http://gatesmanlaw.com William M. Gatesman - Attorney-at-Law Tue, 15 Apr 2008 16:00:52 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en 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 ... http://gatesmanlaw.com/2008/04/15/tying-the-hands-of-your-health-care-agent/ 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. ... http://gatesmanlaw.com/2008/03/15/beyond-dollars-and-cents/ Readers now may subscribe to receive new articles by email.  The articles will be sent in plain text format.  You may sign up by entering your email address in the subscription box at the top of the column at the left. http://gatesmanlaw.com/2008/02/21/receive-new-articles-by-email/ 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 ... http://gatesmanlaw.com/2008/01/15/is-it-a-problem-to-apply-too-early-for-medicaid/ 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 ... http://gatesmanlaw.com/2008/01/07/forms-for-our-clients/ Battley v. Banks (Md. App. December 20, 2007) The Gatesman Law Office assists clients in the appointment of a guardian for persons who become incapacitated and cannot make personal or financial decisions for themselves. Guardians are entitled to be compensated for their services, but they must petition the guardianship ... http://gatesmanlaw.com/2008/01/02/can-a-guardian-be-paid-for-services-after-the-ward-has-died/ Schoukroun v. Karsenty (Md. App. December 11, 2007). A Technical Article for Maryland Elder Law and Estate Planning Attorneys The Maryland Court of Special Appeals, in a seismic shift to the estates and trusts law of Maryland, issued an opinion on December 11, 2007, imposing augmented estate rules on the State ... http://gatesmanlaw.com/2007/12/22/appeals-court-imposes-augmented-estate-rules/ 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 ... http://gatesmanlaw.com/2007/11/30/can-i-gift-assets-to-my-children-and-still-get-medicaid-to-pay-for-nursing-home-care/ A technical notice for Maryland elder law professionals. When a homeowner executes a deed retaining for himself a life estate, such action will be considered a transfer of resources for Medicaid eligibility purposes. However, the homeowner has not given away the entire property. What the homeowner has given away ... http://gatesmanlaw.com/2007/11/15/life-estate-value/ 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 ... http://gatesmanlaw.com/2007/11/09/spousal-share/