What Are Elder Law and Special Needs Planning?Elder law and special needs planning involve preparing for expected and unexpected life circumstances, including the possibility of becoming incapacitated as well as protecting and providing for future needs of loved ones with disabilities.At its core, Elder Law focuses on the unique needs of older persons and practice areas that address issues of concern for aging adults, adults with disabilities/incapacity, their families and caregivers.  Unlike traditional estate planning, Elder Law begins by assisting you with issues associated with a long and healthy life, rather than simply planning for death.  It mixes legal and practical issues such as being able to continue residing in your home if you had a chronic condition, having someone help in managing your finances, and not becoming a victim of financial abuse in the process.  Elder law endeavors to help you solve the problem of not knowing what you dont know.Special Needs Law focuses on solving legal problems for individuals with special needs and their caregivers.  Although there is no uniform definition of special needs, the phrase describes individuals with a wide variety of physical or mental conditions who require assistance with personal care needs, activities of daily living, paying bills, managing finances, etc., who may be vulnerable to and need protection from exploitation or abuse, and who may need access to public benefits or any number of other types of assistance. If you currently provide care for a child or loved one with special needs (such as mental or physical disabilities), you must have contemplated what may happen to him or her when you are no longer able to serve as the caregiver.  Frequently, parents and grandparents are concerned about how their children and grandchildren will be cared for after the parents or grandparents deaths and want to plan in advance to protect their special needs loved one.  Elder Law and Special Needs Planning encompass many different fields of law, including, for example:         Disability planning, durable powers of attorney, living trusts, advance directives, other tools to      delegate management and decision-making to another in case of incompetency or incapacity         Estate planning, including the management of finances and assets during life and disposition on     death using trusts, wills, and other instruments         Special/Supplemental Needs Trusts         Conservatorships and guardianships         Long-term care planning and placements          Trust and probate/estate administration         Elder abuse and financial exploitation         Medicaid planning         Retirement and Social Security planningWhen each day seems to present a new challenge, thinking about the future can be overwhelming.  A plan can help break things down into achievable pieces. No matter what age or stage, it is getting started that counts.This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be legal advice.This article was submitted by Ashley Day, Esq., A Day Law, LLC.  Reach her at 251-277-3377.  

It is very easy with everything that is going on in our country and our world right now, to be concerned about the pandemic and start to think about your own mortality and planning. While we recommend planning at all times to always be prepared ahead of time, this certainly provides a reminder for us to stop and take a look at our current situation to make sure that we have at least our basics in place.  Powers of AttorneyEach person should have a financial power of attorney that authorizes another individual to make financial decisions on their behalf in case they cannot.  They could be unable to because of an illness or an incapacitation or simply just not in town, or maybe they are traveling out of the country. We cannot stress the importance of having a financial power of attorney in place to avoid the necessity for guardianship.  We have discussed in detail in other blogs and articles about powers of attorney and guardianships, and we would encourage you to please take a further look at those, and why it would become important to have a financial power of attorney in place.A medical power of attorney is an essential document that authorizes another individual to make medical decisions on your behalf if you are not capable or able to make those medical decisions for yourself.  Although there is a healthcare statute in the state of Pennsylvania that will name the next of kin to be able to make those healthcare decisions in case you cannot, we stress the importance enough of having this document in place to ensure that the people that you want making those decisions can make them without unintended people being named as well. When you reach the end-of-life stage it's also important that you have in place a living will.  If the living will is coupled in one single document with a medical power of attorney, that is also considered an advanced healthcare directive.  We recommend having these documents in place to ease the burden on your family.  This will save them from having to make those end-of-life decisions if two qualified physicians put in writing that there is no realistic hope of recovery that you will always remain end-stage medical or vegetative, comatose, permanently unconscious, or terminally ill. There is certainly a lot that goes into the medical definition, but plainly stated, it is imperative to decide for yourself how you would like those decisions to be made rather than to put the burden on a loved one to feel like they have to play God or pull the plug on their family member.  Review  Your Current Documents, Including Beneficiaries, to Ensure They Meet Your Needs and Desires  We encourage anyone who has planning in place to not assume that it is up to date or that it is what their current wishes are, things change over time.  It is also important to review all of your beneficiary designations on accounts, such as life insurance policies, annuities, retirement accounts, etc.  Often, the most overlooked item is reviewing the beneficiary designations of an account, and it is probably the most critical thing that can screw up an estate plan. Please make it a priority to review your documents to make sure they accurately reflect your wishes.  If you have questions or need to make some changes we would be more than happy to see you at one of our workshops to discuss the different documents and how they can assist you and your family.  We certainly understand if there is any anxiety or stress that you are experiencing but encourage you to be prepared no matter what, which will give you a sense of comfort and security.  If you would like further information about this topic or to learn more about our firm, please visit us at www.bellomoassociates.com or call the office at 717-845-5390.  

Oftentimes, the death of a loved one is the hardest thing that any of us will endure.  Not only did we lose the individual physically and emotionally, but in certain instances the financial impact can also be great. We are often asked in our firm what needs to occur after death, and we have provided other blogs and articles specific to that situation.  This blog generically gives direction on how you can get access to the benefits and assets of your loved one.  Jointly owned assets:  These are the easiest assets to gain access to because the spouse or child is already a joint owner and simply needs to notify the financial institution or company that they are the surviving spouse or joint owner.  You may need to provide a death certificate to take the deceased loved ones name off of the account.  Also, be sure to check the taxpayer identification number associated with the account, which may need to be changed to that of the surviving joint owner. Assets that name a beneficiary:These are also fairly straightforward assets for a beneficiary to be able to obtain because they merely need to contact the company if they were named as a beneficiary on an account such as life insurance, an annuity, or other product that has a beneficiary listed.  These also include accounts that have individuals named as an in-trust-for-beneficiary, a transfer-on-death beneficiary, or a payable-on-death beneficiary.  They are all fancy terms, but ultimately if the beneficiary is named, they will be able to fill out some paperwork and will receive those assets fairly promptly with not a lot of problems or delays.  Veterans benefits:If the individual who passed away was a veteran, there may be additional monies and funds that may be payable to the spouse.  In some cases, benefits can even transfer to children.  The benefits themselves are not difficult to receive, but the Veterans Administration has very particular and specific requirements that must be met for eligibility.  An experienced attorney can assist with and provide guidance in this area.  Social Security benefits:  Social security benefits, including death and monthly survivor benefits, can also be claimed after the death of a loved one and will go to a surviving spouse or potentially to dependent children.  The benefits themselves are not difficult to obtain, but it is essential that you meet the strict eligibility requirements.  Survivor benefits must be immediately requested because they are not retroactive if they are claimed after a certain amount of time.  The Social Security death benefit is only payable to a spouse and not to children. These are simple steps that you can take to be able to receive assets and benefits that are available to you upon the death of a loved one.  If none of these above apply because the asset was in the individual's name alone without a beneficiary, it will be essential for you to seek the advice of a qualified attorney who will be able to help you through the probate process.  We hope that this blog has assisted in understanding different benefits and how a spouse can obtain them easily.  If you have any further questions or would like to get additional information, please reach out to our office at 717-220-8312 or check us out on the web at www.bellomoassociates.com.