Illinois Estate Planning & Elder Law Blog

Elder care managers evaluate the needs of an older individual. Often care issues have been over looked. For example, 12 million Americans live with chronic pulmonary disease, 1.5 million have Parkinson’s disease and researchers estimate that by 2050, 13.2 million Americans will have Alzheimer’s disease.

Care managers meet with individuals at their homes and get a feel for the personal and medical considerations which should be taken into account. If the individual has special health care funding requirements now or in the future, care managers have first hand knowledge and are in a position to accurately project future cash needs.

Because many children live far from their elderly parents, elder care managers provide independent evaluations and send their findings in a report to the children. This gives the children peace of mind knowing that an independent evaluator with no ties to local siblings, institutions or medical providers is generating the report.

ElderCareSolutions, Inc. provides care managers and serves the Chicago area. It is based in Naperville, Illinois.

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After an individual dies, his estate is responsible for paying any debts. If the estate does not have enough money, the debts will go unpaid. Debt collectors are not permitted to collect payment from relatives unless the relative was a co-signer or guarantor of the indebtedness. Children are not responsible for the debts of their deceased parents.

Some assets are exempt from debt collection.

If a debt collector contacts you, it is best to give the collector the contact information for the executor or the administrator of the estate. The executor or administrator will in turn refer the matter to the lawyer assisting him with the estate.

Individuals who give valuable assets like jewelry to children before their death need to be mindful of the fact that these gifts could be viewed by a court as fraudulent conveyances designed to defraud the creditor. A court may order the individuals to turn over the gift to the creditor. Also, if the executor or administrator gives the assets of the estate to beneficiaries before creditors are satisfied, the executor or administrator becomes personally responsible for payment of the creditor claims.

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In a recent Chicago Tribune article, Daily Money Management Services Keep Seniors Independent, the availability of a personal service to handle paying bills, balancing the checkbook, filing insurance claims and other money management matters is reported on.

Amie Hyman, owner of Heartfelt Solutions for Seniors, Inc. in Willow Springs, addresses the issue and explains how times have changed from when senior citizens were able to rely on relatives who lived close by and senior citizens had uncomplicated money management issues. “This service is very much in demand, as the younger generation does not always live in the same area as their parents”, states Ms. Hyman. “It becomes overwhelming when the junk mail, doctor bills and Medicare statements start to pile up. They can forget to pay a bill or they are late and incur fees”.

Some of the services provided to seniors include setting up automatic withdrawals from bank accounts to pay bills, writing checks, managing bank deposits, transferring funds among accounts, negotiating with creditors and dealing with medical insurance providers

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One simple way you can reduce estate taxes or shelter assets in order to achieve Medicaid eligibility is to give some or all of your estate to your children (or anyone else) during their lives in the form of gifts. Certain rules apply. There is no limit on how much you may give during your lifetime, but if you give any individual more than $13,000 (in 2011), you must file a gift tax return reporting the give to the IRS. Also, the amount above $13,000 will be counted against a $5 million lifetime tax exclusion for gifts.

The $13,000 figure is an exclusion from the gift tax reporting requirement. You may give $13,000 to each of your children, their spouses and your grandchildren (or to anyone else you choose) each year without reporting these gifts to the IRS. In addition, if you are married, your spouse can duplicate these gifts. For example, a married couple with four children can give away up to $104,000 in 2011 with no gift tax implications. In addition, the gifts will not count as taxable income to your children (although the earnings on the gifts if they are invested will be taxed).

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