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Twelve years ago.
The year is 2010. On a hot summer afternoon, warm bright air, sunny, a bit of a breeze. Two men retiring from the same homegrown Michigan company. They were very much alike, these two older gentlemen. Team builders. Known for getting the job done. Both had better-than-average, thirty-year careers. Personable, well-respected, and secure. Paid-for home, nice cottage. Everybody likes the lake. Boating. Swimming. No debt. Conservative investments. No bad habits (except spoiling the grandkids). Respected. Accomplished.
As new retirees so often are, both were filled with dreams for the future. Time to spend more time with the important people. Wives, kids, grandchildren. At the cottage, on the golf course, traveling. Enjoying the retirement freedom and security they had anticipated, saved for, earned.
Last week.
July 2022. The company had its one-hundredth anniversary. Both men were invited to celebrate.
They were still very much alike. Both healthy. Each had three grandchildren. Still devoted to their wives of over forty years. Both primary caregivers. At home. Just a few short years into retirement, their wives were stricken with Alzheimer’s Disease. Dementia. Memory Loss. Unusual Behaviors.
Family and friends have been sympathetic. Both men welcome the help and are grateful. But.
But there were enormous differences.
One struggled to make ends meet. “On duty” 24 hours per day. Exhausted. Retirement savings, cottage, comfortable home – all gone. His wife gone to the nursing home. And with pension replaced by the 401(k), living on social security. Pitiful.
The other man recently hosted his granddaughter’s wedding. At the lake. One hundred and twenty guests. Life savings intact. Independent, secure. Yes, he was his wife’s primary caregiver. But she still lived at their home. And he had plenty of help. Using the Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE). PACE provides services at home. No worries. COVID emergency rules are still in effect. Medical Emergency extended yet again. He keeps their home, their cottage, their life savings. Respected. Safe.
Why Is One Desperate
And The Other Secure?
Do You Want Pity Or Respect?
Have you ever wondered, as I have, what makes this kind of difference in a person’s life? It does not seem to be native intelligence or talent or dedication. I do not believe that one person wants security, and the other does not. No one is looking for pity. Both would like respect. How has each man used the knowledge they have?
Doesn’t the difference lie in what each person knows and how he or she uses that knowledge?
And that is why I am writing for you and for people like you. For that is the purpose of this blog: To give its readers knowledge – knowledge that they can use in life. LifePlanning™ that benefits themselves, their loved ones, their greater circle of friends. Have you heard about PACE or the new COVID emergency rules anywhere else?
Why didn’t your lawyer or financial adviser tell you?
They cannot tell you what they do not know.
Traditional Estate Planning Lawyers are only concerned with avoiding probate and getting your leftovers to the kids. Things that happen after you have both died. Good to do, of course. But you are not dead yet. Maybe it would be helpful to keep your assets while you are still in the land of the living. LifePlanning™ shows you how.
Financial Advisors advise on finances. Liquidity. Rates of Return. Stability. Long- term care is not their area of expertise. Let’s keep the financial folks focused on financials. Let them worry about increasing your nest egg. LifePlanning™ is making sure the eggs stay in the nest. Financial Advisors want to put more in your bucket… LifePlanning™ makes sure the bottom doesn’t drop out.
To serve and protect you, the Reporter brings you a broad range of information of interest and significance. No matter what the source. Not limited to dusty laws or arcane regulations. Anything and everything that affects middle- class security and well-being.
Take Action Today
Knowledge, concepts, ideas – all very fine. But without action? Nothing. LifePlanning™ incorporates The Reporter’s unique perspective and knowledge, in real life. Getting what you have earned. Avoiding nursing home poverty. Living life to the full, whatever the circumstances. Thousands of Michigan families use LifePlan™ techniques. Securing a better life for their families. Security is a choice. What do you choose?
Knowledge Is Power, If You Use It
Emergency COVID rules gave you options without poverty.
Beginning two years ago, Spring 2020, we told you about an expansion of the Program for All-inclusive Care for the Elderly – PACE. Emergency rules for the COVID pandemic. We told you: you do not have to sacrifice your life savings, your cottage, your property. Over the last years, through pandemics, vaccines, elections, protests, and general shenanigans, many, many families responded. And have benefited.
But the emergency rules were set to expire on November 1, 2020. Then extended to April 1, 2021! Now extended to the indefinite future… Bad news: you and hundreds more families were shut out. Not enough time. Too bad, so sad. Coulda, shoulda, woulda. Snooze and lose. A bitter pill. But… those rules were extended to April 1, 2020. And then?
The recent past has been full of surprises. Finally, a good surprise!
Good news: the emergency rules have been extended “until further notice.” Thousands of families let the first opportunity slip through their fingers. You let the second chance expire. Now you have a third chance. Should you wait to see how long the government let this go? Are you kidding?
Remember playing the kids’ party game Musical Chairs? When the music stops, somebody’s gonna miss the chair, fall on the floor. When the PACE music stops, some folks are going to miss out. Why should your family lose? Why should you or your loved one fall on the floor?
No Poverty, No Charity, No Waste Not Pity…
The Respect You Have Earned Make Rules Work For Folks Who Play By The Rules
Too many middle-class families (one is too many and long-term care poverty robs thousands) go broke from endless nursing home, assisted living, or caregiver bills. Pitiful. That does not happen to our LifePlan™ families. Respect. Security. Confidence.
It is simple: Three Goals, One Strategy.
1. No Poverty – You will not go broke.
When you are in control, life is good. You will not go broke from casinos, Bernie Madoff, or too many vacations. Long-term care rips the steering wheel from your hands and points you over the cliff. No choice, no chance. LifePlanning™ keeps you firmly in the driver’s seat. In control. Lifesavings intact. As you have always been.
2. No Charity – Caregivers get paid. You already “bought the insurance.”
America pays for long-term care through your taxes. Withheld from every paycheck you ever earned. More than your fair share over the years. You paid for other people. Folks you have never met. You, the middle-class, only want a fair shake. You paid in, you should get paid back if needed. Without sacrificing every red cent.
Does Social Security refuse to pay out when you have lifesavings?
Does Medicare say, “Come back and see us when you are broke?
Why should long-term care, paid by your tax dollars, be different? Why?
3. No Waste – Any leftovers go to your beneficiaries. Not wasted on probate or taxes.
Why shouldn’t your family, your loved ones, benefit from your leftovers? Why should probate, taxes, government soak up what is left? Wise plans avoid strife and insure family harmony.
For 32 years, the LifePlan™ strategy has achieved your goals.
The rules can work for you. LifePlanning™ makes the rules work for the people who play by the rules. Other so-called experts, attorneys, planners, financial advisors accept the status quo. They do what everyone else does. The LifePlan™ approach dives deep. Seeking out and securing your family’s future.
How Can You Protect What You Have Earned? What Should You Do Now?
Safe and secure or broke and anxious?
About those older gentlemen I mentioned at the beginning. Both men retired at the same time. They faced similar challenges. What made their lives so different? Luck? Lottery tickets? Guardian Angels? Some folks may think so…
Others know different. Knowledge. Useful knowledge. Action. Follow through. Better results. Why does one man, honorable and well-meaning, face a pathetic future… to be pitied by friends and relations? Why does the other man, with the same opportunities, face a secure future… respected and admired by sons and daughters, grandchildren, and greatgrandchildren? And his neighbors at the lake? Who will live longer? Who will live happier?
Which path do you choose? Is it all luck? Or does your success depend on intelligent action? And hard work. Your action. Your work. Did luck that paid off the mortgage? I didn’t think so.
Sound planning or Urgent need?
Are you facing an urgent need? Caring for your spouse or parent? Has a loved one received a diagnosis? Have you retired and watched your friends and neighbors go through long-term care impoverishment? Years of planning and saving washed away like a sand castle at the beach.
Are you considering retirement and want to face the future without fear? Would planning that lasts a lifetime meet your criteria? Does it seem unfair that the middle-class should pay and pay while others reap the rewards?
Put Us To The Test
Thousands of families across 32 years have experienced the proof. They had questions, doubts, confusion, just like you. But they acted. They found out. They made positive, life-affirming decisions. Why not you? Call directly or email. Facing an emergency? Loved one in long-term care right now? Caring for your spouse or parent at home? When you need us, we will be there for you. If your situation is urgent, we will get right on it. Or choose to attend a LifePlan™ Workshop in person or online.
Get the information you cannot get anywhere else.
Get the information you need without charge or obligation. Just ask. Your time and attention are precious, we will not waste either. Get the inside story no one else shares.
Get The Lifeplan™ Information Now
Call The LifePlan™ Hotline Today (800) 317-2812
Why Do They Bank On Death?
BlogRead the Print Version
Traditional Trust Planning Is Profoundly Mistaken
Traditional estate planning supposedly avoids probate, saves taxes, and safely, efficiently delivers your remaining property and money to your heirs or beneficiaries after you have passed on. Traditional estate planning is not concerned with you while living, only after death. Nobody cares what happens to you while you are alive. How does that help you?
Traditional estate planning fails because the overwhelming majority of us will need long-term skilled care. 70% of us. For an average of 3 years. And we will go broke paying for it.
Are you surprised that thousands of recreation properties: cottages, cabins, hunting land, are lost to pay for long-term care? Why is your estate planner surprised? Isn’t that their job? Or is your estate planner in denial?
You can defeat Nursing Home Poverty. LifePlanning™ empowers you. Keep your stuff. Get the care you have already paid for. Good for you. Good for your family. Good example for society.
When my mother suffered from the dementia which led to her death, over 10 years ago, their estate plan preserved their lifesavings. Mom’s months in the nursing home did not mean Dad’s impoverishment. Dad spent the last years with security and peace of mind.
Is Now A Bad Time For A Real Solution?
Perhaps you think you already have an answer to this problem. Maybe you do not see this as a problem at all. It is possible that you do not believe in the passage of time or its effects on you.
Peace of mind and financial security are waiting for everyone who practices LifePlanning™. You know that peace only begins with financial security. Are legal documents the most important? Is avoiding probate the best you can do for yourself or your loved ones? Is family about inheritance? Or are these things only significant to support the foundation of your family?
Do you think finding the best care is easy? Do you want to get lost in the overwhelming flood of claims and promises? Or would you like straight answers?
Well, here you are. Now you know. No excuses. Get the information, insight, inspiration. It is your turn. Ignore the message? Invite poverty? Or get the freely offered information. To make wise decisions. For you. For your loved ones.
The LifePlan™ Workshop has been the first step on the path to security and peace for thousands of families. Why not your family?
NO POVERTY. NO CHARITY. NO WASTE.
It is not chance. It is choice. Your choice.
Get Information Now. (800) 317-2812
Even A Blind Squirrel Finds A Few Nuts…
Justice For Camp Lejeune Marines, Staff, Trainees
Congress Does Something Right For A Change!
It is the late 1950s. World War II has turned into the Cold War. America decided that there are worse things than maintaining military readiness in peacetime. A national commitment to Peace Through Strength. And in North Carolina, the U.S. Marine Corps operates Base Camp Lejeune. USMC Base Camp Lejeune has a long and storied history.
USMC Base Camp Lejeune also had a dry-cleaning and laundry facility. Over the course of decades, dry cleaning chemicals were simply flushed down the drain. Into the groundwater. Into the wells that provided drinking water for the Marines, their
families, the folks who worked at the Camp, the student marines and soldiers who rotated through the Camp for training.
Not surprisingly, folks began to get sick. From a laundry list of potential diseases, relating back to the Volatile Organic Compounds in the dry cleaning chemicals.
You may be surprised, however, to learn that the Congress has chosen to do something to fix it. Ten years ago, the Veterans Administration began offering medical care to surviving Camp Lejeune veterans for certain conditions. But Marines, soldiers, and sailors could not get compensation for their injuries or suffering. Now they can. The recent Camp Lejeune Justice Act provides significant monetary compensation.
Contaminated drinking water flowed from Camp Lejeune from 1953 through 1987. Primary victims are mostly older now. Time has run out for many, but not for you.
You seen the TV ads. Heard them on the radio. Read the newspaper and magazine ads. Maybe you wondered whether it was real. Maybe you wanted the full story.
So many injured veterans called, that we had to investigate and respond. Would you like to know more?
Call me. (800) 317-2812
Mail Bag Of Madness!
BlogRead the Print Version
Truth Stranger Than Fiction… Could We Make This Up? Who Has That Much Imagination?
Inflation Is Whipped! Gas Prices Down!
Easter Bunny & Santa Claus Spotted On Main Street!
How are you enjoying the non-recession? What do you think of the non-war in Europe? Have you heard about the non-raid on the 45th President’s house? At least this non-winter weather remains warm…
Gosh! Suddenly, things are getting better! They tell us inflation is down! Gas prices are down, so they say. Those unbiased, helpful, informative TV Experts® are telling us so! And here’s proof:
But wait a minute! TV Experts say “Gas Prices Are Coming Down!” Here’s proof from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (Your Tax Dollars At Work):
See over there by the big red arrow? Gas prices coming down! Still the highest in 25 years, except for the last couple of months… Buy hey! Whaddaya want? Eggs in yer beer? Stop complaining, you complainer!
Would you like to know more? Would you like to know why gas prices are coming down? Perhaps it is the wise and beneficent policies of our Great Helmsman in D.C. Calmly guiding the ship of state from danger to safety. Sure, that could be it.
Maybe you might want to think about considering some other numbers from the U.S. Energy Information Agency.
Remember July and August of 2020? Global pandemic? Surely you remember the virus that definitely did not come from a country that shall not be named. Ringing any bells? Well, there was this wholly natural pandemic, not a bioweapon at all, with no funding whatsoever from Dr. Fauci. To selfishly satisfy their grandiose delusions stop the spread, follow the science, and be good people, American popinjays desperately seized sweeping dictatorial powers public servants reluctantly assumed limited emergency measures. Which tanked the most successful economy in world history. Millions of newly working Americans were thrown under the bus. Economic growth ground to a halt. People stopped driving.
And yet, during this horrible time in 2020, Americans demanded and used more gasoline than in July and August of 2022. That’s what the gummint’s own numbers say. What does it mean?
Perhaps it means that there is even less economic activity now than during the height of the mysterious killer flu. When demand goes away and supply remains, prices go down. Our Dear Leader in D.C. has flooded trillions of Monopoly Money™ dollars into the economy. Other Really Smart Folks in D.C. just voted hundreds of billions more phony baloney bucks in giveaways.
It is bad enough to pump up inflation with fake currency. Inflation is demoralizing. Inflation robs the middle class of our desire to build and save. But this evil legislation also kicks the legs out of anyone trying to build their own business without being an employee. It kills the American Dream, then mutilates the body. Awful.
But Didn’t Inflation Go Away?
Nope. Producer Price Index shows that soul- robbing, wallet-snatching, budget-busting inflation will be with us for quite a while.
But surely the Consumer Price Index tells a different tale? Not according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Despite all the crowing about gas prices and slowdown in the rate of increase of inflation, the bitter truth is that our Great Helmsman and his merry band of pirates has flung the ship of state on the rocks! Terrible.
Can you rely on Washington to fix what it has broken? Are the Washington politicians looking out for you? If the government can smash and grab its way into the homes of retired politicians, and seize property from currently serving elected officials, what hope is there for you? Unless you shut up and knuckle under…Is this the America where you grew up? Is this the America you thought you were living in? Me neither.
The way out. Perseverance in basic virtues: compassion, honesty, caring, friendship, personal accountability. Maybe these simple things can be the foundation stones, as they have in the past, for a new birth of freedom. How can we refuse our duty, our responsibility?
Mail Bag Of Madness!
BlogRead the Print Version
Truth Stranger Than Fiction…
(Spelling? Punctuation? Editing? No Can Afford!) (Warning: Not Legal Advice!)
Can a guardian evict/kick someone off of a property the guardian has no rights over?
I have been cleaning up a property that belongs to my great grandma who is now in a nursing home. I was verbally told that if I could clean the property up and work on paying the back taxes, I could work on owning the property. But now she is stating she never said that and told me my mother is not to be on the property when she never told me she couldn’t. I was would like to know where her rights as a guardian plays into this property. She does not own anything.
Shortest Answer: Yes. Absolutely.
Short Answer: You are more screwed than you have imagined.
Unkind Comments: 1. Next time, when lawyers and judges are talking, pay attention! And when you do not understand, ask questions! 2. “Verbally told”?!? Seriously? 3. A stitch in time saves nine. 4. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. 5. Kiss Great Grandma’s house good-bye. Also, you’ll never get paid for your clean up or back taxes. Also, your mom’s getting evicted.
Kinder, But Not Much Kinder, Comments:
1. You are not alone. Regular folks, just like you, lose houses, lifesavings, peace of mind, work, effort, blood, sweat and tears, in similar circumstances every day. Hundreds, if not thousands of times every day.
2. It’s not your fault that you did not know. After all, there’s no 2-hour, live, weekly call-in radio show that provides this information (except on WOOD 1300 AM and 106.9 FM; WKZO 590 AM and 106.9 FM; WHTC 1450 AM and 99.7 FM; various others). There are no free workshops every week the Good Lord brings, in Norton Shores, Grand Rapids, Holland and Portage. No free videos on the website whenever you want ‘em. And certainly, there’s no Michigan Elder Law Reporter to let you in on the secrets. 3. Middle-class families routinely get chewed up and spit out by the long-term care system, you have lots of company. 4. Getting Great Grandma to avoid nursing home poverty is not easy. 5. Cleopatra is not the only Queen of Dee-Nile (Get it? Dee-Nile = denial! Funny, eh.)
Long Answer: Can we unpack this suitcase of suffering sadness? This trunk of troubled tribulation? This package of perplexing pain? This valise of vigorous vivisection? This bag of the boggling blues? This container of cloudy consternation? Let us begin.
Guardian, Conservator, Probate:
What Is It All About?
1. Everyone is getting older.
2. Some older people lose their minds.
3. At age 65, you have a 70% chance of needing an average of 3 years of long-term care services. 20% will need more than 5 years of services. https://acl.gov/ltc/basic-needs/how-much-care-will-you-need
4. When people lose their minds, others must make their financial and health care decisions.
5. A few people take action to decide who will make their decisions if they lose their mind. These blessed few do Trusts, Powers of Attorney,
Designations of Patient Advocate. Mind lost? No probate. No problem. Thankfully.
6. Most people take no action. If you are in the majority and lose your mind, a Probate Court Judge will decide:
a. Whether you have lost your mind
b. Who makes health care decisions (Guardian) for you
c. Who makes money decisions (Conservator) for you
7. Judge decides on Clear and Convincing Evidence. Presented in open court. On the record. Which is not humiliating or degrading at all. Ever.
8. If you get better, you must convince the Probate Court Judge by Clear and Convincing Evidence that you are now OK. Which is not humiliating or degrading at all. Ever.
9. With a Guardian, you are a legally incapacitated person. You cannot make decisions for yourself. Your legal rights? Extremely Limited. Will anyone care what you say?
10. Your Guardian and Conservator files annual reports with the Court.
11. Will the Guardian or Conservator be a family member? Will you get a Public Guardian? Ask the Judge. You had your chance and blew it. Don’t worry. Be happy.
Great Grandma failed to plan. Great Grandma went to Probate Court. And now a Public Guardian will decide everything for Great Grandma. Will the Guardian be guided by the specific, unique needs and aspirations of Great Grandma’s family? Or will the Guardian faithfully follow Probate Court protocols, one size fits all, the law’s best guess as to what most families would mostly do?
You have 3 guesses. Guesses 1 and 2 don’t count.
How It Plays Out
Statement: I have been cleaning up a property that belongs to my great grandma who is now in a nursing home.
Response/Observation: Great Grandma is probably in a skilled nursing facility on Medicaid. Average monthly cost of a skilled nursing facility is $10,000 – 15,000 per month. At the former Kent Community Hospital, residential, high-level skilled care is more than $25,000 per month. If Great Grandma is not already on Medicaid, she soon will be. And if Great Grandma has money, why the “back taxes”?
The state does not joyfully pay for long term care through Medicaid. When the state pays, it wants its money back. The state (so far) won’t seize Great Grandma’s homestead while she is alive. But, after death, the state shows up in Probate Court, looking for its money. Everybody knows that “The House is Protected from Medicaid!” False! “Everybody” apparently does not know that the house must be sold to pay back the Medicaid. After Great Grandma has died. With some loopholes.
Oh. And thanks for “cleaning up” the property. Did you know you are doing that for free?
Statement: I was verbally told that if I could clean the property up and work on paying the back taxes, I could work on owning the property.
Response/Observation: Whoops! You did not know you were doing the work for free? The law says you cannot make a probate claim for services without a written agreement. And the agreement must be written before you provide the services. Without a written, binding contract the Probate Court Judge will not listen to your story. And if you get paid while Great Grandma is still alive, Great Grandma will get hit with a penalty period, be denied Medicaid benefits and the skilled nursing facility will not be paid.
Do skilled nursing facilities enjoy not getting paid? No, they do not. So Great Grandma’s nursing home now sues Great Grandma. And wins! Now Great Grandma’s house must be sold to pay the legitimate bill of the deserving nursing home. And Great Grandma is off the Medicaid until the money is all gone. And you will not see a nickel.
COMMON SENSE POINT:
What the heck does “work on paying the back taxes” or “work on owning the property” mean? In English? Even if you were “verbally told” these things? You are dealing with real money here… Long-term care is expensive. Government does not (usually) just give money away. You are not being serious here. Get serious!
Statement: But now [GUARDIAN] is stating she never said that
Response/Observation: Of course, the Guardian is denying ever having promised you the property if you cleaned it up! It is unbelievable that any Guardian with any sense of their fiduciary duty as Guardian would say such a thing. Not credible. And that’s why we write things down. Because maybe (however unlikely) the Guardian did agree to something like this. But no one will believe it.
In Merrie Olde England, 450 years ago, Parliament created the Statute of Frauds. To stop folks from cheating each other. Our Founding Fathers adopted the Statute of Frauds for American law. The Statute says any contract for land must be in writing. End of story. See you later. Done.
Statement: [GUARDIAN] told me my mother is not to be on the property when she never told me she couldn’t.
Response/Observation: I did not tell you that your mother could not live in my house either. That does not mean that she can.
The Guardian’s job is to preserve Great Grandma’s property and to use it for Great Grandma’s benefit. If the Guardian chooses to evict you from Great Grandma’s home, Guardian can do it. You have no right to control Great Grandma’s home. If you allow someone else into Great Grandma’s home without authority, the Guardian can evict them. Even if the squatter is Great Grandma’s grandchild.
Statement: I was would like to know where her rights as a guardian plays into this property. She does not own anything.
Response/Observation: The Probate Court gave Guardian all Great Grandma’s rights over Great Grandma’s home. That’s the whole point of having a Guardian. It is a big deal.
What Is That Sizzling Sound? It Is Your Lifesavings Imploding At $12,000 Per Month
Vaporized Like A Snowflake On A Hot Griddle
Traditional estate planning is concerned with avoiding probate, saving taxes, and dumping your leftover stuff on your beneficiaries. After you die. Nobody cares what happens to you while you are alive. How does that help anyone? Stupid.
Traditional estate planning fails because the overwhelming majority of us will need long-term skilled care. 70% of us. For an average of 3 years. And we will go broke paying for it.
Is it surprising that thousands of recreation properties: cottages, cabins, hunting land, are lost to pay for long- term care? Why is your estate planner hurting you and your family? It is evil intent? Or stupidity?
LifePlanning™ defeats Nursing Home Poverty. Keep your stuff. Get the care you have already paid for. Good for you. Good for your family. Good example for society.
When my mother suffered from the dementia which led to her death, over 10 years ago, their estate plan preserved their lifesavings. Mom’s months in the nursing home did not mean Dad’s impoverishment. Dad spent the last years with security and peace of mind.
Is Now A Bad Time For A Real Solution?
Perhaps you think you already have an answer to this problem. Maybe you do not see this as a problem at all. It is possible that you do not believe in the passage of time or its effects on you.
Peace of mind and financial security are waiting for everyone who practices LifePlanning™. You know that peace only begins with financial security. Are legal documents the most important? Is avoiding probate the best you can do for yourself or your loved ones? Is family about inheritance? Or are these things only significant to support the foundation of your family?
Do you think finding the best care is easy? Do you want to get lost in the overwhelming flood of claims and promises? Or would you like straight answers?
Well, here you are. Now you know. No excuses. Get the information, insight, inspiration. It is your turn. Ignore the message? Invite poverty? Or get the freely offered information. To make wise decisions. For you. For your loved ones.
The LifePlan™ Workshop has been the first step on the path to security and peace for thousands of families. Why not your family?
NO POVERTY. NO CHARITY. NO WASTE.
It is not chance. It is choice. Your choice.
Get Information Now. (800) 317-2812
Who’s Betting On Death?
BlogTraditional Trust Planning Failure A Scam? Say It Ain’t So!
Traditional estate planning is supposed to avoid probate, save taxes, and dump your leftover stuff on your beneficiaries. After you die. Nobody cares what happens to you while you are alive. How does that help anyone? Stupid.
Traditional estate planning fails because the overwhelming majority of us will need long-term skilled care. 70% of us. For an average of 3 years. And we will go broke paying for it.
Is it surprising that thousands of recreation properties: cottages, cabins, hunting land, are lost to pay for long-term care? Why is your estate planner hurting you and your family? It is evil intent? Or stupidity?
LifePlanning™ defeats Nursing Home Poverty. Keep your stuff. Get the care you have already paid for. Good for you. Good for your family. Good example for society.
When my mother suffered from the dementia which led to her death, over 10 years ago, their estate plan preserved their lifesavings. Mom’s months in the nursing home did not mean Dad’s impoverishment. Dad spent the last years with security and peace of mind.
Is Now A Bad Time For A Real Solution?
Perhaps you think you already have an answer to this problem. Maybe you do not see this as a problem at all. It is possible that you do not believe in the passage of time or its effects on you.
Peace of mind and financial security are waiting for everyone who practices LifePlanning™. You know that peace only begins with financial security. Are legal documents the most important? Is avoiding probate the best you can do for yourself or your loved ones? Is family about inheritance? Or are these things only significant to support the foundation of your family?
Do you think finding the best care is easy? Do you want to get lost in the overwhelming flood of claims and promises? Or would you like straight answers?
Well, here you are. Now you know. No excuses. Get the information, insight, inspiration. It is your turn. Ignore the message? Invite poverty? Or get the freely offered information. To make wise decisions. For you. For your loved ones.
The LifePlan™ Workshop has been the first step on the path to security and peace for thousands of families. Why not your family?
NO POVERTY. NO CHARITY. NO WASTE.
It is not chance. It is choice. Your choice.
Get Information Now. (800) 317-2812
Recession.
BlogWho Are You Going To Believe?
Prevaricating Politicians Or Your Own Eyes?
Day Follows Night, Dog Barks At Cat, Imbeciles Tank Economy, Imbeciles Who Tank Economy Lie Offer Creative Analysis
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (your tax dollars at work!) dished up some new numbers this week. For the last six months, your tax-paid public servant experts say the economy has shrunk. Is there a word for a shrinking economy? An economy that has been shrinking for six months? Begins with an “R”? Rhymes with “depression”? Nothing comes to mind? No matter.
Some old guy in Washington, D.C. says this means “All is well.” Reassuring! Don’t you feel better? Sadly, New York’s mayor Eric Adams did not get the memo. He disagreed: “We are in a financial Our Super Expert crisis like you can never imagine.” “Wall Street is Credit: Mad Magazine collapsing; we are in a recession.”
Friends of the old guy in Washington, D.C. had a friendly chit-chat with the mayor. “Nice city ya got here, mayor. Shame if anything happened to it.” Adams then told reporters that “Up is Down. Left is Right. Orange is Blue.” The mayor further explained, “We’re dealing with tough economic times, but we’re going to get through it, because I trust in the [old guy in Washington, D.C.].” Reassuring! A gaggle of other tax-paid bureaucrats, including the Treasury Secretary, Council of Economic Advisors, and White House spokespersons echoed the sentiment.
How can words change meaning so conveniently? Alice, our investigative journalist consulted with expert wordsmith Humpty Dumpty and filed this report:
Something We All Agree On:
“The Government Is Corrupt and Rigged Against Everyday People Like Me”
The University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics has some smart folks. What with all this division and disagreement, they wondered whether there was any common ground. So, they did a Polarization Poll to find out. They asked: “The government is corrupt and rigged against everyday people like me.” Agree or disagree? Most independents, strong Republicans, Democrats, and self-described “very liberal” people all agreed. Shocking!
How in the world could majorities of Americans across the political spectrum concur that “The government is corrupt and rigged against everyday people like me.”? Here’s a crazy thought: Maybe the government is corrupt and rigged against everyday people. Like you. Maybe it is all a self-perpetuating scam. Nah, that cannot be the explanation. Could it?
Mortgage Madness Continues
Like New York’s mayor, Freddie Mac, a sort-of government corporation, did not get the memo regarding the R-word. Freddie explains the collapsing housing market for you: “Purchase demand continues to tumble as the cumulative impact of higher rates, elevated home prices, increased recession risk, and declining consumer confidence take a toll on homebuyers.”
Happy Days are here again!
Who Are You Going To Believe?
Democracy Dies In Typos… So We Just Ignore ‘Em
BlogBut It Avoids Probate! It’ll Be Fine! Nothing Bad Ever Happens!
Are we entitled to stocks from Uncle who removed Father as POD from Grandmothers account by mail when Grandma had dementia?
Grandma had severe dementia. Our Dad passed away and both him and my Uncle were POD beneficiary on her stock account.
Our Uncle requested a new account be opened removing our Dad as POD by mail. Grandma was not in her right mind and did not know what she signed. Uncle controlled all her finances. Paying her bill etc. He had undue influence over her. He wrote checks to his son in large amounts before she passed. He told us he would transfer our Fathers portion of stocks to us but then changed his mind and told broker not to do it. He now claims they are all his and we don’t get our Fathers portion. Grandma had a will that my Uncle now claims is missing so she died intestate. Bank statements tell the story of money he has taken before and after her passing. Grandma always told us and said it in her will everything was to be split between everyone. A neutral administrator is going to be appointed but the stock account has not been included in probate. How do we get our fathers portion of stocks. There is only my sister, Uncle and myself remaining.
There are two things going on here. First, Truth and Consequences of Grandma taking the easy way out by naming beneficiaries on stuff. Second, nefarious Uncle embezzling and undue influencing Grandma.
Truth And Consequences Of Taking The Easy Way Out
Avoid probate is great! Ask anybody. Beneficiary designations are great! Ask anybody. But are “Pay On Death” or “Transfer On Death” orders really the best? What if things go sideways? What if the world does not unfold the way you think it should?
Financial Advisors, Attorneys, Your Uncle Charlie and common sense all say that your kids will outlive you, so why not name them on your Individual Retirement Account, Life Insurance, Bank Accounts, Stock Accounts, and (God forbid!) your real estate (through the “lady bird deed”). This idea of “naming people” is easy, cheap, seductive, and actually works some of the time. But what if the Magic 8 Ball says: “Don’t Count On It” or “Outlook Not So Good”? Then what? Our letter writer is discovering what happens when Grandma assumes too much.
Uncle gets “Dad’s share” of Grandma’s stock account. But there’s nothing wrong with that! Grandma named her sons as “transfer on death” (TOD) beneficiaries. But Dad had to survive Grandma to be a TOD beneficiary. Uncle started out to be generous and kind and sharing. But he had a change of heart (not unusual when money is concerned) and decided to keep it all. As was his legal right. Could Grandma have taken other action (Hint: like a trust) to make sure that the surviving children of her deceased son (that’s our letter writer) did not miss out on the stocks? Yes. But she did not.
Bottom Line #1: When Dad died before Grandma, his entitlement (and his kids) to Grandma’s stock account lapsed. Kaput. Done. Over. Gone With The Wind.
Bottom Line #2: What if I misunderstood the letter and Dad died AFTER Grandma? If he survived by 72 hours, his estate would be entitled to the TOD share. And then Dad’s descendants would take through Dad’s estate. And the Broker could not simply give the money to Uncle, but would have to pay half to Dad’s estate.
Uncle Judas Betrays Niece And Nephew
There is a special place (an especially terrible place) in Hell reserved for those who betray their family members. It’s right next door to the Great Satan and populated with creative imps and demons whose sole delight is torture.
There are special laws, on this side of the Great Divide, to deal with those who financially exploit their family members. Especially terrible consequences for those who take advantage of vulnerable parents and older folks. Did Uncle exercise undue influence? Were the withdrawals legitimately authorized by Grandma or greedily embezzled by Uncle?
Bottom Line: Grandma depended on Uncle. Uncle controlled all finances. Uncle gave Grandma’s money to his own immediate family members. Uncle is accused of wrongdoing, undue influence, financial abuse of the elderly, embezzlement.
On the criminal side, Uncle is entitled to the presumption of innocence. It must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Uncle is guilty.
But on the civil side, it is different. When it comes to undue influence, fiduciary Uncle is presumed guilty (liable). Uncle must prove that there was no undue influence. Good luck with that!
Take Away Lesson: Lead Us Not Into Temptation
Half-planning measures like TOD beneficiary designations and failure to comprehensively plan open the door to exploitation. Not everyone resists temptation. If Uncle is guilty, he deserves the consequences, no excuses. But prudent planning would both limit evil Uncle’s ability to commit dastardly deeds and prevent weak Uncle from giving in to his all-too-common greedy impulses.
The Thrill Of Victory, The Agony Of Defeat
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Spanning The Globe To Bring You The Constant Variety Of Statistics
Everything is too expensive. It is getting worse. It will continue to get worse. Until it gets better. When? God alone knows.
But wait a minute! TV Experts say “Gas Prices Are Coming Down!” Here’s proof:
Wow! Looky there! Gas so cheap at $4.50 per gallon! (except Californians still paying $5.75). Selling off our Strategic Petroleum Reserve to those who hate us… Brilliant! Prices going down! A bit. A little bit. A teeny, tiny little bit. But that’s just phony baloney. Look at the long-term numbers they don’t want you to see:
Well, whaddaya know? Gosh, it looks like gasoline prices are at or near all-time highs. But surely there’s good news somewhere… Let’s look at consumer prices, shall we?
Oh no! More bad news from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Where’s the Beef? Not on your plate! Cost of putting bread on the table expanded by a yeasty 10+% over the last year. Hope you like beans and rice, rice and beans. Hold the hamburger.
Energy Expenses Exploding? Ka-boom! Up over 40% in the last year. How did we get here? Revoke drilling permits, cancel oil leases, shut down pipelines, badmouth everyone and everything related to reliable energy. That’s how!
Good News! It’s cheaper if you sit still and starve. Don’t eat and don’t move… your inflation rate is less than 10%! Oh Happy Day.
Consumer Price Inflation is still setting historic highs. But surely there is good news on the horizon? Nope. Inflation is baked in the (too expensive for you) cake. Here’s the Producer Price Index:
Looking to buy a house? Refinance? Sell? Hope you like high interest rates! By the way, is the housing bubble just about to pop? Hello 2008!
Everywhere you look, it looks like bad news. Yeah, well. Pucker up Buttercup, it ain’t over yet. Private sector money gurus continue to sprinkle fairy dust and sparkly snowflakes through their economic reporting and forecasting. But even the “Blue Chip Consensus” has begun to recognize the rancid stink of the economic corpse foisted upon us by our political potentates. The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta provides this handy-dandy summary:
The Atlanta Fed GDPNow graph is based solely on reported numbers. Not wishes or dreams, just the facts, ma’am. The Blue Chippers with their rose-colored glasses, not so much.
Traditionally, a recession means two quarters of Gross Domestic Product shrinkage. At least when the bad political party is in the White House. First quarter of 2022, GDP down by 1.6%. Second quarter? More shrinkage!
Given the stonewalling, obfuscation, denial, selective prosecution, abuse of discretion, outright lying, misdirection, self- congratulating, posturing, and overweening, incomprehensible, hysterical righteousness that you have observed over the past couple of years, do you expect honesty now? Will they finally level with the American people? Regular folks who get things done. Ordinary men and women. Living ordinary lives. Achieving goals of human dimensions. Finding joy in friendship and family. How could they? Admit their failures? Admit the false foundations of their arrogance and sinful pride?
Is it more likely that they’ll serve up their usual hash of psychobabble? Selective focus? Like any stage magician, grifter, or street pickpocket, aren’t they experts at misdirection?
Perseverance in basic virtues: compassion, honesty, caring, friendship, personal accountability. Maybe these simple things can be the foundation stones, as they have in the past, for a new birth of freedom. How can we refuse our duty, our responsibility?
Traditional Trust Planning Failure A Scam?
Who’s Betting On Death?
Say It Ain’t So!
Traditional estate planning is supposed to avoid probate, save taxes, and dump your leftover stuff on your beneficiaries. After you die. Nobody cares what happens to you while you are alive. How does that help anyone? Stupid.
Traditional estate planning fails because the overwhelming majority of us will need long- term skilled care. 70% of us. For an average of 3 years. And we will go broke paying for it.
Is it surprising that thousands of recreation properties: cottages, cabins, hunting land, are lost to pay for long-term care? Why is your estate planner hurting you and your family? It is evil intent? Or stupidity?
LifePlanning™ defeats Nursing Home Poverty. Keep your stuff. Get the care you have already paid for. Good for you. Good for your family. Good example for society.
When my mother suffered from the dementia which led to her death, over 10 years ago, their estate plan preserved their lifesavings. Mom’s months in the nursing home did not mean Dad’s impoverishment. Dad spent the last years with security and peace of mind.
Is Now A Bad Time For A Real Solution?
Perhaps you think you already have an answer to this problem. Maybe you do not see this as a problem at all. It is possible that you do not believe in the passage of time or its effects on you.
Peace of mind and financial security are waiting for everyone who practices LifePlanning™. You know that peace only begins with financial security. Are legal documents the most important? Is avoiding probate the best you can do for yourself or your loved ones? Is family about inheritance? Or are these things only significant to support the foundation of your family?
Do you think finding the best care is easy? Do you want to get lost in the overwhelming flood of claims and promises? Or would you like straight answers?
Well, here you are. Now you know. No excuses. Get the information, insight, inspiration. It is your turn. Ignore the message? Invite poverty? Or get the freely offered information. To make wise decisions. For you. For your loved ones.
The LifePlan™ Workshop has been the first step on the path to security and peace for thousands of families. Why not your family?
NO POVERTY. NO CHARITY. NO WASTE.
It is not chance. It is choice. Your choice.
Get Information Now.
(800) 317-2812
You Don’t Need A Weatherman To Know Which Way The Wind Blows
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16+% Wholesale Inflation – Again! 10.1% Cost Of Food Inflation
Nostalgic For The Good Old Days Of Jimmy Carter? Me Too.
More good news from our friends at the Bureau of Labor Statistics! Consumer Price Inflation is setting new 40-year records. Again.
Energy prices are up. Way, way up. And that’s easy to solve. Simply stop driving anywhere. Stay at home. Problem solved.
Now that summer is finally here, you may wish to turn on your air conditioning. Do not. Your cost of cool is up 35%. Fortunately, sweat is still free. And it is all natural. Probably gluten-free, too. So, stay home, in the dark, with the air conditioning off. It is the New American thing to do.
Also, you can forget about going to the pool. No lifeguards. According to that paragon of virtue, National Public Radio: “the National Recreation and Parks Association says 8 out of 10 parks and rec departments can’t find enough staff.” “Tens of thousands of pools across the country are closed…”
Everybody complaining about gas prices. Is that the worst? No. Gas prices are not the worst part. So what is the worst? Since you have not read or heard it anywhere else, it falls to your Elder Law Reporter to point out the worst. Food Inflation. Food Inflation is in double-digit territory. Food costs 10.1% more now. You can stay home and save gas. Can you stay home and not eat? For how long? Little Orphan Annie said, “The sun’ll come out tomorrow, bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow, there’ll be sun!” Little Orphan Annie has not been watching the Producer Price Index.
Every time you go to the store, you experience the Consumer Price Index. The CPI is how the government measures misery today.
Future pain is predicted by the Producer Price Index. The PPI measures wholesale inflation, before it gets to your local store. Wholesale inflation is once again at a 40-year high. 16.6%. Did you think 10% Food Inflation was bad? How about 16.6%? That is what’s coming tomorrow. For Goods. Wholesale inflation for services is only 7.6%. Feel better?
Hey Annie! Wake up and smell the coffee! Whoops, according to the Wall Street Journal, thanks to “extreme weather and supply-chain disruptions,” we have a coffee shortage and prices are up 76%. Yeah, we got a chart for that.
Homebuyers! Do not feel left out. Home mortgage interest rates are still climbing, according to Freddie Mac (formerly known as the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation), now up about 300% since Christmas. Pass the eggnog! Merry? Merry? Investors! Guess what… the market is tanking. Down 17% this year. So far. But you already knew that.
What’s It All About? Six Keys To Happiness
How do you survive when the best-case scenario is: Horrifically Worse Than Jimmy Carter, But At Least No Thermonuclear War? Follow the Six Steps:
Stay home. Do not move about. Do not turn on the A/C. Do not eat. Do not buy another house. Do not look at your investments. Bonus Step: Go to a LifePlan™ Workshop. Drink our coffee. Have a oatmeal raisin cookie on us! Cheers… Easy!
Is Traditional Trust Planning Failure A Scam?
Why Is Your Estate Plan A Death Trap
Can Widespread Failure Be Explained By Incompetence And Indifference?
Traditional estate planning is supposed to avoid probate, save taxes, and dump your leftover stuff on your beneficiaries. After you die. Nobody cares what happens to you while you are alive. How does that help anyone? Stupid.
Traditional estate planning fails because the overwhelming majority of us will need long-term skilled care. 70% of us. For an average of 3 years. And we will go broke paying for it.
Is it surprising that thousands of recreation properties: cottages, cabins, hunting land, are lost to pay for long- term care? Why is your estate planner hurting you and your family? It is evil intent? Or stupidity?
LifePlanning™ defeats Nursing Home Poverty. Keep your stuff. Get the care you have already paid for. Good for you. Good for your family. Good example for society.
When my mother suffered from the dementia which led to her death, over 10 years ago, their estate plan preserved their lifesavings. Mom’s months in the nursing home did not mean Dad’s impoverishment. Dad spent the last years with security and peace of mind.
Is Now A Bad Time For A Real Solution?
Perhaps you think you already have an answer to this problem. Maybe you do not see this as a problem at all. It is possible that you do not believe in the passage of time or its effects on you.
Peace of mind and financial security are waiting for everyone who practices LifePlanning™. You know that peace only begins with financial security. Are legal documents the most important? Is avoiding probate the best you can do for yourself or your loved ones? Is family about inheritance? Or are these things only significant to support the foundation of your family?
Do you think finding the best care is easy? Do you want to get lost in the overwhelming flood of claims and promises? Or would you like straight answers?
Well, here you are. Now you know. No excuses. Get the information, insight, inspiration. It is your turn. Ignore the message? Invite poverty? Or get the freely offered information. To make wise decisions. For you. For your loved ones.
The LifePlan™ Workshop has been the first step on the path to security and peace for thousands of families. Why not your family?
No Poverty. No Charity. No Waste.
It is not chance. It is choice. Your choice.
Get Information Now. (800) 317-2812
Messages In Bottles, Responses In Elder Law Reporter
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Light One Candle Or Curse The Darkness?
(Not Edited For Spelling Or Punctuation Or Anything Else) (Warning: Not Legal Advice!)
Question: What do I need to do to remove people from a house my father owned and recently died there is no lease or will?
Dad passed away went to home and found people living in it we are being held responsible for funeral and other bills but town police will not remove people that I have never met and won’t tell us there name? Value of assets is in the millions we are his only 3 children.
Short Answer: Evict ‘em! But observe all requirements of Landlord Tenant law. You cannot just “kick them out”!
Longer Answer: Bad people have been known to take over the homes of long-term care facility residents. Especially when the kids live out of town. No one checks on the house. No one questions the new residents. And the results can be unfortunate. And there is no simple solution, no easy escape. Police cannot “throw the bums out” because state law prohibits removal of “tenants” without due process. You cannot “give‘em the 23-skidoo!” because the law frowns on and severely penalizes vigilante landlord justice. You can call Ghostbusters, but you must give them a 30-day notice to quit. And when they still won’t leave, you’ll have to take them to court. You finally get your judgment. They are not going anywhere. Time to call the sheriff and the movers.
Word to the Wise: Perhaps your loved one will need residential long term care in a nursing home or assisted living facility. Maybe they would simply enjoy the convenience of independent living. When your loved one leaves home, make sure there is no one left behind. Or you will pay the price.
Are you against controlling the family home? Is it a ridiculous idea that folks who have helped hundreds of families transition to long-term care could prevent these sorts of shenanigans? Do you want to spend months getting back what belongs to your family in the first place? Would you rather buy a pound of cure or an ounce of prevention?
Question: Can I be a guardian if I was convicted 6 years ago of welfare fraud and I paid all my fine and I’m off probation
My mom is in nursing home and her properties have to be sold I’m paying all her bills I she lived with me the last 2 1/2 years.
Short Answer: You have certainly paid your debt to society, but it is still up to the probate judge to decide. You have been trustworthy and loyal for the last 2 ½ years, so the judge might go your way. Or might appoint a public guardian and cut you out of your mom’s care entirely.
Long Answer: Is it crazy to think that things work out better when you plan ahead? You have been doing all the good things for 2 ½ years and yet you have not taken a couple very basic steps to protect your mom or her relationship with you.
As a competent adult, you get to choose whom you would like to make decisions for you. It is 100% your choice. No one else has to agree. Everyone else in the world might think your choice was bad, wrong, stupid, and horrible. Their opinions do not matter. You get to choose.
What if you do not choose. Shirk your responsibility to yourself and your family. If you do not exercise your rights as an adult person, what happens when you cannot make decisions for yourself? What happens if you suffer a stroke? Or Lewy Body dementia? Or Alzheimer’s? Or get hit in the head with a frying pan? Yowch!
If you have not selected that person in writing, you have a One-Way Ticket to Probate Court. A journey that will be far more expensive and wearing than taking a few hours to get an honest-to-goodness, works-when-you-need-it estate plan in place.
Excuses to avoid planning flow like the Mighty Mississippi…rolling, rolling, rolling down to the sea… So you avoided spending the time and money. Wonderful!
Get ready to spend ten times as much time, money, and aggravation. Also understand that you will not be able to shelter mom’s house or assets from the skilled nursing care costs. Everything has to pass by the probate judge for approval, sooner or later.
And if you have a skeleton or two in your closet… be prepared to lose control over mom’s health care decisions and financial choices too.
Regular folks are never prepared for the reality of probate court. You think the judge understands that you are a good person, doing the righteous thing for your loved one. Ha ha ha. Judges have seen it all. And most of it is NOT GOOD. Granddaughter on house arrest takes grampa to the store to buy a fifty-cent candy bar with a $100 check. So granddaughter gets the change in cash. So she can buy more crack. (Crack dealers rarely take checks.) Abuse. Financial exploitation. Neglect.
How does the judge know that you are not one of these godforsaken souls? The judge does not. And will treat you with fine equality. Just like a crackhead.
You are not used to being treated that way. You will not like it. Unfortunately, those are the folks the judge mostly sees.
Gee, do you think maybe you should have done some planning while there was time? Or is that just crazy talk?
Question: Can someone exercise power of attorney without authorization?
My sister (age 47) and my elderly father (age 78) use the same auto mechanic. My father owns a large pick-up truck that needed work over two years ago. He previously used this truck to tow his fifth wheel trailer. My mother (83) had concerns about my father driving such a large truck because of Parkinson’s symptoms. So, my sister convinced the auto mechanic to delay completion of the repair. For over two years the mechanic has been telling my father numerous excuses as to why the repair cannot be completed. My father has no idea that my sister interfered with his private business.
Short Answer: This has nothing to do with “power of attorney.” This has everything to do with deception, disrespect, and dishonesty.
Long Answer: A power of attorney is an expression of trust. Dad trusts Daughter to make decisions for him and to carry out his instructions. Dad puts his confidence in writing. Dad tells the whole world that Daughter may act on Dad’s behalf, doing the things Dad could do, in Dad’s best interests. In writing. According to the law.
Here, there is no power of attorney. Not even a “verbal” one. Dad simply took his truck into the fix-it shop. Dad made a deal with the mechanic: Fix the truck. I will pay. Pretty simple deal.
Daughter now chooses to interfere with Dad’s fix-it deal. Daughter convinces mechanic to break the contract. Mechanic lies to Dad. Over and over. Again and again. All in Dad’s “best interests.” According to whom? According to his wife. I guess. She who must be obeyed. Shameful.
Dad has “Parkinson’s symptoms.” Dad is not suffering from dementia. If he is like most Parkinson victims, his mental acuity has not suffered. And it may not be Parkinson’s at all.
Is it okay to lie a little for a good end? Is it okay to lie a lot over 2 years for a good end? Do the ends justify the means? Will there be consequences and repercussions from telling the truth? Sure, but there aren’t there always consequences and repercussions to telling the truth? Is it better to lie for an extended period of time before you tell the truth? Is it worse to tell the trutht right away?
Recently the Supreme Court of the United States issued some opinions. Some reversed cases that had been decided poorly many years ago. Every serious legal scholar agreed that those old decisions were made under intense political pressure. Now, fifty years later, the Supreme Court is finally doing its job. And some politicians prefer deception. They would rather have lousy legal doctrines, cooked up undemocratically by black robed oracles than by greasy politicians kowtowing to the people who elected them. Didn’t somebody once upon a time praise the idea that government should be of the people, by the people, for the people?
Is The Reporter sympathetic to the family that worries about Dad and endangering other people? Yes.
Does the Reporter believe that honesty is the best policy? Should you do your truthful best and let the chips fall where they may?
Yes, to both. Bite that bullet. Do that tough thing. Enjoy mutual respect without the twisted stomach that comes from lying. Try it, you’ll like it!
Question: Can I get my apartments put back into my name.
I trusted my grandson that he needed a cosigner for a home I signed some papers coming to find out that what I was signing was transfer papers he lied to me as well as the lady in her place of business where he took me told me the same thing about co-signing for credit on a home.
I never felt so betrayed and hurt, immensely angry with him that he tricked me.
Short Answer: This is garden variety fraud; larceny by trick. Immediately you should file an Affidavit Concerning Interests in Land against the property, documenting grandson’s nefarious scheme and disavowing the deed you were fraudulently induced to sign.
Grandson’s next step may well be to defraud an innocent third party by selling or mortgaging your property. You do not want to be in court with an innocent third-party purchaser for value.
Long Answer: Seven hundred years ago, Italian poet Dante Alighieri took a trip through Hell and lived to tell the tale. You may have heard of Dante’s Inferno? That’s the one! Turns out there are 9 Circles of Hell. The Ninth is lowest and worst. Souls in the Ninth Circle are trapped in a frozen lake, tortured by demons for all eternity. And who winds up in the Ninth Circle?
Traitors. Fraudsters who criminally violate the special bonds of love that should bind them to their victims. Treacherous. Selfish. Doomed to suffer for all time and beyond, in the company of the Devil, aka, Lucifer, Satan, Dis, Beelzebub. According to Dante, the souls of family traitors descend to hell immediately, while the human body continues its hopeless journey on earth.
But that is not all!
On this side of the Great Divide, Adult Protective Services is ready, willing, and able to enforce laws against elder financial abuse. It is a felony crime to defraud someone this way. For elders, the penalties are enhanced. Your tax dollars at work.
This can be fixed, but it will take fixing. Get to your friendly, neighborhood elder law attorney and block this rancid puppy’s next move. And step on it! Pronto.
Fourth Of July: Why Not Declare Your Independence?
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Twelve years ago.
The year is 2010. On a hot summer afternoon, warm bright air, sunny, a bit of a breeze. Two men retiring from the same homegrown Michigan company. They were very much alike, these two older gentlemen. Team builders. Known for getting the job done. Both had better-than-average, thirty-year careers. Personable, well-respected, and secure. Paid-for home, nice cottage. Everybody likes the lake. Boating. Swimming. No debt. Conservative investments. No bad habits (except spoiling the grandkids). Respected. Accomplished.
As new retirees so often are, both were filled with dreams for the future. Time to spend more time with the important people. Wives, kids, grandchildren. At the cottage, on the golf course, traveling. Enjoying the retirement freedom and security they had anticipated, saved for, earned.
Last week.
July 2022. The company had its one-hundredth anniversary. Both men were invited to celebrate.
They were still very much alike. Both healthy. Each had three grandchildren. Still devoted to their wives of over forty years. Both primary caregivers. At home. Just a few short years into retirement, their wives were stricken with Alzheimer’s Disease. Dementia. Memory Loss. Unusual Behaviors.
Family and friends have been sympathetic. Both men welcome the help and are grateful. But.
But there were enormous differences.
One struggled to make ends meet. “On duty” 24 hours per day. Exhausted. Retirement savings, cottage, comfortable home – all gone. His wife gone to the nursing home. And with pension replaced by the 401(k), living on social security. Pitiful.
The other man recently hosted his granddaughter’s wedding. At the lake. One hundred and twenty guests. Life savings intact. Independent, secure. Yes, he was his wife’s primary caregiver. But she still lived at their home. And he had plenty of help. Using the Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE). PACE provides services at home. No worries. COVID emergency rules are still in effect. Medical Emergency extended yet again. He keeps their home, their cottage, their life savings. Respected. Safe.
Why Is One Desperate
And The Other Secure?
Do You Want Pity Or Respect?
Have you ever wondered, as I have, what makes this kind of difference in a person’s life? It does not seem to be native intelligence or talent or dedication. I do not believe that one person wants security, and the other does not. No one is looking for pity. Both would like respect. How has each man used the knowledge they have?
Doesn’t the difference lie in what each person knows and how he or she uses that knowledge?
And that is why I am writing for you and for people like you. For that is the purpose of this blog: To give its readers knowledge – knowledge that they can use in life. LifePlanning™ that benefits themselves, their loved ones, their greater circle of friends. Have you heard about PACE or the new COVID emergency rules anywhere else?
Why didn’t your lawyer or financial adviser tell you?
They cannot tell you what they do not know.
Traditional Estate Planning Lawyers are only concerned with avoiding probate and getting your leftovers to the kids. Things that happen after you have both died. Good to do, of course. But you are not dead yet. Maybe it would be helpful to keep your assets while you are still in the land of the living. LifePlanning™ shows you how.
Financial Advisors advise on finances. Liquidity. Rates of Return. Stability. Long- term care is not their area of expertise. Let’s keep the financial folks focused on financials. Let them worry about increasing your nest egg. LifePlanning™ is making sure the eggs stay in the nest. Financial Advisors want to put more in your bucket… LifePlanning™ makes sure the bottom doesn’t drop out.
To serve and protect you, the Reporter brings you a broad range of information of interest and significance. No matter what the source. Not limited to dusty laws or arcane regulations. Anything and everything that affects middle- class security and well-being.
Take Action Today
Knowledge, concepts, ideas – all very fine. But without action? Nothing. LifePlanning™ incorporates The Reporter’s unique perspective and knowledge, in real life. Getting what you have earned. Avoiding nursing home poverty. Living life to the full, whatever the circumstances. Thousands of Michigan families use LifePlan™ techniques. Securing a better life for their families. Security is a choice. What do you choose?
Knowledge Is Power, If You Use It
Emergency COVID rules gave you options without poverty.
Beginning two years ago, Spring 2020, we told you about an expansion of the Program for All-inclusive Care for the Elderly – PACE. Emergency rules for the COVID pandemic. We told you: you do not have to sacrifice your life savings, your cottage, your property. Over the last years, through pandemics, vaccines, elections, protests, and general shenanigans, many, many families responded. And have benefited.
But the emergency rules were set to expire on November 1, 2020. Then extended to April 1, 2021! Now extended to the indefinite future… Bad news: you and hundreds more families were shut out. Not enough time. Too bad, so sad. Coulda, shoulda, woulda. Snooze and lose. A bitter pill. But… those rules were extended to April 1, 2020. And then?
The recent past has been full of surprises. Finally, a good surprise!
Good news: the emergency rules have been extended “until further notice.” Thousands of families let the first opportunity slip through their fingers. You let the second chance expire. Now you have a third chance. Should you wait to see how long the government let this go? Are you kidding?
Remember playing the kids’ party game Musical Chairs? When the music stops, somebody’s gonna miss the chair, fall on the floor. When the PACE music stops, some folks are going to miss out. Why should your family lose? Why should you or your loved one fall on the floor?
No Poverty, No Charity, No Waste Not Pity…
The Respect You Have Earned Make Rules Work For Folks Who Play By The Rules
Too many middle-class families (one is too many and long-term care poverty robs thousands) go broke from endless nursing home, assisted living, or caregiver bills. Pitiful. That does not happen to our LifePlan™ families. Respect. Security. Confidence.
It is simple: Three Goals, One Strategy.
1. No Poverty – You will not go broke.
When you are in control, life is good. You will not go broke from casinos, Bernie Madoff, or too many vacations. Long-term care rips the steering wheel from your hands and points you over the cliff. No choice, no chance. LifePlanning™ keeps you firmly in the driver’s seat. In control. Lifesavings intact. As you have always been.
2. No Charity – Caregivers get paid. You already “bought the insurance.”
America pays for long-term care through your taxes. Withheld from every paycheck you ever earned. More than your fair share over the years. You paid for other people. Folks you have never met. You, the middle-class, only want a fair shake. You paid in, you should get paid back if needed. Without sacrificing every red cent.
Does Social Security refuse to pay out when you have lifesavings?
Does Medicare say, “Come back and see us when you are broke?
Why should long-term care, paid by your tax dollars, be different? Why?
3. No Waste – Any leftovers go to your beneficiaries. Not wasted on probate or taxes.
Why shouldn’t your family, your loved ones, benefit from your leftovers? Why should probate, taxes, government soak up what is left? Wise plans avoid strife and insure family harmony.
For 32 years, the LifePlan™ strategy has achieved your goals.
The rules can work for you. LifePlanning™ makes the rules work for the people who play by the rules. Other so-called experts, attorneys, planners, financial advisors accept the status quo. They do what everyone else does. The LifePlan™ approach dives deep. Seeking out and securing your family’s future.
How Can You Protect What You Have Earned? What Should You Do Now?
Safe and secure or broke and anxious?
About those older gentlemen I mentioned at the beginning. Both men retired at the same time. They faced similar challenges. What made their lives so different? Luck? Lottery tickets? Guardian Angels? Some folks may think so…
Others know different. Knowledge. Useful knowledge. Action. Follow through. Better results. Why does one man, honorable and well-meaning, face a pathetic future… to be pitied by friends and relations? Why does the other man, with the same opportunities, face a secure future… respected and admired by sons and daughters, grandchildren, and greatgrandchildren? And his neighbors at the lake? Who will live longer? Who will live happier?
Which path do you choose? Is it all luck? Or does your success depend on intelligent action? And hard work. Your action. Your work. Did luck that paid off the mortgage? I didn’t think so.
Sound planning or Urgent need?
Are you facing an urgent need? Caring for your spouse or parent? Has a loved one received a diagnosis? Have you retired and watched your friends and neighbors go through long-term care impoverishment? Years of planning and saving washed away like a sand castle at the beach.
Are you considering retirement and want to face the future without fear? Would planning that lasts a lifetime meet your criteria? Does it seem unfair that the middle-class should pay and pay while others reap the rewards?
Put Us To The Test
Thousands of families across 32 years have experienced the proof. They had questions, doubts, confusion, just like you. But they acted. They found out. They made positive, life-affirming decisions. Why not you? Call directly or email. Facing an emergency? Loved one in long-term care right now? Caring for your spouse or parent at home? When you need us, we will be there for you. If your situation is urgent, we will get right on it. Or choose to attend a LifePlan™ Workshop in person or online.
Get the information you cannot get anywhere else.
Get the information you need without charge or obligation. Just ask. Your time and attention are precious, we will not waste either. Get the inside story no one else shares.
Get The Lifeplan™ Information Now
Call The LifePlan™ Hotline Today (800) 317-2812