Greetings!

Happy August! Hope you're beating the heat and staying safe. In this month's newsletter, we discuss the differences between revocable and irrevocable trusts in our educational video below. We get asked this question frequently from our clients. Just as it sounds, a revocable trust can be revoked or amended during your lifetime. You can use the trust to help you plan for incapacity, and it can help you avoid probate upon your death. An irrevocable trust does the same thing, except you can't amend it and you are not the trustee, so you are essentially giving up control over your assets in the trust. However, the assets in an irrevocable trust are not counted for Medicaid purposes (after the required five-year look-back period), where revocable trusts are fully countable for Medicaid purposes. You can find out more by clicking on our video below.

In this month's newsletter, we also take a look at how nursing home residents and their loved ones are faring during the virus, and finally, we give some tips for caregivers who are transitioning loved ones to long-term care.

Throughout this pandemic, we have continued to provide a safe location for consultations and signings at our offices. Your safety and that of our team is paramount. Find out more about our safe procedures here. If you are in need of our services, but can't make it to our offices, no worries! You can schedule a phone or video conference with our attorneys. Please contact us or call 1-800-ELDERLAW or (561) 750-3850 for more information. Until next time, stay well! 

Ellen S. Morris, Esq. & Howard S. Krooks, Esq., CELA, CAP
Partners, Elder Law Associates PA
By Howard S. Krooks, Esq., CELA, CAP, Partner, Elder Law Associates PA

There’s no question that COVID-19 has hit the country’s vulnerable nursing home and long-term-care (LTC) community extremely hard over the past few months. People aged 65 and over and those with chronic medical conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes, and respiratory illnesses, are at the highest risk of contracting the virus. And many of the 1.3 million nursing home residents in the country fall into these two categories. It has been a particularly a bad situation in Florida.

As of the end of July, data from Florida Health’s official Covid-19 response page show 4% of the state’s nursing home residents (5,609 out of 140,296) and 3% of facility staff (6,227 out of 196,302) have contracted the virus. Read More
Did you know the Center for Independent Living of Broward County provides loans of wheelchairs, walkers, canes and other durable medical equipment, along with a variety of electronic devices and independent living programs and services to help people with disabilities live more independently? For more information, please visit https://www.cilbroward.org.
By Claire Wentz, Guest Author Caringfromafar.com

If you’re a family caregiver to a senior loved one, the pandemic likely threw a wrench in your care routine. Perhaps you’ve reduced your frequency of visits, switched to long-distance caregiving, or called in the help of home care services. While these changes are only temporary, you may have to make some more permanent decisions during this uncertain time. For example, if the health of your loved one is declining significantly, it may be time to think about making the move to long-term care. Here are some tips to help you navigate this tough decision during the pandemic. Read More
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The information contained in this newsletter has been prepared by Elder Law Associates PA, presents general information, is for informational purposes only, and is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. Before acting on any of the information presented, you should consult an attorney for advice regarding your individual situation.