It is common knowledge that husbands and wives are entitled to collect Social Security benefits on their spouses’ work records. Less well known is that this benefit applies to divorced spouses as long as the spouse has not remarried. Divorced spouses are even entitled to survivor benefits in certain circumstances.
So on a given day, I may be asked to speak with a family member and schedule a time to visit a client in their home to help determine needs and more effectively offer resource information. I then communicate with the legal team to coordinate next steps, ensuring that the best plan for that particular individual is executed, with essential legal documents in place.
Strohschein Law Group strives to counsel their clients to manage their independence as long as possible. Meeting with Linda Strohschein to discuss options and design a plan that best suits your needs or the needs of a loved one will give everyone involved the peace of mind to enjoy life to its potential.
Once a loved one passes, several tasks come to hand for the family. The majority of these tasks involve expenses and they quickly add up. First and foremost is the task of laying your loved one to rest. The average cost of a funeral is between $8,000 – $12,000. Perhaps the loved one set up a pre-paid funeral arrangement or had a life insurance policy that could cover these expenses and outstanding debts. Probate is the process to collect assets, pay bills and issue distribution to the beneficiaries. Please enjoy this article provided to us from Elder Law Answers on paying debt from an Estate.
Many people keep working well beyond age 65, the age when most people become eligible for Medicare. If your employer offers health coverage, do you need to enroll in Medicare? What if the employer offers or does not offer prescription drug benefits?
A recent study found that 46 percent of long-term care claimants were under the age of 65 at the time of disability. When thinking about long-term care planning and qualifying for assistance there a few options to consider. Medicaid eligibility calculates a person’s assets and if you have life insurance it could be considered an asset.
Planning ahead for your own disability is a difficult step to take because no one wants to believe it can happen to them; but it can happen. Take a look at the following article we found on Forbes.com. Know your options and put a plan in place. Strohschein Law Group is hosting a FREE one hour Lunch&Learn workshop – “Life Care Planning – Getting and Paying for Good Care When You Need It” on Tuesday, June 18th starting at Noon. It’s better to prepare for what your options can include before getting in the tangled web of bureaucracy explained below.
Without warning, Mom’s medical situation takes a significant turn downward and she goes from being independent and on her own, to needing 24/7 care in a very short period of time. The adult children rally to find a short term and long term solution since they don’t know how this will play out in the coming weeks and months ahead.
After the hospital and rehab at a local nursing home, Mom returns home. Initially the children take shifts to address Mom’s immediate care needs. When the children need to go back to work and Mom still cannot be on her own, an in-home caregiver is located and service begins immediately.
If you plan ahead for the care which many of us will need at some point, 100% impoverishment need not be the only option. We help families everyday get through the maze of long term care planning.
How will programs that seniors rely on be affected? The good news is that big chunks of the budget are exempt from the sequester’s cuts, including Social Security, Medicaid, and veterans’ programs. But while there should be no change in benefits for these programs, the federal workforce that administers them would be slashed, leading to delays and frustration.