When a person dies, the State of Connecticut assesses a probate court fee based on the value of all property the decedent owned at death. Due to the budget crisis in Connecticut, the Connecticut General Assembly stopped funding the probate court system from general revenues. To help the probate courts become self-supporting, the legislature passed Public Act 15-5. This new law creates an inchoate lien to ensure payment of probate court fees.  A lien is an encumbrance on real estate that a seller must pay before the sale of the real estate. Some liens are inchoate which means that there is no record of them on the land records of the town where the real estate is located. Only state and federal governments can create inchoate liens. 

Effective July 1, 2015, the new lien applies to unpaid probate court fees including .5% per month interest on those fees from the date they are due (30 days after 6 months from death) to the date they are paid. This new inchoate lien is in addition to the lien for Connecticut estate taxes. To remove the probate court fee lien from a decedent’s real estate, the person in charge of probating the estate (i.e. – the Executor or Administrator) must file on the town land records a Certificate releasing the probate fee lien. The Probate Court handling the decedent’s estate issues the Certificate.

Let’s look at an example.  Say your father dies in Montville, Connecticut, and you are appointed Executor based on his Will. You timely file his Connecticut estate tax return within 6 months of his death. You list his life insurance, brokerage accounts, his Montville home, bank accounts and IRAs on the return. The Court issues a Certificate releasing the probate court fee lien on his home and you file it in the Montville land records. You file a Financial Report and an Affidavit of Closing.  You’re done. 

But let’s say that your father had bought a lot next door to his Montville home and you did not find the deed until one year after his estate was closed.  You list the lot for sale and you have a buyer.  The real estate attorney representing the buyer hires a title searcher who searches the Montville land records. The searcher finds that there is a Certificate releasing the probate court lien on your father’s home but not on the lot that you are now trying to sell. The buyer’s real estate attorney notifies your attorney that you do not have good title to the lot because the new inchoate lien for probate fees has not been released.  

How do you fix this problem? Unfortunately, it’s not a simple process. Your attorney tells you that you must reopen your father’s estate, amend the Connecticut estate tax return, pay more probate court fees based on the value of the lot, file a new Financial Report, and obtain the Certificate releasing the probate court fee lien. You ask how much it will cost in additional legal fees and probate court fees and the answer makes you wonder whether it is worth selling the lot. Probate fees range from 1% to .05% of the gross estate. For a lot that sells for $100,000, you would pay $465 in additional probate court fees. 

Your attorney estimates that it will take 30 days to complete all of those tasks in Probate Court. You complain that you will lose the buyer with that sort of delay.  But the attorney says that the Probate Court will issue a Certificate releasing the probate fee lien if payment is reasonably assured.  If the attorney sends a letter to the Probate Court that he will disburse the probate fees from the proceeds of the sale of real estate, payment is reasonably assured. Given the net proceeds you will receive from selling lot, you approve your attorney reopening the estate to obtain the Certificate releasing the lien for probate court fees on the lot.  

As you can see from this example, the new probate court fee lien can be a big “Gotcha!” in the sale of real estate. The new probate court fee lien may become an ugly surprise for families who do probate on their own without consulting a probate attorney. They may save a few thousand dollars in the short term only to waste time and money in the long run. Real estate closing attorneys must add the clearing of this lien to their closing checklists when the owner of the real estate has died.

For more on the calculation of probate court fees, see our blog New Fee Schedule Removes Cap on Probate Court Fees.

What is a Medicaid Spend Down?

A Spend Down in Medicaid is the process of reducing the assets of a Medicaid applicant and their spouse in order to financially qualify for Title XIX Medicaid coverage.  A Spend Down can also refer to reducing the applicant’s monthly income in order to become “income eligible” for Medicaid.

Who Is a Good Candidate for a Medicaid Spend Down?

All potential applicants for Title XIX Medicaid coverage, with assets in excess of $1,600, are candidates for a Spend Down to accelerate eligibility.  However, a proper Spend Down can have the greatest benefit for a married couple when only one spouse needs nursing home level of care.  The goal of a proper Spend Down is to leave the spouse of the applicant in the best financial position possible, within the rules, to cope with this life altering change.  To achieve a Medicaid spend down, an applicant could simply spend all of his money on medical and nursing home bills, which is what many nursing home workers advise, but this would not be the best strategy for the overall benefit of the applicant and the spouse.  

The Medicaid rules were initially enacted to help persons with no financial means pay for long-term care.  Accordingly, for a married person to become eligible for Medicaid, the married couple had to become penniless.  However, lawmakers quickly recognized that it made no sense, financially or ethically, to wait for a married couple to become completely poor and leave both spouses with no means of self-support.  This only added the healthy spouse to the roles of government benefit programs for the poor.  Recognizing this manifest reality, Congress amended the Medicaid rules to prevent this financial burden on the healthy spouse mainly because it is more cost effective for the government to allow the spouse to retain some assets and remain self-sufficient.  

As a result, a married couple doesn’t have to become penniless before considering Medicaid as a benefit.  You should consider a Medicaid spend down if your spouse or an elderly parent will need a nursing home or homecare services but does not have the money to pay for it for an extended period of time.  

There is a misconception that Medicaid is only for poor people. However, when you consider that a nursing home in Connecticut costs about $12,000 a month, you can see that people who consider themselves middle-class can run out of savings quickly and inevitably need Medicaid to pay for the monthly expenses of nursing home or home care.  But what many people don’t realize is that the government wants the couple to keep some assets for the healthy spouse.  This is why a well thought out Spend Down is crucial to the future wellbeing of the healthy spouse.   

How Does a Medicaid Spend Down Work?

There are 2 parts to a Medicaid spend down. First there is the matter of how much all your assets are worth. These assets include things like a house, cars, savings accounts, life insurance, and most retirement accounts. If the total value of the applicant’s assets is more than $1,600, that applicant will need to liquidate or transfer those assets to become eligible for Medicaid.  There are certain assets and transfers that are considered exempt under the rules.  A proper Spend Down strategy incorporates making exempt transfers and purchasing or improving exempt assets to maximize what remains for the applicant and the applicant’s spouse.  But beware - gifting assets away to the wrong persons within five years of applying for Medicaid can cause a lengthy penalty period during which the applicant will not receive coverage for nursing home care or homecare services! 

For married couples, the rules take into account the other spouse’s assets and needs but this also makes the rules for qualifying very complicated.If the applicant has a spouse, the spouse may keep between $25,284 and $126,420, of the couples combined assets.    See this post on the 2019 Medicaid numbers for more information.

The second part of a Medicaid spend down relates to monthly income. Income is analyzed separately from assets.  If your income is too high, it doesn’t necessarily make you ineligible for Medicaid. You just have to spend down your excess income, known as “applied income,” on your medical bills before Medicaid coverage begins.  Another option is to set up a special trust known as a “pooled trust” to hold the excess income, which may then be used to supplement the applicant’s care. 

Planning Early for a Medicaid Spend Down is Crucial!

Many families find it extremely difficult to talk about what they will do when aging parents are no longer able to take care of themselves. However, if you think there is a chance you or your parent or spouse will need a Medicaid spend down, waiting until the last minute to plan can severely limit your options and create problems. It is crucial to plan ahead, especially if large assets or married couples are involved.

Will a Trust protect my assets for Medicaid Eligibility?

For the most part, the answer is no.  Revocable Trusts and Self settled Trusts in which you retain any interest are not effective in sheltering assets from being counted in a Medicaid application.  Certain carefully drafted irrevocable trusts may be used to help protect assets.  The elder law attorneys at Cipparone & Zaccaro discuss these options with clients so they can make an informed choice and avoid a surprise if their Trust is later analyzed in a Medicaid application process.

Do You Need to Hire a Lawyer to Do a Medicaid Spend Down?

While it is possible to do your own Medicaid spend down, going it alone or simply following nursing home advice may not be to your best advantage. Medicaid rules are a complicated maze of state and federal laws. You may be able to figure out how much you need to spend down, and you may have someone at the nursing home telling you that you can simply spend down on nursing home bills.  An elder law attorney who knows the ins-and-outs of the Medicaid rules can help you think through the possible ramifications and advise you on the best way to Spend Down your valuable resources as intended within the rules.

At Cipparone & Zaccaro, our elder law attorneys explain the rules, help gather all the client’s financial information, and explain how the rules apply to their situation. We then discuss the options you have for completing a Spend Down that maximizes your remaining assets.   We encourage you to call today to learn more about how our elder law attorneys can help you through the Medicaid Spend Down process. 

Many clients view their attorneys as immune to the trials and tribulations of ordinary folk. However, we are just as susceptible to deception, fraud and scams as anyone. There is a recent trend targeting attorneys and their clients to perpetrate fraudulent schemes and steal money.

One example involves real estate purchasers receiving an email on the morning of a scheduled closing, seemingly from their "attorney's" office. The email says that the attorney’s office will no longer accept a bank check from the purchasers for their closing funds. The email goes on to instruct the purchasers to send their closing funds by wire transfer to an account and provides the wiring instructions. The purchasers dutifully follow the email instructions and receive a thank you email. The purchasers arrive at the closing without a check for the money due at closing and tell their attorney they made the wire transfer as instructed. Of course, the attorney has no knowledge of the wire transfer because the email to the purchasers did not come from the attorney's office. The purchasers’ funds are gone.

Many victims have lost significant money ― even their life savings ― due to this type of scam. While the FBI is investigating these attacks, it is likely too late for the attorneys' clients. There is little or no hope of ever recovering the money. Variations on this scheme abound.

Although there are many precautions attorneys must take to guard your information and protect the privacy of your communications, these attacks can occur without the attorney’s email system ever being hacked. It is possible your email account, that of a real estate broker, mortgage broker, loan officer, or any of the large number of people involved in the transaction and privy to your email communications might have been hacked. Once the criminals get into the system, they monitor email traffic and, at the opportune moment, insert themselves by impersonating one of the parties, hijacking your trust to steal your money.

This means that everyone involved in the transfer of funds for any reason should be vigilant against fraud and deception.

The best way to protect yourself is to call your attorney’s office yourself if you receive this kind of email. If someone involved in your transaction requests funds or personal information from you by email, fax, or any other form of indirect communication, you should verify the request verbally (by telephone or in person) with someone known to you.

This scam highlights the importance of the personal relationship between attorneys, their staff, and their clients. At the beginning of your relationship, your attorney should provide you with a phone number. Any subsequent communication using a different number should be viewed with skepticism and verified by calling the original number.

There are some simple steps you can take to protect yourself, and others, from your email account being hacked:

1. If you are using web based email such as Gmail, Yahoo or Hotmail, use 2-step verification to authenticate your account.
2. Use strong passwords and change your password every six months. Strong passwords include numbers, symbols, capital letters, lower-case letters, and in some systems punctuation marks. Don’t write your password down on a post-it and stick it to your device. There are many ways to generate memorable strong passwords. Here are a few.
3. Use strong security questions and answers. Not your cat’s name that anyone who looks at your Facebook profile can find out.
4. Examine emails carefully before opening to make sure they are really from a trusted source.
5. Delete emails from untrusted sources without opening them.
6. If you’ve already opened an email, don’t click on any links or attachments.
7. When browsing the internet, be careful where you go and what you click on.
8. Anti-malware security software should be installed on your device and kept up to date. Yes, even (and perhaps especially) your smartphone.
9. Avoid accessing your email from untrusted devices, like public computers.  Two-step verification helps with this.
10. Minimize the amount of personal information you include in emails, and restrict personal information to the most secure email account you have.

There are many other things you can do to make your email more secure, but there is no foolproof way to secure your email. A little research will reveal other, more complicated measures you can take, such as using proxy servers and secure VPNs. 

Criminals are out to get your personal private information because it is valuable to them and those they sell it to. Your best protection is to be careful and vigilant, so you can help us help you.

As we age, most of us will find the costs of long term care unaffordable. The current average cost of a semi-private room in a nursing home in Connecticut is over $12,000 per month. This charge can quickly wipe out even a large estate, depending on the length of the resident’s stay. Fortunately, Medicaid is available to pay these costs if you qualify for assistance. 

Estate Recovery

When you die, the state will attempt to recover from your estate any Medicaid benefits paid on your behalf. One of the ways the state uses to recover the benefits paid is by recording a lien against the decedent’s home in the land records of the town where the property is located. The state can lien the property as long as no other person receiving Medicaid benefits is living in the home. This process is known as “estate recovery.” For the majority of Medicaid recipients, the house is the only asset remaining on which the state can recover Medicaid payments. If the Medicaid payments exceed the value of the house, your family may not inherit anything from you.

The best way to protect your house from the Medicaid lien upon death is to transfer it to an Irrevocable Grantor Trust.

Irrevocable Grantor Trusts for the Home

A trust is an arrangement where a Trustee holds the property for family members.   The Trustee’s job is to administer the assets of the person who set up the trust (i.e. - the parent) and ultimately to disburse the assets to the beneficiaries of the trust (i.e. -- the children). The parent retains no interest in the Trust. In an Irrevocable Grantor Trust, one or more of your children manage the property as Trustee.  The Trust is not recorded on the land records of any town. You continue to live in your home and pay all of the expenses of the property including real estate taxes and insurance. 

If you have to sell the home to go to an assisted living facility or nursing home, the grantor trust provisions allow you to use your entire $250,000 capital gain exclusion to shelter the gain in value from income taxation.  Contrast that result with transferring the house to your children and retaining a life estate.  With a life estate, the $250,000 capital gain exclusion for the sale of a home will only apply to the life tenant’s portion of the net sale proceeds.  The children will have to pay thousands of dollars in income tax on the difference between the cost basis of the property and the sales price multiplied by their percentage interest. 

If the house has to be sold, the Irrevocable Grantor Trust also has an advantage over the life estate from the creditor standpoint. The property stays in the trust and the creditors of any child cannot reach it because the proceeds are held by the Trustee and not the child/beneficiary.  Because the sale proceeds remain in the trust, the family does not have to scramble to spend sale proceeds within the month of receipt so that the parent can remain on Medicaid.

Once you convey your house to the Irrevocable Grantor Trust, you no longer own the property. If the conveyance occurred more than 5 years before applying for Medicaid, the State of Connecticut cannot put a lien on it.  The Trustee can sell the property and distribute the net sale proceeds to your children without having to pay the state.  Nevertheless, because you no longer own the house you conveyed to the Irrevocable Grantor Trust, you can’t refinance the house and there is no possibility of increasing your income through a reverse mortgage.

The attorneys at our law firm also include a special power of appointment in the Irrevocable Grantor Trust so that you retain the power to change the disposition of your home among your descendants.  If one of your children goes through a messy divorce, an unforeseen bankruptcy, needs public benefits, or you have a falling out with a child, the trust protects your home. 

The grantor trust provisions in the Trust allow the step up in basis of your home at your death to its fair market value . When your children sell the home, they will pay little or no income taxes on the sale because of the stepped up basis. In this respect, the Irrevocable Grantor Trust is just like the life estate.

Plan Ahead!

Don’t wait until it is too late. A transfer to an Irrevocable Grantor Trust only works if you do not apply for Medicaid for 5 years after the transfer of property into the Trust.  Contact an estate planning attorney to find out how you can protect your home from Medicaid recovery with an Irrevocable Grantor Trust.  

The recent changes in Connecticut probate laws that took effect on July 1, 2015, simplify some aspects and clarify other aspects of the probate process. In this blog post, I explain an important change in the probate notification process and what it means for Executors of estates.

When someone dies, many people have an interest in the probate proceedings. Beneficiaries under the will, intestate heirs (those people who would inherit if there was no will) and creditors of the decedent all care about what happens to the decedent’s property. Whenever a charity is a beneficiary, the Attorney General’s Office of the State of Connecticut also has an interest in the probate proceedings. Consequently, it is not uncommon to have up to 30 different parties with potential interest in the probate process.

The Connecticut Probate Rules of Procedure used to require notification by regular mail of every document filed in court to all parties.  A party is any person who has a legal or financial interest in the probate court proceeding. 

This universal notification requirement led to a lot of extra, unnecessary paperwork. For instance, the Executor had to send notifications to people who no longer had an interest in the estate. Let’s say the decedent left $10,000 to their church and the Executor disburses that money to the church prior to filing the Inventory. Under the old law, you still had to send the church a copy of the Inventory, the estate tax return, and the financial reports even after the charity has already been paid its bequest. You could also have a creditor who the Executor pays in full or a creditor whose claim the Executor barred pursuant to state statute.  Nevertheless, the Executor had to continue sending to those creditors a copy of the all the documents filed in the probate court. With all the extra paperwork and mailing costs, you can understand why people dread going through probate.

Now under the new Probate Rules of Procedure, the court may remove a person from the list of persons to whom the court will give notice of future proceedings.  A party removed from the notice list can request special notice; if granted, the party would return to the notice list.  This new provision allows Executors to remove a beneficiary or creditor who has been paid in full from the notice list.  Executors can also remove creditors with barred claims from the notification list.  

In another good change, after sending a copy of the decree admitting a will to probate and the notice, the court is not required to give notice of subsequent proceedings to the decedent’s heirs or beneficiaries under any purported will not admitted to probate.  Thus, intestate heirs do not have to receive notice once the Will is admitted to probate.  The Executor is also excused from the requirement of sending copies of the Inventory, Financial Report, or Affidavit of Closing to any beneficiary of a specific bequest who has acknowledged, in writing, receipt of the bequest. The Executor only has to file a copy of the acknowledgement with the court. These reductions in the paperwork burden save the Executor time and the estate money.  

As probate lawyers and probate judges continue to operate under the Rules of Procedure, they find more ways to simplify probate for Executors.  One of the best improvements this year are the new notification rules. 

New Fee schedule effective person’s dying on or after January 1, 2015

The Governor’s budget that passed in the general assembly in June provided zero funding for the Probate Court system creating an approximate $32 million shortfall for the next two fiscal years.  In order to keep the Probate courts afloat, the general assembly included increases in the probate court fees as part of the budget implementer bill.  What does this mean for Connecticut residents?  Connecticut now funds its probate court system entirely from user fees.  According to Probate Court Administrator, Paul Knierim, in a recent Hartford Courant editorial, Connecticut now has the most expensive probate courts in the United States and will be sending out six- and seven-figure invoices for probate fees.

Under prior law, the highest probate fee payable was capped at $12,500.  This fee maxed out for estates of $4,754,000 and over.  Under the new law effective for estates in which a person dies on or after January 1, 2015, the fees for estates under $4,754,000 remain the same.  However, there is no longer a cap on the probate fee for estates over $4,754,000.  Estates totaling $2,000,000 and over will now pay $5,615 plus .5% of all in excess of $2,000,000.  For example, a $10 million estate will now incur a fee of $45,615 under this new schedule.  The new fee schedule is listed below.    

Who is subject to probate court fees? 

The probate court fees are essentially a tax that applies to a person’s estate regardless of whether the probate court has any involvement in the transfer of the person’s assets at death.  Unlike most states, Connecticut is one of the few states in the country that includes property passing outside of probate in calculating fees on a decedent’s estate.  For example, a person may plan to avoid probate by having all of his or her assets held in a lifetime revocable trust, or pass to beneficiaries via survivorship designations (such as jointly owned real estate or bank accounts), or pass via beneficiary designations (such as retirement plans or life insurance proceeds).  This is a common planning tool in other states.  Nonetheless, the Connecticut probate court fee still applies to these types of assets because they are part of the deceased person’s gross taxable estate.

How can one avoid Connecticut probate court fees?

For many people with average wealth, the new probate court fees will have little effect on their estates.  For those who might be impacted by the fee increase, there are a few options. 

One way to minimize or avoid the probate fee is to change your domicile to another state, such as Florida, and move the majority of your property to that state.  The Connecticut probate court fee applies to a deceased person who is domiciled in Connecticut on the date of his or her death, and applies only to that person’s real property or tangible personal property located in Connecticut.  Property of the deceased person situated outside of this state is excluded.  For a person who was not domiciled in Connecticut on the date of his or her death but who owned real property or tangible personal property in this state, such real property or tangible personal property situated in this state is included in the basis for Connecticut probate fees.

Another option is to plan for the probate fee and purchase sufficient life insurance to cover the expected fee.  Yet another option is to utilize lifetime gifting strategies to move wealth to your family in order to reduce your taxable estate.

If you are concerned over the impact the new probate court fees may have on your estate, contact us today to review your situation and discuss planning options suitable for you and your goals.

[If the basis for fees is less than ten thousand dollars and a full estate is opened, the minimum fee shall be one hundred fifty dollars.]

An Executor of a Will manages the administration of a deceased person's estate. One of the Executor's main jobs during probate is to pay people or institutions who are owed money by the deceased person. Those people or institutions are called “creditors.”

Probate can be overwhelming because the Executor must pay creditors in a specific order. The Executor may not be able to pay every creditor. An Executor is personally liable if debts are paid out of order. This is why it is important for the Executor to follow the right procedures to avoid unnecessary problems and personal liability.

The Executor of an estate in probate must begin by searching through the deceased persons papers looking for creditors. Connecticut law is very specific about the proper way to provide notice to potential creditors of an estate. The Probate Court will publish notice in the local newspaper warning creditors to present their claims to the Executor. The Executor may give known creditors actual notice by mailing a letter to them. In Connecticut, an Executor can bar claims of creditors who do not present their claims within 90 days of the date of letter. In the letter, the Executor can require a creditor to submit an affidavit in support of the creditor’s claim.

Creditors have 150 days to file a claim in a Connecticut estate going through probate unless the Executor sends the creditor the letter described above. A creditor can’t just ignore the Executor and march into any court other than the probate court and get a judgment for payment. A creditor must first file the claim with the Executor. Once a claim is filed, the Executor must accept, reject or pay the claim within 90 days. If the Executor fails to respond to the claim within 90 days, the creditor must give 30 days advance notice to the Executor that it will bring suit on the claim. If the Executor rejects the claim or refuses to accept or pay the claim, the creditor can sue the estate in Connecticut Superior Court.

Priority of Claims in the Probate Process

Every state sets the priority of claims in probate. Connecticut sets the priorities in the following order:

1. funeral expenses
2. estate administration expenses
3. claims due for the last sickness of the decedent;
4. all lawful taxes and all claims due the state of Connecticut and the United States
5. all claims due any laborer or mechanic for personal wages for labor performed within three months immediately before the decedent’s death
6. other preferred claims
7. all other claims (credit cards, personal loans, etc.) allowed in proportion to their respective amounts.

Executors must analyze the priority of each claim in the probate process. All creditors in a certain group must be paid before creditors in the next priority group can be paid. If there aren't enough funds to pay all the creditors in one group, then the payments are prorated among the creditors in that group. If the estate doesn't have enough money to pay all of its claims, the executor must declare the estate insolvent. The estate’s beneficiaries only receive a distribution once all the creditor claims have been satisfied.

Dealing with creditor claims during the probate process can be complicated and risky. If you make mistakes as Executor, you can be held personally liable. This is why it is important to have an attorney experienced in the probate process assisting you.

A Continuing Care Retirement Community, or CCRC, is a type of living arrangement that provides a continuum of care from minimal assistance to nursing home care.  The CCRC makes it possible for older adults to transition from independent living to nursing home care without leaving the premises.  CCRCs provide lifetime housing, social activities, and increased levels of care as needs change.

Typically, residents of CCRCs start by moving into their own apartment in the CCRC complex.  The living spaces have everything a person needs to live independently.  As a resident’s needs increase, the level of care increases, as well.  For instance, a person living in their own apartment at first may need help cleaning and doing laundry.  Or, if they do not want to, or are not physically capable of cooking, they may also decide to take more of their meals in the community dining area.  When a resident needs help with daily activities such as taking medication or bathing, the resident can hire companions and homemakers to provide care in his or her apartment.  When a serious health condition such as a stroke, or advanced Alzheimer’s Disease develops, the resident can move to a skilled nursing care facility on the CCRC campus. 

How Do You Pay for Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs)?

There are three ways to pay for a continuing care retirement community.  All three CCRC contracts cover shelter, amenities, residential services, and any short-term and emergency care:

1. Extended Contract:  Unlimited long-term nursing care with no corresponding increase in monthly payments.  This is the most expensive contract, but may prove to be the most cost-effective in the long run.  
2. Modified Contract:  A specific amount of long-term nursing care in the monthly payments.  Once the specified amount is used, the resident must pay for any additional nursing care.  
3. Fee-for-service Contract:  Initially, this is the least expensive plan.  But, residents must pay for all future long-term care at daily nursing care rates separately from the contract.

Most CCRCs have an entrance fee that is partially refundable depending on how long you live in the CCRC.  In addition, CCRCs charge a monthly fee.  CCRCs differ widely on entrance fees and monthly rates, so you need to compare them.

How Do You Pick a Continuing Care Retirement Community?

It is important to thoroughly research the financial health of any CCRC you are considering. A CCRC in financial trouble may file for bankruptcy leaving the residents without a home and no recourse. From the disclosure statements provided by the CCRC, you can determine if the CCRC has incurred substantial debt that may cause the CCRC to close.

Our Southeastern Connecticut Senior Services Guide includes a list of 98 questions designed to help you gather all the information you need to make an informed decision when choosing a CCRC. The guide includes questions about:

• The financial health of the CCRC
• The entry fee and whether it is refundable or tax deductible as a medical expense
• What is included in the monthly fee and how/when it can be increased
• What is included in the living unit and all the maintenance and social /recreational services provided
• What health care services are provided at what point and what happens if the CCRC cannot provide the type of care needed
• How this complex purchase impacts your specific financial situation

As estate planning attorneys, we have helped many clients over the years figure out whether a CCRC is the right choice for them.  We take the time to listen to your concerns and pour over your financial information to determine what you can afford.  We will analyze the CCRC’s Resident Agreement to let you know what risks you will take in moving to a specific CCRC.  Give us a call if you are considering a move to a CCRC.