Hoosier Health Care Advance Directive Options May Improve

Posted on February 28, 2019 by Jeff Hawkins.

Indiana health care advance directive options may improve in 2019. If Indiana passes 2019 House Bill 1516 (HB 1516), then the law will upgrade how Hoosiers plan for future health care decisions. This article describes current health care advance directive laws and how the new law may help Indiana health care patients plan for emergency health care and end-of-life decisions.

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Personal Business Records Organization Tips

Posted on February 1, 2019 by Jeff Hawkins.

Few people manage their personal business records properly, so this article gives record-keeping tips.

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Indiana Cancels Favorable Medicaid Policy on IRAs

Posted on December 27, 2018 by Jeff Hawkins.

This article explains some surprising new IRA protection opportunities created by recent Indiana Medicaid rule changes.

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Need-Based VA Pension Rules Change October 2018

Posted on October 2, 2018 by Jeff Hawkins.

The US Department of Veterans Affairs (the VA) published a new final rule on September 18, 2018. The new rule radically alters eligibility requirements for need-based VA pensions.  This article summarizes and explains new need-based VA pension eligibility requirements that take effect on October 18, 2018. Affected Veterans & Family Members The revised pension requirements […]

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Medicaid 5-Year Lookback Q & A

Posted on by Jeff Hawkins.

We received a question through hawkinselderlaw.com about Medicaid eligibility, transfer penalties, and the 5-year lookback period. This article restates the Medicaid eligibility question without identifying the inquiring person and shows the typical response that we give to these questions.

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Young Parents Need Estate Plans

Posted on by Jeff Hawkins.

This article explains why young parents need to make estate plans more urgently than the older generation that raised them.

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Estate Plans Must Clarify “Right Things”

Posted on by Jeff Hawkins.

When an estate plan depends on someone to “do the right thing,” someone will inevitably dispute

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Does a Nursing Home Take Everything When You Need Nursing Home Care?

Posted on May 29, 2018 by Jeff Hawkins.

We have heard variations of the myth over the years: “A nursing home will  take everything.” Savvy people rely on facts, not myths, and prepare for nursing home care before a health crisis strikes. Those people use the facts and laws to plan ahead and protect property and savings lawfully and legitimately. This article presents the facts. It also […]

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Indiana’s Senior Consumer Protection Act

Posted on February 3, 2018 by Jeff Hawkins.

                        [See our Disclaimers page about relying on this website’s contents.] The Senior Consumer Protection Act (referred to in this article as the “Act”) added new financial exploitation protections in 2013 for Hoosiers that are 60 years of age or older (referred to in the Act […]

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Spendthrift, Special Needs, “Miller” & Other Protective Trusts

Posted on January 12, 2018 by Jeff Hawkins.

[See our Disclaimers page about relying on this website’s contents.] Trusts are tools that estate planning lawyers use to solve or avoid money management and property management problems for clients. Protective trusts protect assets from problems plaguing the trusts’ beneficiaries. Protective trusts are increasingly common as lawyers and clients focus on solving problems that do not necessarily […]

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