Category Archives: Guardianship
Long-Term Care Insurance
Everything You Need to Know About Long-Term Care Insurance from a Roselle and Schaumburg Elder Law Attorney
Long-term care is one of the most common dangers to the life savings of senior citizens. The fear of losing assets, possessions, and homes drive people to search out ways to protect themselves from the enormous costs associated with long-term care.
Many seniors turn to long-term care insurance, which is supposed to cover them through expensive medical episodes and pay for life in an assisted living or nursing home. However, there is a lot that seniors need to know before buying long-term care insurance and deciding on the best plan for their individual situation. Elder law attorneys in Roselle and Schaumburg have laid out some of the issues seniors should be aware of when thinking about long-term care insurance.
One thing seniors should know when making decisions about long-term care is the average amount of time for stays in nursing homes. Typically, most seniors will not stay in a nursing home any longer than 6 months – if at all. Unfortunately, many long-term care insurance policies lapse before the beneficiary ever makes it into a nursing home, and if benefits are paid to the nursing home through the insurance policy, they’re usually much less than the actual cost of care. As an investment in your well-being, long-term care insurance may not hold up.
In some cases though, long-term care insurance may be a good decision – usually if you look at it in terms of a safety net rather than a be-all, end-all to paying for long-term care. Most experts, including Roselle and Schaumburg elder law attorneys, agree that long-term care insurance is a worthwhile investment only if the premiums amount to less than 5% of your monthly income – keeping in mind that your income will drop as you age while the premiums will rise. In addition, it is advised that you do not even consider long-term care insurance that does not cover assisted living facilities, as it is far more likely that you will stay in an assisted living facility for a greater amount of time than you would stay in a skilled nursing facility.
Once again, with all of this in mind, your individual situation is what will truly determine whether or not long-term care insurance is a sound investment for you. A Roselle and Schaumburg elder law attorney can meet with you to determine your situation and plan out your future needs in order to advise you better when you’re making a decision regarding long-term care insurance.
If you have any questions about long-term care insurance, or if you’d like to have your long-term care insurance policy reviewed to make sure it’s the correct one for your situation, please call our Roselle and Schaumburg elder law firm at 630-908-2752 to schedule a consultation.
Cook County Guardianship Lawyer Answers, “Will My Ex Get My Kids If Something Happens To Me?”
The short answer is: it depends.
This is a question we get a lot, and one we typically discuss at length with non-married parents during our planning sessions. When one of the parties of a divorce decree dies, this will end the custody agreement because there’s no longer anything to govern. In most cases, custody usually reverts to the surviving parent.
An exception to this is when one of the parent’s rights to the children has been terminated. If this is the case, many states allow third-parties, such as grandparents, to intervene. Grandparents can also intervene if they believe the surviving parent is not able to care for the children. The burden of proof would fall on the grandparents to demonstrate that the surviving biological parent is unfit. They would have to go through a lengthy custody proceeding that can be stressful on everyone – especially the children.
But, this can all be avoided…
The custodial parent can make it easier for grandparents (or other relatives) to step in after their passing with just a few estate planning steps. For starters, they can name an alternative guardian for the children in their will or trust. They can further explain their reasons for the nomination and why they believe the other parent is unfit.
Of course this doesn’t guarantee that the court will allow the guardianship, but it will certainly be a factor in the court’s decision. If the court approves the nomination of a guardian, it doesn’t sever the parental rights of the surviving parent; it simply states that the children will live with the nominated guardian instead.
The bottom line is that if you believe that your ex-spouse is not fit to raise your children, it is critical that you take the steps now to put an estate plan and guardian nominations in place that will be in the best interest of the kids should something happen to you. Call us now at (630)908-2752 to set an appointment with an experienced Cook County guardianship attorney if you need assistance getting started.