Laws Surrounding Gifts to Grandchildren From Grandparents

Everyone knows that certain gifts that are given to people could incur a large amount of taxes. However, grandparents really think about how much they can give their grandchildren before taxes need to be considered. Here is a look at the rules surrounding gifts from grandparents to grandchildren and how much can be given each year before it is declared taxable income.

If you are giving a gift of money to your grandchild you are able to gift your grandchild up to $13,000 a year as of 2011. This gift can be given per grandchild and does not have to be considered a taxable gift. If you are married, you are able to give a grandchild a gift for each grandparent. That means if you were the grandparents of four children and married you would be able to gift $104,000 a year without having to report the gifts as taxable income which would require your grandchildren have to pay taxes.

The only problem that will result in this type of gift is that there is no guarantee that the money will be used by the grandparents wish. There is no legal standing and no requirements to use the money as the grandparents would like that means that the grandparent gifted $13,000 for college education the grandchild could technically use it for a summer vacation to France. If you wish to give money that can only be used for specific purposes you should look into other gifting option such as direct payment, trust funds and other gifting options that are available to grandparents.

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Getting Help Paying for Assisted Living and the True Cost of Senior Care

President Johnson signing the U.S. Medicare bi...
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Do you worry about how you will pay for the assisted living facility you must put your senior parent into?  Are you unsure that the costs are even worth it when you can just hire in-home care and then help out yourself?  You would not be alone as many people face these questions on a daily basis.  Many people are faced with the fact that they just cannot do it alone anymore.  And that is okay.  These facilities are there to provide both as service and peace of mind.  And when it comes time to make that hard decision, believe me, it is worth it to have professionals provide medical care and services to your parent or parents.  And it is well worth the cost.  On top of that, it is not going to cost you much more than trying to keep them at home and provide caregivers and medical care.
First let us look at how you can get help paying for assisted living.  If you do not have private funds for you or your relative, you can often get help from government funding programs like Medicaid or Medicare.  Medicare is premium-free in certain conditions or you might need to pay a monthly premium.  This covers things like hospital stays and stays at skilled nursing facilities like nursing homes as well as some home care.  This government health program can also cover medical supplies, tests and more.   If cost of care is a concern, make sure to take the time to look into help from the government.
But when you look at true cost, you have to look at more than just the medical costs.  Living at home costs more than just a mortgage or rent.  There are bills like utilities, groceries, and home maintenance.  All of these things will be covered when you senior parent is in a facility.  Plus, you will feel peace of mind knowing they are taken care of each day.  That in itself is priceless.
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Filed Under: Elder Law, Guardian, Guardianship Tagged With: , ,

Today’s Retirement Communities Help Seniors Stay Active

CENTENNIAL, CO - DECEMBER 06: Seniors attend ...
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What I am about to tell you, you might find hard to believe.  It might even sound crazy.  If you want to get your senior parent living a more active, social life; you should put them into a retirement home.  I told you that would sound crazy.  But in many cases, it is also true.  Today’s senior independent living communities are made for our more active seniors.  With the advancement in medical care and prescription medications along with healthier lifestyles; people are aging more gracefully and are more able to take care of themselves and be active.  Not all seniors fit this bill though.  Some, especially those who live alone and apart from family, might become less active and even depressed.  This is where a good retirement facility can help.
Today’s retirement communities often look like a vacation resort.  They usually have pools and fitness centers on site.  They will provide exercise classes and activities to keep their residences engaged and active.  Some come with memberships to golf courses, tennis facilities and other clubs.  And the staff often functions like an entertainment staff from a cruise ship arranging parties, happy hours, hobbies, games and more.  It is hard for anyone not to be active when living in a place with amenities like this.  So for the senior who is stuck at home unless they actively seek out things to keep them busy, this is like a cornucopia of fun and active lifestyle living.
Another thing to address is loneliness.  If you senior parent has lost most of their friends, they are bound to get lonely, become less active and get depressed.  With a large group of people their age who are also independent and active surrounding them, this is less likely to happen.  So I would suggest that you suggest to your aging parent that they look into one of these retirement facilities for seniors.
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The Convenience Of Home Care For Elderly

Visit from the home care nurse
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The chance that you will  have a loved one at home, whether he be elderly or not, with a long term medical condition such as Diabetes is good one.  Today people do not spend an extensive amount of time in hospitals and patients are discharged early with home care support.

This is a positive move in health care management for several reasons.  The most obvious is that it is a lot cheaper to recuperate in the comfort of your own home. Hospitals are always short of beds and this makes more beds available for those who really need them.  Hospitals are rampant with superbugs these days.  A super bug is a drug resistant bug that loves to hang around the corridors of hospitals waiting for immune-compromised souls to feast upon.  It is in everyone’s best interest to the heck out of hospital as soon as possible.

Home care includes the services of registered nurse practitioners as well as personal support workers and even in some case para medical staff like physio therapists.  They will come and change your dressings, give you insulin, help you to bath and dress and generally do everything required to get you well again.  All in the comforting environment of your own home.

I had the pleasure last year of home care.  I had minor surgery and was surprised when I was told it would be day surgery.  To my knowledge this usually required at least three days in hospital.  I came around from anesthetic and once the good doctor was convinced I was able to breath reliably on my own, my husband was called to fetch me. The following two days, I had a nurse come by to take out my catheter and change my dressings.  The whole experience was quick and simple and I recovered in record time.  I personally believe home care is the best thing to avoid complications after surgery.

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Filed Under: Elder Law, Guardian, Guardianship Tagged With: , , ,

Guardianship and Conservatorship

If you have a loved one who is moving upward in years, you need to start thinking (in concert with them) about what to do with their property if they should ever become mentally handicapped. While there is no guarantee that a person’s mental state will decline with age, it is by far better to be prepared for a scenario and never need to exercise that preparation than it is to have to scramble out with “something” because a proper solution was never developed. As should be fairly obvious, the older one gets, the greater the likelihood becomes that they may begin a gradual slide into dementia.

If your loved one owns something of value, such as a house, a business or a car, you need to speak with them about who would be in charge of these holdings if they should become mentally unable to lead and manage them appropriately. This decision about the state of affairs is called conservatorship. There also needs to be a clear and well known dialogue (backed up with something in writing) about what to do as far as taking care of the person, if their mental state should ever regress to the level of incompetence to care for themselves. This decision is called guardianship. And while the pat answer of “just put me in a corner somewhere” may be a humorously intended comeback when asked, this is the kind of decision that needs to be made with a clear mind and after a great deal of thought has been put into the discussion.

In your research into care options, the most important element has got to be finding people who can be trusted. There are two axes of trust: the trust of a person’s intentions (whether or not they will treat you fairly and do right with your assets), and the trust of a person’s competence (whether they can actually take care of you, and whether they could actually maintain the administrative aspects of your life). If you know someone whom you can trust in both respects, enlist their help if you can.

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What is Elder Law?

A lot of talk has been going around lately about elder law. Specifically, what is it, and how does it affect the person who is asking the question. Everyone has the occasional moments of selfishness, every so often. And ultimately, nothing has significance to a person unless it somehow affects them directly. In the case of people who will eventually grow old, the ultimate effect is that the law will grant them Social Security, Medicare, and will eventually process their probate if they die without a properly written last will and testament. Simply put, elder law is anything that has to do with people who are mature (which is far nicer than just calling them old).

But do not simply shrug it off, either. Elder law is about more than just thinking very far into the future. It also concerns any and all people who have relatives who are getting up there in years, as well. If your parents are getting into their 50s and 60s, this is a clear and present concern for you. Will their minds start to go, forcing you to seek out power of attorney over them? Will their savings dwindle and debts become burdensome, forcing them to file for bankruptcy? Will they need to be placed into some kind of an assisted living facility, such as a nursing home? And if one or more of these issues comes to the fore front, how will you as a grown child deal with the situation?

Obviously, you can not take for granted that your parents and grand parents will know what to do, when the situation becomes more urgent than “some day.” This is new to them, as well. But if you take the time to begin to understand elder law, you will come to see it as an essential part of how our society deals with something inevitable. You only get two choices: grow older, or die young. And while neither of those is an ideal state in which to be, the former greatly outstrips the latter as far as being preferable for most people.

Filed Under: Elder Law, Guardian, Law Tagged With: , , ,