It is an often occurrence, that My Elder Advocate is called in to Advocate for a resident in a Nursing Home who has been placed there against their will by a court appointed guardian, and generally is being abused or neglected. In many of these guardianship cases, close family members have been banned from visiting their loved ones by guardians. In other cases nursing homes have been declared guardians and they have pillaged the personal accounts of the people they are supposed to protect.
My Elder Advocate, in the course of each day, deals with many problems that elders face in nursing homes, hospitals, and at home. While all forms of discrimination in long-term care settings are egregious, the LGBT elders face a unique set of discriminatory policies and fears. The federal Nursing Home Reform Act (NHRA) protects nursing home residents, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
By Caitlyn Whitehead, Esq. Attorney, Lamson & Cutner, P.C.
Married Couples
Married couples seeking Medicaid coverage for home or nursing home care enjoy significant advantages that are not available to unmarried couples. On June 24, 2011, New York became the seventh jurisdiction in the U.S. to legalize same-sex marriages.
The estate tax expired on January 1, 2010. It remains to be seen whether Congress will reinstate it before it returns in 2011, but the fact that there is currently no estate tax can have unintended consequences for spouses. Standard language found in many
estate plans could leave spouses with nothing. It is important to check with an elder law or estate planning attorney to make sure your estate plan does what you want it to do. My Elder Advocate can recommend the best attorney for you. Call at 212-945-7550.
Caring for a family member is a responsibility many people bear. It can also be a source of income.
So-called "caregiver agreements" -- formal contracts under which relatives are hired to care for elderly family members -- have been around for a while. But with the economic downturn, more families may be open to entering into such arrangements, some attorneys and caregiver advocates say.
Early action eases way when it's time to
take care for parents' financial affairs By Francine Brevetti.
JACQUELINE MARCELL gave up her job as a vice president for International Video
Productions in Southern California and moved back to the Bay Area to take care
of her parents when she realized they were suffering from Alzheimer's disease.
While they are often delicate subjects to tackle, the best time to have a frank discussion with aging parents about retirement living options, lifestyle security, implementation of wills and trusts, legal and financial issues, and funeral and burial options is long before you need the information.
As a competent adult, you have the right to decide to accept or refuse any medical treatment. "Competent" means you understand your condition and the results your decision may have. As long as you are competent, you are the only person who can decide what medical treatment you want and do not want to receive.
