Maryland Elder Law

This office has recommended, and most estate planners will agree, that one should consider appointing a trusted individual to make health care decisions for you in the event you are unable to do so. I wrote a comprehensive article on that topic on October 7, 2007.
Maryland law not only allows one to appoint a […]

Much of elder law practice revolves around dollars and cents, dealing, for example, with questions of how to save the house to pass onto future generations, how to find alternative sources of payment for nursing home care, or how to avoid estate taxes, to name but a few. However, elder law practice involves […]

Some families make large gifts to family members — to enable a child to purchase a house, for example, or to assist a grandchild by paying college expenses. Others make the conscious choice to make a large gift of assets to their children to ensure that those funds will stand in the place of […]

We have added a page to our website to provide our clients with forms they may need to facilitate our representation. You may access that page by clicking on the word “Forms” in the menu at the top of this page.
One of the documents in the Forms directory is a Memorandum listing the items […]

Many seniors have heard that giving assets to one’s children is a way to safeguard those assets so that they will pass on to the younger generation upon the senior’s death even if nursing home care is required. However, the law governing Medicaid has changed and it now appears that Medicaid will not be […]

Medicaid law allows an individual whose spouse needs nursing home care to keep as much as $101,640 in 2007, as well as the house, a car, certain life insurance policies and a few other assets. But this rule is misleading. Consider the following example.
Husband and Wife own a house, a car, and $100,000 […]

“Whereas, Wherefore, Where art thou?” Did you ever wonder why lawyers use such archaic language in their legal documents? One reason is that lawyers like to stick with tried and true methods. Another reason legal documents tend to be so complex is that lawyers want to be sure to cover all the […]

Many of you have heard the clarion call - “You need a revocable trust!” This cry emanates from the full page newspaper ads touting the one-day seminars on revocable trusts. This cry emanates from the 60-second spots on the radio informing you that your estate plan is not complete without a living trust. […]

A technical notice for consumers and Maryland elder law professionals.
In a dramatic shift in Medicaid policy, Maryland now will look at asset transfers by a spouse living in the community to determine whether the spouse in the nursing home may continue to receive Medicaid benefits. Previously, once Medicaid eligibility was granted, the community […]

Like the shoemaker whose children run around barefoot, there are lawyers who have no estate plan. Even more numerous are non-lawyers who have never done any estate planning. Some folks might reason that such planning is unnecessary because they don’t have vast wealth or that all of their wealth is tied up in […]