The cost of long-term care can consume a person's assets if a carefully drafted estate plan is not in place. Order today to learn the skills you need to create an estate plan that meets your clients' needs.

1. What to Do When a Spouse is Confronting Health Issues - The Estate Plan
2. How to Protect an Elderly Client's Assets
3. Insurance to Fund All or Part of Long-Term Care Costs
4. Ethical Considerations When Representing the Elderly Client
5. Qualifying for Medicaid Long-Term Care Programs
6. Preserving Family Assets When Qualifying for Medicaid

1. WHAT TO DO WHEN A SPOUSE IS CONFRONTING HEALTH ISSUES - THE ESTATE PLAN
   9:00 - 9:45, Susan M. Graham
   1. Client Interview
   2. How to Draft the Plan
   3. Asset Titling - Deed, Bank Accounts, and Life Insurance
   4. Changing the Will to Exclude the Disabled Spouse
   5. Durable Power of Attorney - Gift Giving Power
   6. Advanced Directives
   7. Sample Forms and Letters
2. HOW TO PROTECT AN ELDERLY CLIENT'S ASSETS
   9:45 - 10:30, Susan M. Graham
   1. Drafting the Irrevocable Trust
   2. Impact of Medicaid Issues in Drafting Trusts
   3. Life Estate Deed With/Without Powers of Sale
   4. Using Annuities, Life Insurance and Retirement Accounts in the Estate Plan
   5. Revocable vs. Irrevocable Life Estates - Current Gifting Guidelines
   6. Income Tax Traps With Gifts
   7. Avoiding the Pitfalls of Guardianships
3. INSURANCE TO FUND ALL OR PART OF LONG-TERM CARE COSTS
   10:45 - 12:15, L. Victoria Meier
   1. What is Long-Term Care?
   2. Costs of Care and Funding Sources
   3. Understanding Long-Term Care Insurance Benefits
4. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS WHEN REPRESENTING THE ELDERLY CLIENT
   1:15 - 2:15, Dennis S. Voorhees
   1. Acting Within the Lawyer's Expertise
   2. Avoiding Conflict Between Spouses' Interests
   3. Competency of the Client
   4. Maintaining Due Diligence in Completing Paperwork When Representing the Elderly or Ill Client
5. QUALIFYING FOR MEDICAID LONG-TERM CARE PROGRAMS
   2:15 - 2:45 and 3:00 - 3:45, Dennis S. Voorhees
   1. Where Medicare Stops and Medicaid Begins
   2. Overview of the State Medicaid Programs
   3. Categorically vs. Medically Needy
   4. Medical Criteria - Level of Care Required to Become Eligible
   5. Assessing a Client's "Medical Need" and Level of Care for Medicaid Qualification Purposes
   6. Medicaid Planning Techniques
   7. Financial Criteria for Single and Married Applicants
   8. Exemptions for Protecting the Family Home
   9. Qualified Medicare Beneficiaries
6. PRESERVING FAMILY ASSETS WHEN QUALIFYING FOR MEDICAID
   3:45 - 4:30, Susan M. Graham
   1. Most Common Medicaid Misconceptions
   2. Implications of Gifts During the Look Back Period
   3. Options for "Spenddown" of Excess Property - Unique Problems Associated With Disposal of Excess Assets
   4. Myths About the "Spenddown" Requirement
   5. Protecting Assets for a Disabled Child
   6. Retroactive Benefits
   7. Estate Recovery

SUSAN M. GRAHAM is founder of Senior Edge Legal, known previously as The Graham Law Office, P.A. An authority on estate planning, elder law and VA benefits law, Ms. Graham is an experienced estate planning and elder law attorney with more than 30 years of experience. Ms. Graham earned her J.D. degree from the University of Idaho, Moscow; along with an M.B.A. degree from Boston University and a B.S. degree from Cornell University. She has taught college-level finance courses at Washington State University, Pullman and the University of Idaho, Moscow. Ms. Graham is a certified elder law attorney, is accredited with the Veterans Administration and also is an accredited investment fiduciary named by the Foundation for Fiduciary Studies. A member of the Idaho State Bar, Ms. Graham is co-founder and past president of The American Association of Trust, Estate and Elder Law Attorneys and the Treasure Valley Estate Planning Council. She is also a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. Her pro bono activities include serving as a board member of Idaho Legal Aid Services and representing minors in recovery of moneys wrongfully taken.

L. VICTORIA MEIER is an attorney with the law firm of Eberle, Berlin, Kading, Turnbow & McKlveen, Chtd., where her practice is focused in the areas of business, estate planning and tax. She is licensed to practice law in Idaho and Washington and is a licensed certified public accountant in Idaho. Ms. Meier also is a designated certified financial planner. She earned her B.S. degree from the University of Maryland and her J.D. degree from the University of Idaho College of Law. Ms. Meier is a member of the Washington State Bar Association, the Idaho State Bar, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Idaho Society of Certified Public Accountants and the Boise Estate Planning Council.

DENNIS S. VOORHEES is an attorney with offices in Twin Falls, Idaho, and is a principal in The Voorhees Law Firm. He has been a practicing lawyer since 1978. He is both a certified elder law attorney (National Elder Law Foundation) and a certified estate law planning specialist (Estate Law Planning Specialist Board, Inc.). He is the Idaho representative for the Special Needs Alliance, an organization of attorneys specializing in special needs planning for persons with disabilities. Mr. Voorhees' practice areas include disability trusts, elder law, public benefits preservation and estate planning. He is a frequent presenter at professional education seminars. He is a member of WealthCounsel LLC, the Magic Valley Estate Planning Council and the St. Lukes-Magic Valley Regional Medical Center Bioethics Committee. Mr. Voorhees has an "AV" peer review rating by Martindale-Hubbell and was selected as a Mountain States Super Lawyer in the field of elder law for 2010 and 2011 by Super Lawyers, a publication of Thomson Reuters. 

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