A recent study found that nearly 60 percent of Americans do not have a will, despite almost all the people surveyed agreeing that it is very important. The thought of not having an estate plan in place should make anyone nervous, but for those who provide unpaid care for an aging loved one or a child with special needs, it is downright frightening. Care giving presents many challenges. One of …
The Marsal Caregiver Center is located in Burke Rehabilitation Hospital. It is designed to promote the well-being of caregivers through compassionate support and a healing environment. On this episode of the Littman Krooks Podcast, Carla Assenza, LCSW, Director, discusses the demands that a caregiver assumes once a loved one needs assistance.
As the demographics of American society change the needs of each generation evolve along with them, one unique group of people is growing especially quickly — the sandwich generation, or those who are responsible for the care of both their minor children and their aging parents. Typically, this is a person in their late thirties to fifties with the average unpaid family caregiver being a 49-year-old woman. Although this situation …
Guests Beverly Carter and Mary Ellen Burns, from the Older Driver Safety Coalition with Westchester County’s Department of Senior Programs and Services (DSPS) offer tools, tips and techniques that older drivers can use to be on the road as safely as possible for as long as possible. They will also explore when it is time to stop driving and what alternative transportation services are available when seniors decide to relinquish …
Jay Newton-Small, MemoryWell Founder and TIME Magazine Contributor, joins Bernard A. Krooks to discuss MemoryWell and how writing life stories can preserve memories and improve care for seniors with Alzheimer’s and Dementia. Jay speaks about how MemoryWell grew out of the experience of moving her father into long-term care once he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and how to find better ways to ensure his care staff understood him like she …
By Brian L. Miller, Esq., Littman Krooks LLP On January 1, 2020 the Setting Up Every Community for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act went into effect. The SECURE Act will impact your retirement savings, and may also affect the estate planning that you currently have in place. Below we’ve highlighted seven areas in which the SECURE Act may you or your family: Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) start at age seventy-two (72). …
By: Bernard A. Krooks, Certified Elder Law Attorney This is the primary question asked by many of our estate planning clients. So, here are our top 10 reasons to consider a trust (in no particular order). Please keep in mind that there are many different types of trusts and one size does not fit all. 1. You don’t want your estate to go through the probate process. While the probate …
Riverdale Senior Services (RSS) is a nonprofit agency that champions older adults and their families through their wellness approach and in every aspect of their operations and facilities. Bernie and Julie Dalton, Executive Director of RSS and aging services professional, discuss how senior citizens can fight social isolation and the stigma of getting older with social, physical and education programming, caregiver support, volunteer work and the opportunity to live …
Childless couples are becoming increasingly common today. These couples have unique considerations to make when planning their estates. If you and your partner count yourselves among them, creating an estate plan can seem complicated but, nevertheless, it is critical in the absence of obvious heirs. Whether assets are left to another family member, a friend, a charity or another beneficiary, the important part is that you and your partner are …
While my father was in a nursing home receiving Medicaid, his sister died and left him money in her will, and to his children if he died before she did. I am his only child. My lawyer prepared a renunciation and had my father sign it. The lawyer said this was to facilitate the transfer of funds to me without Medicaid claiming it. My father passed away in 2006. Medicaid states that renunciation is not allowed by Medicaid patients, and they are going to court to claim the funds that are still in my aunt’s estate. After paying the lawyer $3,000, do I have any recourse?
