Law Services division provides support, education, empathy, legal strategies and planning to you, your family and loved ones, including:

Government Benefits and Medi-Cal Planning

Sometimes, the aftermath of an accident or declining physical health may result in necessary care in a skilled nursing facility. In many states, the cost of receiving this level of care can often exceed $8,000 per month. Usually, families must shoulder this burden unless they have a comprehensive long-term care insurance policy or qualify for Medicaid. Medicaid is a State-administered program that can help individuals and families with low income or limited resources by covering much of the cost of this care.

Special rules govern how one qualifies to receive Medicaid, so it is best to speak with legal experts, such as AmeriEstate and its participating elder law attorneys. Eligibility primarily revolves around the amount of income and resources you have. Medicaid classifies some resources as exempt and other resources as available. Your home, a car, personal property of certain dollar limits is considered exempt, and excess assets are considered available in that they could be used by you to pay at least part of your costs of care.

For example, if you are married and only one spouse requires this level of care, at least the first $3,023* in monthly income is considered exempt. In addition, the well-spouse at home can also exempt the family home and up to $120,900* in additional financial assets.

AmeriEstate and its elder law attorneys have experience using various strategies to qualify you for benefits, even if you are over-the-limit. The second challenge is that once you qualify for financial benefits, Medicaid wants to be paid back at some point. This is called 'recovery.' The strategies we can use will help you legally protect your home and your financial assets from this recovery so that they continue to be available for your spouse and immediate family.

Veterans Administration (VA) Benefits

For qualifying Veterans, Aid and Attendance is an enhancement to Veterans' pension. This benefit can pay a Veteran and a surviving spouse cash every month. The cash is tax-free and unlike Medicaid benefits, may be used in any way, including paying for long-term care in a nursing home, assisted living facility, or care at home. The maximum benefits for 2017 include:

  • $2,122 per month for a married Veteran
  • $1,794 per month for a single Veteran or the current spouse of a Veteran
  • $1,153 per month for a Surviving Spouse
  • $2,846 per month for two Veterans

However, before the Veteran, their Spouse, or Surviving Spouse receives any benefits, they must first meet the eligibility requirements.

  • Service Requirements
  • Medical Need
  • Income Assessment
  • Asset Requirement
  • If the Veteran or Surviving Spouse Does Not Qualify

Long-term Care Costs

Helping you plan for long-term care costs.

AmeriEstate experts can guide you through the many options available to help pay for long-term care costs. We can also show you how to afford these costs without jeopardizing your life savings and hard-earned assets.

AmeriEstate experts are trained in all forms of estate planning and asset protection. We use this expertise to help people who are faced with the possibility of needing long-term life care for themselves or a loved one. By using proven legal and financial strategies, we assist families touched by chronic illness and disabilities to find funding for their long-term care needs while protecting their hard-earned assets.

Planning for Long-term Care and applying for State Public Assistance (Medicaid/Medi-Cal) or other financial assistance programs (SSI/SDI/SSDI or VA Aid and Attendance Benefits for Veterans) often include a difficult maze of legal, financial, health care and government program requirements. AmeriEstate experts can help navigate all of the complex and guide you towards proven estate-protection strategies designed to protect your family's Estate.

Due to the complexity of Elder Care Law, there is a $275 fee for the initial consultation. This fee includes:

Veterans Administration (VA) Benefits

The initial consultation ($275 fee) includes:

  • One-year membership in the AmeriEstate Legal Plan providing you access to a nationwide network of qualified attorneys.
  • Review and analysis of your current situation.
  • Review and assessment of your existing estate planning documents for usage.
  • Determination of your eligibility for state programs.
  • Assisting in applying for state programs.
  • Recommending legal asset and personal protection strategies.
  • Offering legal courses of action to protect your estate from recovery.
  • Guiding your family on a clear and expedient path forward.
  • A new set of Medi-Cal enhanced Advance Health Care Directives and Durable Power of Attorney for Asset Management will be provided to the client.
  • A DocuBank card to provide immediate access to Advance Directives and Medical Information.

Post Consultation Services

AmeriEstate can provide you with expert assistance for those needing financial and legal case management to gain access to government funding for long-term care. So, whether it be Medicare or Medi-Cal/Medicaid for health care, share of cost issues, Assisted Living (ALF) and Residential Care (RCFE), nursing home care, Custodial Care (PCSP), Skilled-Nursing or In-Home Support Services (IHSS), we have the experience you need to navigate the complicated red tape and emotional issues.

The experts at AmeriEstate can also help you with the implementation of estate asset protection and legal planning strategies to help fund long-term care and health care needs. We can assist you and your family with the needed legal planning to provide and protect your estate, determine your eligibility for financial support and assist you in preparing for future health care and long-term care needs.