PA Elder Law Services

Protect assets from nursing home costs

This work is our specialty. There are highly complicated laws that provide ways to shelter assets from nursing home costs, legally. If you follow the rules and have the proper documents in place, we can often protect assets from being totally depleted by nursing home costs, even under the new laws set forth under the Deficit Reduction Act. Our methods are proven and conservative.

Medicaid Applications

Medicaid Appeals

If your application for Medicaid for nursing home care has been denied, we can help protect your rights by representing you on appeal at a fair hearing. Many times we can negotiate settlements or resolve disputed issues without going to court. Even if we can not promise an outcome, we can give you an honest assessment of the situation so you know the process and how things work within the Medicaid system.

Medicaid Fraud

No, we can’t help you commit Medicaid fraud. If you’ve lied about assets or knowingly committed Medicaid fraud, don’t call Mr. Gerhard unless you want to set things straight with the Department of Public Welfare. However, if the Office of Inspector General is incorrectly asserting a claim against you for recovery of an over-payment, we can represent you in all contact with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to help resolve the controversy.  We can also advise you as to the legality of contemplated actions so that you can avoid problems before they are created.  Because Medicaid laws are complicated, clients sometimes get bad advice from well meaning friends or social workers.  Bad advice can cause serious problems, but most of the time we can work together to have them corrected.  Sometimes Medicaid applications are submitted by children who are not aware of all assets.  Medicaid applications are submitted to the best of your knowledge, information and belief.  Accidentally failing to disclose an asset is not Medicaid fraud.   

Contesting a Will

Estate Planning

We can help you prepare the trusts or other estate planning strategies needed to minimize or eliminate federal estate tax. The exemption from federal estate tax is presently $2,000,000 per person and is slated to $3,500,000 on January 1, 2009.  We can explain the most recent changes in the federal estate tax laws and make certain that your estate plan has the trusts (or other provisions) needed to eliminate or reduce this tax.  The 2008 annual exclusion amount for federal gift tax purposes is $12,000 per person, per calendar year.  On January 1, 2008, the annual exclusion amount will increase to $13,000. 

Exemptions from Medicaid Estate Recovery

Mr. Gerhard is a frequent speaker and author on the topic of Medicaid Estate Recovery, the program through which Pennsylvania seeks repayment of Medicaid benefits from the estates of certain deceased Medicaid recipients. Last year the program collected over $24,000,000.   The applicable regulations provide for many exceptions to recovery that most people do not know about. We can represent executors of estates to protect them from liability under the act and take action in some cases to keep assets in the family rather than be repaid to the Medical Assistance Estate Recovery Program. The best protection from estate recovery is proper advanced planning with a knowledgeable elder law attorney.

Fiduciary Services

It is normally best to name a family member or the primary beneficiary to be executor or trustee in your will. Sometimes, however, there is nobody in the family to serve or family tensions are such that you wish to name a third party. Mr. Gerhard may agree to serve as Executor if asked, but it is preferable to designate a family member or primary beneficiary wherever possible.

Guardianship proceedings

Hopefully you or your family member will have planned ahead and prepared a power of attorney which is a less expensive and less time consuming than guardianship proceedings. However, if a person lacks the mental capacity to sign a power of attorney, a guardian must sometimes be appointed by the court to protect and take control of a loved one’s financial matters and healthcare decisions. We can handle the legal paperwork associated with that process in a cost-efficient manner.  Mr. Gerhard recently moderated a continuing legal education course on Montgomery County Guardianship at the Montgomery Bar Association where Montgomery County Orphans' Court Judges, Judge Stanley R. Ott and Judge Calvin S. Drayer, Jr., discussed guardianship practice and procedudure.

Designate a guardian for young children

If you have children under age 18, a will is the proper place for you to designate the person, known as a guardian, who will raise them in your absence. In the absence of a will, a judge would make this decision based on his or her estimation of what is in the best interests of the child. We can advise you as you nominate a guardian in your will.

Home Visits

In an elder law practice, many clients are unable to get out of their homes or conveniently arrange for a visit to the lawyer’s office. We understand that our senior clients sometimes need home visits. We make special arrangements in these cases, bringing the “office-in-a-box” (a lap-top and portable printer) to the home, hospital, or nursing home. We wish to provide prompt, capable, and caring service to our clients, and home visits are one way we strive to meet that objective.

Fidiciary Accounting

Executors must be able to account for exactly 1) what assets came into the estate, 2) what disbursements were paid during the estate administration, 3) and what assets remain for distribution. We have specialized software which enables us to prepare this accounting. The finished document provides a polished, complete record of what happened during the estate or trust administration.

Inheritance Tax Returns

The Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax Return is due nine (9) months from the date of death, and needs to be prepared properly so that the correct amount of tax is paid. We have specialized computer software that generates these tax returns at reasonable fees. We can help you avoid problems with the Department of Revenue and minimize inheritance tax by identifying legitimate deductions.  A five (5%) percent discount may be deducted from the tax due if payment is made within three (3) months of death.

Living Trusts

A living trust may permit you to avoid probate if all assets are properly titled in the trust or otherwise pass to beneficiaries by operation of law. Pennsylvania’s probate process is not as burdensome as it is in other states so the living trust is not as popular in Pennsylvania as it is elsewhere. However, many clients prefer the living trust vehicle as an estate planning device and it can be appropriate given the right circumstances. We can explain the benefits and potential drawbacks of a living trust and help you decide what is right for you.  We prepare many revocable trusts.  Be especially wary of door-to-door salespeople and telemarketing sales calls since living trust sales have recently been scrutinized by the Pennsylvania Attorney General, at least locally here in the Philadelphia area. Typically the sales pitches involve inaccurate claims regarding inheritance tax savings or savings in probate costs. We can help you avoid paying for a trust you do not need, and can tell you when a trust is appropriate.

Trusts for children and grandchildren

Many times it is wise to protect money for younger generations by naming a parent or other individual to be in charge of their finances until a certain age. For example, we can prepare a flexible trust that can provide distributions for a young person for tuition, a sensible automobile, money for a down payment on a house, or “income only” until a certain age in order to prevent the unwise spending of an inheritance. 

Protect money from spend-thrift beneficiaries

If you believe a beneficiary would otherwise squander his or her inheritance, we can help you protect those funds by drafting a trust that releases funds under conditions you specify. For example, the trust could make distributions based on a percentage of gainful earnings, in order to encourage a strong work ethic. As another example, the trust could distribute income only until a certain age, then distribute the remaining balance when the beneficiary is older and theoretically wiser.

Advanced Healthcare Directive (Living Will)

Pennsylvania law permits you to designate a surrogate to carry out your end-of-life wishes regarding medical treatment where you are permanently unconscious or in a terminal condition. This document is also known as a living will. We can help you designate a surrogate and can explain the proper use of the document.

Powers of Attorney

A general durable power of attorney designates a person to handle financial matters in the event you become unable to do so yourself. For example, if you became incapacitated, your agent under the power of attorney could pay bills and manage your affairs. A power of attorney is a low-cost alternative to Pennsylvania guardianship proceedings which can be significantly more expensive. Note that a spouse is not "automatically" authorized to handle financial matters on behalf of an ill spouse in most cases.

Real Estate Transfers

Often the family home is our client’s biggest single asset. The Gerhard family has been involved with real estate in Montgomery and Philadelphia Counties since 1927. Our law office can facilitate real estate transfers without the need to hire a realtor. We can explain the risks and benefits to adding a child to the deed of your home and help you decide what is the best course of action. Further, we have the tax background to explain the inheritance tax, gift tax, capital gains tax, and realty transfer tax consequences of a contemplated transfer-before you make a mistake. If you have already found a buyer for your real estate, we can prepare the legal paperwork and work with the title company in order to bring the transaction to a close.

Special Needs Trusts

If you have a disabled beneficiary who is receiving government benefits such as SSI or Medicaid (Medical Assistance) you may be concerned about the possibility of an inheritance disqualifying that person from public benefits. We can prepare special trusts, known as “Special Needs Trusts” and “Supplemental Needs Trusts” that will supplement, rather than reduce or eliminate the public benefits of that beneficiary. 

Wills

A properly drafted will ensures that your property passes to the beneficiaries you choose. A will also designates a personal representative, known as an “executor”, so that the person you believe to be most capable will have the authority to carry out your last wishes. If you do not have a will, Pennsylvania law sets forth who will inherit your property and who will control the distribution of these assets.