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

Before 2010, estate planning was almost always focused on reducing taxes and probate avoidance. This type of planning is important, but since over 99 percent of society is no longer facing death taxes, the old way of setting up trusts have become completely unnecessary for most. 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 are not much better. With such costs, it would not take long for most seniors to go broke.
Fortunately, today, 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 public 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 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 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.