Dozens of attorneys and certified financial planners from the Financial Planning Association of the Greater Hudson Valley provided pro bono counsel at Westchester County”™s 11th Annual Senior Law Day on Oct. 14. Attorney Steven Schurkman of Keane & Beane P.C. in White Plains led a crash course in estate planning. He addressed changes in estate tax laws, as well as New York”™s new Family Health Care Decisions Act. Here are excerpts of his presentation.
Q: A lot of people will say, ”˜What do I need a power of attorney for? I own all my assets jointly with a child. Do I still need a power of attorney?”™”
Schurkman: “I say the power of attorney is a very important document to have because I”™ve seen cases where a parent has $600,000 and the parent has three children. The parent has a will that says ”˜I leave my assets in three equal shares to my 3 children.”™ A parent has one child that lives nearby and they put that child on her account jointly so that child can handle her day to day affairs while she”™s alive. The parent passes away ”“ where do the assets go? To the child who is joint on the accounts. If, instead, the parent had named the child by power of attorney, the power of attorney ends when the parent passes on and then the will takes over. But if you”™ve named somebody jointly on the account, it just goes to that person and in some circumstances, the child is beneficent and wants to share with their siblings. But, I”™m sure you”™re not shocked to hear, in other cases, they might not be. So that”™s what engenders litigation.”
Q: Is it true you have to divest yourself of your assets and wait five years before you”™re eligible for Medicaid?
Schurkman: “That is correct, but it relates only to Medicaid in a nursing home. It does not relate to Medicaid at home. Medicaid at home ”“ if you were to transfer assets away to become eligible for Medicaid, you are actually eligible on the first day of the month after you transfer those assets away.”
Q: “I have a power of attorney that was done a few years ago. With the change that was made, should I do something about it or is the old power of attorney in effect?
Schurkman: “The answer is, powers of attorney signed before Sept. 1, 2009, are still in effect. But when I counsel people, I say that if the gift-giving part is important to you, where you want to make sure that your agent can actually do gifting of assets so that you have tax reduction planning or asset protection planning for Medicaid, you may want to have an attorney take a fresh look at it”¦ Now, not only do you (the person who”™s making the power of attorney) sign the power, but the agent also must sign the power. Many times, people would appoint individuals to be their agent but never tell them, and then one day, all of a sudden, something happens and they get a phone call and maybe they don”™t want to serve or maybe they”™re not up to it. So it”™s important that the agent signs off on this document, and there”™s a place on the power of attorney form to accomplish that.”
