Elder Rights

Once you enter the twilight years (somewhere between 50 and 110 years old depending upon who you ask), your life is measured by a narrow set of skills known as ADLs and IADLs and several standardized tests. You need to know about these because they are used to determine just about everything: housing, government aid, medical care, and your ability to self-govern. What are ADLs and IADLs? The ADLS, short for...

Seniors Avoid the Cliff! By Robert S. Morris Our practice of Elder Law includes all legal issues common to older people. One issue of concern to everyone on Medicare or Social Security is the issue of hidden taxes. What is the Income Related Monthly Adjustment Amount (IRMAA)? We are all aware of income taxes and payroll taxes but there are other taxes hiding out there. One of those is IRMAA, which stands for...

$27 Billion and Counting Elder Fraud Hits a New High A bombshell report on elder fraud was recently released by Comparitech, a consumer research company that focuses on the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada.  You are not going to like the conclusions. According to Comparitech’s research, senior citizens in the United States may lose nearly 25 times more to scammers than what is being reported.   That would mean more than...

Many families are blessed with a child (or adult) who happens to have a disability. There is obviously some concern regarding that loved one’s care and standard of living once a parent or other caregiver is no longer able to provide for them. SSI and Medicaid Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid can help, but they are limited and require the disabled person to have very depressed levels of assets and...

This may sound harsh, but you need to do more for your family than just sign a will. You should also leave them a map to follow. How do you go about it? Prepare your executor.  You should have a list of all of your beneficiaries and professional advisors with their contact information. Tell your executor where you keep your original will. Tell your successor trustees where you keep your original...

The rich and famous are not immune from guardianship, and neither are you. Take, for example, Buzz Aldrin. His guardianship case was in the news in 2018 not only because of his fame but also because of the unusual counteraction that he took:  he sued back. The contretemps started in a Florida court when two of Aldrin’s three children and his business manager filed a guardianship action against Aldrin.  Aldrin, age 88, responded...

Not long ago, I published Part 1 of this Article in which I discussed the State of Texas’s rules for how your property is divided if you die without a will. For many people, that division is far from what they want done with their own assets and possessions.  It also causes sticky joint management issues between children from prior relationships (or their parent/the ex-spouse), and current spouses.  That thought...

Perhaps there was a master plan that caused the traditional family gatherings of Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Christmas to fall so close together. If you are into conspiracy theories, you might even question the motive behind throwing family members into close contact for days on end. The incidental benefit is that after all of the forced family togetherness, you now have a good idea who you want to name on your...