Gay and Lesbian Couples - Elder Law Planning
Financial Protection For
Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Couples
Many gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender couples who maintain committed relationships today want to enjoy the same financial protections the law affords to marital partnerships. While this presents a challenge in New York State, there are still powerful planning techniques available through Elder Law that can help two people secure their economic future.
When one member becomes sick or disabled in a GLBT relationship, the partnership can be financially ruined by the same health care issues that impact any unmarried couple. In a situation in which home or nursing facility care may be required, the ramifications can be quite severe. That's because Medicaid will insist that the ill or infirm individual's assets be almost completely "spent down," before any benefits at all are paid. With serious illness or disability, impoverishment can strike even affluent couples.
Lamson & Cutner's lawyers have ready solutions to prevent these unfortunate results. With advance planning, each person can retain the benefit of the money, income and assets it has taken a lifetime to accumulate.
Financial Hurdles GLBT Couples Encounter
As with unmarried couples, Medicaid will treat each member of a GLBT relationship as a single individual. In 2009, a single person will not qualify for benefits if the value of his or her assets exceeds $13,800. Any financial resources beyond this threshold will have to be spent before eligibility for Medicaid can be established.
Rates for either home or nursing facility care in New York are extraordinarily high. They can quickly consume existing monetary resources. In addition, in some circumstances, Medicaid can assert a lien against the Medicaid recipient's home in order to recover the cost of the benefits it provides. Often, these realities rapidly create emergency financial circumstances when significant infirmity is involved.
Beyond the partnership itself, economic situations of this nature present a special problem for GLBT couples who have adopted children. How do you go about protecting a child's future when facing economic calamity?
A Lamson & Cutner lawyer can give you answers and approaches for these issues...
Solutions for GLBT Relationships
When home care is needed, there is a specific sequence of asset protection planning steps that is effective in guarding your money, income and assets from Medicaid "spend down" regulations. You can learn more about them by clicking here.
If your partner or you need to enter a nursing facility, there are specific methods to preserve at least a significant potion of vital financial resources. That means funds can be available to make the nursing home resident’s stay as pleasant as possible, and to maintain the integrity of the well partner’s lifestyle and personal dignity. You’ll find details by clicking on this link.
Lamson & Cutner Successfully Represents
Members of the GLBT Community
Here's an excellent example of how Lamson & Cutner addresses challenges of concern to the GLBT community, using precise and powerful strategies to safeguard finances and quality-of-life for each member of a same sex or transgender relationship:
Elder Law attorney Carole Lamson assisted a client suffering with AIDS who had significant cash reserves. He was about to be discharged from the hospital to a nursing facility. He wanted to preserve these savings for his life partner without jeopardizing his eligibility for Medicaid. In this instance, since his partner was also disabled, Carole was able to transfer his money to a special protective trust, which protected the funds and still allowed him to qualify for Medicaid benefits. Consequently, his long-term care at the nursing home was fully paid for, and his wishes for the financial well-being of his loved one were honored.
L & C Tracks Cutting Edge Developments
That May Affect You
A number of efforts are currently being made, in the courts and state legislatures, to obtain spousal benefits for GLBT couples that so far have been limited to legally married couples. Certain attorneys who specialize in litigation are starting to aggressively pursue the “spousal rights” of GLBT couples residing in New York who were legally married in jurisdictions such as Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Canada. Governor Patterson has directed New York State agencies to recognize same-sex marriages that were legally performed elsewhere, but this directive is being challenged in the courts.
Advocacy groups are planning litigation to contest the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibits federal agencies from recognizing same sex marriages, and denies spousal benefits to the partners in such marriages. In addition to the remedies being sought in the courts, efforts are being made to persuade the New York legislature to legalize gay marriage, and similar efforts are being made in several other states.
Lamson & Cutner is closely following developments in this area, and will assist GLBT couples in asserting their spousal rights if and when it becomes possible to do so without exposing them to the risks and costs of litigation. As New York law evolves, Lamson & Cutner hopes to be able to obtain the same solutions for married GLBT couples that are available to conventional married couples. You'll find details on asset protection strategies presently available to married couples by clicking these links:
For a more complete explanation of how Elder Law techniques can help protect your money, home, lifestyle and dignity, simply download Lamson & Cutner's new Special Report, 25 Strategies to Prevent Financial Ruin from Long-Term Health Care Costs. It's entirely free, and you can see it here.
Call a Lamson & Cutner lawyer today to learn more about specific rights and asset protection strategies available to GLBT couples. You can reach the firm's attorneys toll free at 1 (877) 303-1414.