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Asset protection planning is about protecting your assets from creditors — and it is not just for the super-wealthy. Anyone can get sued. Lawsuits can stem from car accidents, credit card debt, bank foreclosures, or unhappy customers, among many other things. If someone wins a monetary judgment against you, your family could become bankrupt trying Read Full Article

Charging that reverse mortgage borrowers were caught in what amounts to a regulatory bait and switch, the AARP’s legal arm is suing the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on behalf of three now-deceased borrowers’ surviving spouses who are facing imminent foreclosure and eviction from their homes. The case involves the spouses of individuals Read Full Article

A 55-year-old individual can expect to pay $1,480 annually for $169,000 in current benefits, which would grow to $354,000 of coverage by age 80, according to the 2011 Long-Term Care Insurance Price Index, an annual report from the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance, an industry group. A 55-year-old couple purchasing long-term care insurance protection Read Full Article

Gifting assets to your grandchildren isn't just a nice thing to do; it can reduce the size of your estate and the tax that will be due upon your death. Grandparents can give their grandchildren up to $13,000 a year (in 2011) without having to report the gifts. While you can make an outright gift, Read Full Article

Jim Miller. The Savvy Senior (Hyperion, New York, N.Y., 2004; 250 pages). $13.95 from Amazon.com (click on book to order) You will indeed be savvy about senior issues after finishing this information-packed book. It offers a wealth of resources and basic, need-to-know information on a broad range of topics of vital interest to seniors. Within Read Full Article

Assisted living facility residents covered by Medicaid are at risk of being evicted if they leave the facility, even for a temporary hospitalization, the National Senior Citizen’s Law Center (NSCLC) warns in a recently released White Paper on the problem. Ironically, Medicaid officials in most states have the power to prevent these evictions but in Read Full Article

One of the benefits of the health reform law took effect January 1, 2011: free preventive services for Medicare recipients. Under the law, people with regular Medicare will no longer have to pay a co-pay, coinsurance or deductible to receive preventive services that are highly recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force — services Read Full Article

As ElderLawAnswers warned in a previous article, the Social Security Administration has eliminated a loophole that had allowed Social Security recipients to start receiving benefits when they first became eligible without being permanently locked in to the lower benefit level. Although you can collect Social Security benefits starting at age 62, if you do, your Read Full Article

When choosing a beneficiary for a retirement plan, it is important to understand how your spouse will be treated under the plan. Surviving spouses are treated differently under 401(k)s and individual retirement accounts (IRAs). While a 401(k) provides protections for a surviving spouse, an IRA does not. Because the 401(k) is an employee-based retirement system, Read Full Article

Herbert E. Nass. The 101 Biggest Estate Planning Mistakes. John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ. 2010. 279 pages. $12.21 from Amazon (click on book to order) Learning what not to do can be just as instructive as learning what to do. That is the premise of The 101 Biggest Estate Planning Mistakes, an entertaining and Read Full Article