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Our Videos Offer a Quick and Easy Way to Learn About Elder Law

Want to know which kind of trust is best for your assets, or how you can prevent your income from being counted against you for Medicaid? We have recorded several short videos on the most popular elder law topics. View our video library for tips on estate planning, paying for nursing home care, and other senior concerns.

What Is the VA Aid and Attendance Program for Wartime Veterans?

An additional source of help for folks who need to live in an assisted living facility primarily is the VA Aid and Attendance Program. This is a pension benefit that a wartime veteran or the un-remarried widow of a wartime veteran can apply to the VA and receive. It’s also means-tested in that you have to meet certain income and asset tests. This is extremely helpful for folks as they transition from their home into a higher-cost environment like an assisted living facility.

The Difference Between Irrevocable and Revocable Trusts

I am frequently asked, “What are trusts? What are the different types of trusts?”

In our practice, they break into two broad categories: irrevocable trusts and revocable trusts. Revocable trusts are trusts that are designed to make the transaction—the passing of your wealth from you to your children at the time of your death—an easy transaction without involving the probate court. In revocable trusts, the objective is to avoid probate.

Irrevocable trusts, on the other hand, are used in our practice to initiate a gift from a senior citizen, usually, to a trust entity that is controlled by the senior citizen’s children. That is preferable to gifting the assets directly to the children because the children could have set-backs like divorce, loss of job, financial hardships; and generally the assets are going to be safer in the irrevocable trust.