Every ElderCare Concierge Services engagement is different because every client’s needs are different. Depending on your circumstances, your plan may include any combination of the following and more:

Estate Planning and Special Needs Planning

We advise on and prepare comprehensive estate planning documents, including revocable and irrevocable trusts, special needs trusts, wills, powers of attorney, advance health care and dementia care directives, deeds, HIPAA waivers (Authorizations for Disclosure of Protected Personal Health Care information), and related documents. We include a maintenance program to keep our clients’ estate plans up-to-date as life and laws change.

Trust and/or Estate Administration

We advise on the post-incapacity administration of a trust or estate to avoid conservatorship and help families handle the affairs of an elderly loved one. Also, for clients who have recently lost a loved one, we guide the surviving spouse or other family member(s) through the full scope of post-death trust and estate administration (other than a full probate): clearing title to property and accounts, assisting with IRA rollovers, assisting with sales of property, filing paperwork to claim available property tax reassessment exemptions, advising on the estate tax portability elections option, and representing clients in preparing a Small Estate Affidavit and in uncontested court petitions to modify an existing trust, make a spousal community property claim, make a Heggstad claim, or request powers to enter into transactions concerning community property on behalf of an incapacitated spouse.

Asset Protection & Medi-Cal Planning

We advise on strategies to protect assets while planning for long-term care costs, including the use and preparation of irrevocable Medi-Cal Planning trusts. We also counsel on and assist with the applications for Medi-Cal eligibility and renewal, minimizing Medi-Cal share-of-cost, and avoiding a Medi-Cal recovery claim after death. This work may include preparing and representing clients in a probate court petition to increase the assets allowed for a community spouse and/or establishing a spousal income support allowance to increase the Medi-Cal asset and income limits for a married couple where one needs Medi-Cal to pay for care in a facility. We also work closely with clients and their financial advisors and tax advisors to plan for any consequences of transferring property. We explain the medical and care benefits available from Medi-Cal, how Medi-Cal and Medicare work together, and the eligibility issues for each individual’s situation.

Care Coordination, Housing & Patient Advocacy

We educate and advise on housing and care options for the declining senior, including in-home care, independent living communities, assisted living and memory care facilities, board and care homes, and skilled nursing facilities. We coordinate with other care professionals, including care placement services and care managers (paid separately by our client), and advocate on our client’s behalf when patients’ rights and many other legal issues arise, always focusing on the elder’s well-being and dignity, and bringing peace of mind to the elder and the family. Unfortunately, we cannot offer general conservatorship or probate administration of estate legal services under this program and do not represent clients in contested elder abuse or other legal matters for which a litigator or other specialist is needed.

Financial Coordination & Tax Guidance

We advise on federal and state income, estate, gift, and property tax rules and issues. As part of our estate and long-term care planning, we address the tax consequences and explain options to legally minimize or avoid taxes where possible through advanced planning, including planning to preserve the basis step-up at death tax benefit for surviving spouses and family, and avoid reassessment of California real properties on transfers at death. Where needed, we confer with the client’s CPA and provide legal memoranda on tax treatment of trusts and other planning we did.

Family Coordination, Guardianships, Limited Conservatorships & Peace of Mind

We work with the elder, family members, fiduciaries, and successor trustees to reduce confusion and conflict, honor the elder’s wishes, and keep everyone informed. Steady guidance lets families focus on an elder’s care and quality of life rather than paperwork and crisis management. We also assist clients in planning for their disabled children or grandchildren, assisting in being appointed (provided the case is uncontested) as the legal guardian of a minor child’s estate in order to take possession of an inheritance or life insurance proceeds from a deceased family member, and advise and assist clients in being appointed as a Limited Conservator for a Developmentally Disabled Child as they become an adult on turning 18.

Public Benefits Consultation and Assistance

We provide consultation and advice regarding eligibility for Medi-Cal, Medicare, Social Security, SSI, and Veterans Administration benefits — helping you understand what’s available and how to plan for or around it. In addition to qualifying clients for Long-Term Care Medi-Cal to pay for Skilled Nursing Facility costs, we can also explain and help determine if and when an elder could qualify for other Medi-Cal programs, including the Medi-Cal CalAIM Nursing Facility Transition/Diversion program and the Medi-Cal Assisted Living Waiver program, to help cover the cost of care in an assisted living or memory care facility, and board & care homes, for elders with complicated medical or cognitive issues.