Sounds too Good to be True? Financial Scams Targeting Seniors on the Rise

Category: Elder Law, Estate Planning, Financial Planning

An article on an unfortunate trend from USATODAY.com - Financial scams expected to boom as boomers age addressing the issue of aggressive marketing of estate and financial planning seminar to seniors, where the products offered through the seminars don't meet, or are inappropriate for the senior's needs.

"While people 60 and older make up 15% of the U.S. population, they account for about 30% of fraud victims, estimates Consumer Action, a consumer-advocacy group.

As this gargantuan generation of boomers starts to retire, 'You're going to see more of these seminars and more of these sales pitches,' says James Nelson, assistant secretary of state in Mississippi. 'Wherever retirees are congregated, you're going to have these people preying on them.'"

There is real money controlled by baby-boomers, which unfortunately can make them targets for unscrupulous marketers of products. The article states that "[b]oomers have more than $8.5 trillion in investable assets. Over the next 40 years, they stand to inherit at least $7 trillion from their parents, research firm Cerulli Associates estimates."

This does not mean that all seminars geared to estate planning and financial planning are scams - just the opposite is more likely true. Seminars are a wonderful opportunity for attorneys and financial planners to educate the public about complex areas of the law that may effect them, as well as investment opportunities to reduce those risks. But, you should exercise some caution and common sense in following up from these seminars. Some things to keep in mind.

• Only a licensed attorney in your state can prepare a Will, or should prepare any estate planning document, including a trust. You can contact your state or local bar association to see if the attorney is in good standing and if any complaints have been successfully filed against him or her.
• You and your goals and needs should be an attorneys first concern - not the goals of your children, the financial planner, or the attorney. If you don't feel that your goals and needs are the first priority, see some-one else.
• There are no magical solutions to estate and tax planning - there are tried and true techniques that an experienced estate planner can apply to your situation. If someone claims to have the secrets of a good estate plan, you need to know that there are no secrets.
• There is no one magic financial product that solves all woes - as with estate planning, the right product for you must be tailored to your specific asset mix, income, needs and goals. An experienced financial planner will not recommend a product until he or she has analyzed your needs. And be sure to ask for (1) the charges for the product, (2) the agent's commission, and (3) any penalties that might exist in liquidating the product.

If you do think you have been a victim of fraud, there is a sidebar in the article talking about your options.

New Medicaid Law Passed by Congress

Category: Elder Law

From Elderlawanswers.com

Congress Passes Bill Containing Punitive New Medicaid Transfer Rules: "By a vote of 216-214, the U.S. House of Representatives has passed budget legislation that will impose punitive new restrictions on the ability of the elderly to transfer assets before qualifying for Medicaid coverage of nursing home care. The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 now goes to President Bush for his promised signature. "

A more detailed excerpt from the article:

The Impact on the Elderly

The legislation will extend Medicaid's "lookback" period for all asset transfers from three to five years and change the start of the penalty period for transferred assets from the date of transfer to the date when the individual transferring the assets enters a nursing home and would otherwise be eligible for Medicaid coverage. In other words, the penalty period does not begin until the nursing home resident is out of funds, meaning she cannot afford to pay the nursing home.

Because the change in the penalty period start date will likely leave nursing homes on the hook for the care of residents waiting out extended penalty periods, ElderLawAnswers has dubbed the bill “The Nursing Home Bankruptcy Act of 2005.” Nursing homes will likely be flooded with residents who need care but have no way to pay for it. In states that have so-called "filial responsibility laws," the nursing homes may seek reimbursement from the residents’ children.
The bill also will make any individual with home equity above $500,000 ineligible for Medicaid nursing home care, although states may raise this threshold as high as $750,000.

The legislation also:

• Establishes new rules for the treatment of annuities, including a requirement that the state be named as the remainder beneficiary.
  
• Allows Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs) to require residents to spend down their declared resources before applying for medical assistance.
  
• Sets forth rules under which an individual's CCRC entrance fee is considered an available resource.
  
• Requires all states to apply the so-called “income-first” rule to community spouses who appeal for an increased resource allowance based on their need for more funds invested to meet their minimum income requirements.
  
• Extends long-term care partnership programs to any state.
  

In addition, the legislation incorporates provisions in the original budget bill passed by the Senate closing certain asset transfer "loopholes," among them:

• The purchase of a life estate will be included in the definition of "assets" unless the purchaser resides in the home for at least one year after the date of purchase.
  
• Funds to purchase a promissory note, loan or mortgage will be included among assets unless the repayment terms are actuarially sound, provide for equal payments and prohibit the cancellation of the balance upon the death of the lender.
  
• States will be barred from "rounding down" fractional periods of ineligibility when determining ineligibility periods resulting from asset transfers.
  
• States will be permitted to treat multiple transfers of assets as a single transfer and begin any penalty period on the earliest date that would apply to such transfers.
  

While the federal law applies to all transfers made on or after February 1, it also gives the states time to come into compliance. This gives families in most states a little time to plan. The deadline for states to enact their own laws varies from state to state, but generally is the first day of the first calendar quarter beginning after the end of the next full legislative session.

The bottom line is if you have been hesitating about seeing an attorney about long-term care planning, hesitate no longer. If you have considered protecting some assets for your loved ones in case you later require long-term care, you should contact a qualified elder law attorney now.

For the full text of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 in PDF format, click on: http://www.rules.house.gov/109/text/s1932cr/109s1932_text.pdf The section on the transfer provisions begins on page 222.

For the full text in HTML, go to http://thomas.loc.gov/ and type "S 1932" in the Search Bill Text box. Then click on the fourth version of the bill (S. 1932 EAS).

For an Associated Press article on the vote, click here.

Related ElderLawAnswers articles:
New Medicaid Law Means Adult Children Could Be on Hook for Parents' Nursing Home Bills
Many Poor Will Lose Medicaid Under Budget Bill, Report Predicts