Elder Law

As the result of previously unknown medical technology, members of our society are able to live well into their late eighties and older. In connection with planning for the future, it is always preferable to start early. For our clients who are not in immediate need of long-term care, we have the ability to guide them in distributing or protecting their assets in advance. The best time to plan for the possibility of long term skilled nursing care is when you are still healthy. By doing so, you may be able to pay for your long-term care and protect assets for your loved ones. This way, when you need long-term care, you may be in a position to quickly qualify for Medicaid benefits. Giving general rules for so-called "Asset Preservation Planning" is difficult because every person’s situation is different. Some have more assets or income than others. Some individuals are married and some are single. Some have family support or a caretaker child while others do not. Some own their own homes and some rent. In addition, in many cases, Medicaid Planning is only commenced once an illness occurs; in those situations, all is still not lost. We, at Karlen, Stolzar & Reimann, LLP, have the experience to provide our clients with strategies to maximize their options and rearrange their assets so that countable resources are exchanged for exempt assets or otherwise made inaccessible to the state. For example, instead of spending your life’s assets solely on nursing home bills, you can pay off the mortgage on your house, make home improvements and repairs, pay off your credit cards, and prepay your burial expenses.

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E. Herbert