Why is Elder Law Planning the New Estate Planning for California Seniors?

Before 2010, estate planning was almost always focused on reducing transfer taxes and probate avoidance. This type of planning is important, but since over 99 percent of society is no longer facing death taxes, estate tax planning is relatively simple in comparison to the asset protection planning needs which seniors must account for today.
In other words, the old way of setting up trusts have become completely unnecessary for most people because they can now give away over $11,000,000 tax free. On the other hand, people are living longer with seemingly less assets and income to support their lifestyle and care. How much income and assets are needed for care costs as people age, you wonder? Well, skilled nursing costs now easily exceed $8,800 per month!
Also, statistically, we know that most seniors want to live in their home for the rest of their lives. But they are usually unsuccessful. That’s because the average cost of home care is now $25/hour. If round-the-clock care is needed, that adds up to $18,000 per month! Intermediate levels of care at assisted living facilities, board and care homes, and the like, are not much better. At these rates, it would not take long for most seniors to go broke.
Fortunately, an increasing number of seniors nowadays are not relying on general tax and probate avoidance trusts to handle their planning. Instead, many wise seniors are thinking about asset protection and elder law. With care costs continually rising, asset protection trusts are simply not a luxury for the “rich” anymore. Indeed, they are a necessity for many who hope to qualify for Medi-Cal and/or Veterans Aid and Attendance Pension Benefits, in order to help pay for rising long term care costs.
Moreover, for many families the asset protection analysis does not end with the seniors themselves. Once seniors realize the benefits of asset protection planning, they are usually focused on providing a similar type of protection for their loved ones. Indeed, knowing the likelihood that one (or more) of their children might wind up in trouble (e.g., getting divorced, in a bad car accident, or business failure/bankruptcy, etc.), many seniors not only choose to protect themselves from rising care costs with elder care planning, they also create a plan within their plan to protect their children, too.
To ensure your estate plan provides California asset protection, please contact Randall F. Kaiden, Esq. of Kaiden Elder Law Group, PC, at 661-247-8433, or via our website at: www.kaidenelderlaw.com.