BarbriSFCourseDetails
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Course Details

Course Information
  • smart_display Format

    On-Demand

  • signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level

    Intermediate

  • work Practice Area

    Family Law

Date & Time
  • event Date

    Wednesday, February 21, 2024

  • schedule Time

    1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT

  • timer Program Length

    90 minutes

Credit Information

  • This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.

$197.00
CLE
ALL

This CLE course will focus on the complex issues confronting family law attorneys when representing aging clients who are married for a second or third time, or aging married clients who face possible nursing home admission. Remarried couples ages 50 and older have a divorce rate 2.5 times higher than couples who are in their first marriage. For those age 65 or older, in a remarriage, the divorce rate is more than three times higher than for those in first marriages. As the baby boomer generation ages, family law attorneys will encounter with increasing frequency divorces involving retired people with children from prior marriages.

Faculty

Alisa Peskin-Shepherd
Principal
Transitions Legal, PLLC

Ms. Peskin-Shepherd is an expert in family law, focusing on Collaborative Divorce, Litigation, Mediation, as well as custody, parenting time, prenuptial and postnuptial agreements and other issues related to family law. Learn more at www.transitionslegal.com.

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Michael L. Rutkowski
Attorney
The Rutkowski Law Firm

Mr. Rutkowski's practice focuses on estate planning, elder law, probate and trust administration.

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Henry S. Gornbein
Of Counsel
Lipson Neilson, PC

Mr. Gornbein specializes in all areas of family law. He is a frequent writer for many bar related publications. Mr. Gornbein is the creator and host of the award winning cable television series, Practical Law. He is the creator and host of the You Tube series, Gracefully Greying, with a newly launched website: http.//www.gracefullygreying.com. Mr. Gornbein is the author of the book, Divorce Demystified, Everything You Need to Know Before You File For A Divorce and the coauthor with forensic psychologist, Jack Haynes Phd of the book: Child Custody, A Complete Guide For Parents which is being published in July of 2020.

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Description

When family law, estate planning, and elder law collide, an attorney faces ethical considerations and traps. Frequently, clients and their respective children and step-children fear the depletion of one divoring parent's assets for an ailing spouse's nursing home expenses. Attorneys advising these families must possess an understanding of not only divorce law, but also Medicaid regulations and trust considerations to navigate these complicated divorces.

Gifting assets to children will create a period of ineligibility before the spouse can qualify for Medicaid. Will the division of assets under a Medicaid divorce also be considered a disqualifying transfer? In a Medicaid divorce, the parties transfer a disproportionate amount of marital assets to the healthy spouse, minimizing spend-down to maintain the healthy spouse's quality of life, while obtaining Medicaid benefits for the spouse requiring long-term care assistance.

Counsel and their clients face a number of difficult questions: Will a family law judge approve a divorce with a substantially disproportionate division of assets? Is it ethical? Is a post-nuptial agreement an alternative? Are irrevocable trusts a planning opportunity? What are the other options?

Listen as our authoritative panel discusses the complexities of Medicaid divorce and trust considerations.

Outline

  1. Medicaid divorce and the practice of law
  2. Key data points
  3. Medicaid program overview and impact on elderly divorces

Benefits

The panel will review these and other important issues:

  • Identifying your client's standing and interests
  • Determining your client's competence and whether a GAL needs to be appointed
  • Does the jurisdiction's law permit a power of attorney for signing a divorce agreement?
  • Does the state have standing to intervene in a divorce if one spouse is in a nursing home?
  • Will a judge approve a Medicaid divorce?
  • Should the marital assets be saved for the children or paid for their step-parent's care?