Dear Clients and Friends: My readers are educated as you’ll see below and I hope I have something to do with that! I received the following email which will definitely allow me to explain the specifics of the Health Care Proxy in further detail. Continuing the dialogue is so helpful …

Dear Clients and Friends: My last LISTEN TO LAWRENCE LETTER about health care proxies generated a ton of interest and questions from my readers, like this next one: CLIENT QUESTION: In addition to a DNR and naming one Health Care Proxy, what else is there that is important to include? I’m talking …

Dear Clients and Friends, Sometimes what feels right for your family dynamics may not be consistent with the law like this case: CLIENT QUESTION: I have two children whom I love equally. Can I appoint them both to be my health care proxy agent to make my medical decisions? MY RESPONSE: …

Dear Clients and Friends, When you are thinking about how much you wish to put into an irrevocable Medicaid trust (to protect assets from Medicaid), the best question is not how much to put into it but rather how much you want to keep in your name in order to …

Dear Clients and Friends, When dealing with an IRA, the Medicaid and IRS rules sometimes are different, and sometimes an exception may apply… as pointed out in today’s letter. Read on for the question and answer that will clear it all up…I hope! 😊 CLIENT QUESTION: Can Medicaid force someone to …

Dear Clients and Friends, Here are some specific questions and my answers regarding the Medicaid look-back period which I think will benefit many of you. CLIENT QUESTIONS: Thank you for your newsletters, I find them very informative. Recently I had some questions related to Medicaid and the 5-year look-back, which I …

Dear Clients and Friends, I asked if we could keep the dialogue going and this next question does exactly that! Another specific question and answer to further explain how Medicaid determines eligibility: CLIENT QUESTION How are ANNUITIES treated when applying for MEDICAID? My mother has approximately $55,000 in an annuity. …

Dear Clients and Friends: Today’s question is another one of those that we get a lot, but as you will see, not one to worry too much about. Either way, keep those questions coming! CLIENT QUESTION: I hope my question isn’t redundant. I have an Irrevocable Medicaid trust containing annuities and …

Dear Clients and Friends, In one of my recent LISTEN TO LAWRENCE LETTERS, I discussed reasons why some clients decide to create an estate plan, naming their children as beneficiaries, UNEQUALLY. One of my client readers suggested another reason: CLIENT/READER: One significant factor that Lawrence left out of the equation is how much …

Dear Clients and Friends, This next question seems very simple and thankfully, the answer is very simple. But, it’s a great example of why this type of question is so important to ask…knowing the answer can give you options that you may have thought were unavailable. The more information you have, the …

Dear Clients and Friends: From time to time I like to repost articles from the SNA (Special Needs Alliance) which is a National Alliance of Disability Lawyers. I’m a founding member and their information is so helpful that sharing it is a great idea. I hope you find this timely …

Dear Clients and Friends: MY THOUGHTS ON EQUAL VS. EQUITABLE In today’s LISTEN TO LAWRENCE LETTER I would like to discuss a topic that comes up a lot with my clients: DO I HAVE TO LEAVE ASSETS TO MY CHILDREN EQUALLY? Of course, the legal answer is NO!  You have the absolute legal right …

Dear Clients and Friends, ANNOUNCING THE ARRIVAL OF MY BOOK: LISTEN TO LAWRENCE IF YOU ARE Planning TO KEEP IT NOW LIVE ON AMAZON! Another way to Listen to Lawrence is my book, Planning to KEEP IT. It has been published and is now available on Amazon. Click here to check it out! For years …

Dear Clients and Friends, While so many of these LISTEN TO LAWRENCE LETTERS are dominated by Elder Law and Medicaid questions, a lot of our practice here at DAVIDOW, DAVIDOW, SIEGEL & STERN, covers estate and tax planning in general and also Special Needs Law. It is nice to shift gears here a little …

Dear Clients and Friends, Today’s LISTEN TO LAWRENCE LETTER is a follow-up question to Tuesday’s LETTER regarding a pattern of gifting and how Medicaid treats it. I hope this LETTER drives home the point. CLIENT QUESTION: I gift each year to my Grandkids towards their college tuition. Can these gifts be exempt from the Medicaid look back? I …

Dear Clients and Friends, We are shifting gears…our last question was simple and straightforward but today’s question is much more complex, so I’ll do my best to break it down. My answer might spark more questions on this topic and if so, let me have them. CLIENT QUESTION: I thought …

Dear Clients and Friends, This next question appears to be straightforward and simple but unless you are absolutely sure of the answer, you will be confused and uncertain about how to move forward. These are the questions I love to answer and not because they are quick answers! 😊 They are the …

I welcome new members to The Listen to Lawrence Letter and just because you may be new doesn’t mean that you can’t ask an old question! So, if you’re just joining me and think I may have already answered a question you have, ask it anyway. Even if I’ve talked about something …

Today’s question is a perfect example of the need to get specific with topics that I’ve already talked about. Although most people ask general questions, which is absolutely fine, once in a while it’s good to get a simple, targeted question. For example, a lot of you may already know …

Here’s a follow-up question to a topic I’ve discussed before which is exactly what I’ve been asking you to do! I want to make sure that you understand every aspect of a planning tool even if I’ve already talked about it. In other words, if someone asks a question and …