Agenda / Content Covered

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1. Applying for Medicaid - The Four Eligibility Requirements
   9:00 - 10:00, John R. Bennett III
   1. Medical Eligibility: The Needs Assessment
   2. Resource Eligibility: Exempt vs. Countable Assets
   3. Income Eligibility
   4. Transfer Eligibility
      1. The Lookback Periods
      2. Transfers and Penalty Periods
         1. Transfer Penalty
         2. Penalty Beginning Date
         3. Partial Months of Ineligibility
         4. Monthly Maintenance Need Allowance (MMMNA) for the Community Spouse
         5. Annuity Transfer Rules and Tactics
   5. Estate Recovery Rules
   6. Current Medicaid Planning Programs and Rules
2. Pre-Need Asset Planning
   10:15 - 11:15, John R. Bennett III
   1. Medicaid Planning for Single vs. Married Applicants
   2. Transferring Real Property without Jeopardizing Medicaid Eligibility
      1. When Does the Home Become a Countable Asset?
      2. How is "Intent to Return Home" Interpreted?
      3. Titling of the Home and Basic Homestead Issues in a Medicaid Planning Context
   3. Life Estates
   4. Asset Valuation - Fair Market Value under DRA
   5. Using Life Insurance to Spend Down
   6. Interstate Transfers
   7. Protecting Veterans Benefits
   8. The Gifting Powers in Powers of Attorney
3. Crisis Planning and Assistance
   11:15 - 12:00, John R. Bennett III
   1. Asset Purchase Strategies Available
      1. Purchases
      2. Payments
   2. Asset Transfer Strategies Available
      1. How to Transfer Residence to Caregiver Child
      2. How to Transfer Residence to Sibling with Equity Interest Who's Resided There for at Least One Year
      3. How to Transfer Residence Subject to Life Estate
      4. How to Transfer Residence Subject to Occupancy Agreement
      5. Caregiver Agreement Between Parent and Child
   3. Contesting/Appealing the Penalty Period Dates and Other Adverse Medicaid Decisions
4. Trust-Based Medicaid Planning in Detail
   1:00 - 1:45, Chesseley A. Robinson III
   1. Choosing the Assets for Funding the Trusts
   2. Key Provisions and Sample Trust Language
   3. Self-Settled Trusts and Their Impact on Eligibility
   4. Using Income-Only Trusts
      1. Purpose of Using IOTs
      2. Principal Distribution Provision
      3. Taxation of IOTs
         1. Income Taxation and Tax Reporting
         2. Gift Tax and Reporting
5. Using Special Needs Trusts - Sample Trust Review
   1:45 - 3:15, Chesseley A. Robinson III
   1. When Can SNTs be Used?
   2. Drafting an SNT - Common Mistakes to Avoid
   3. Documenting the Assets Transfer into the Trust
   4. Choosing a Suitable Trustee
   5. Sample Special Needs Trust Document Review
6. Applied Legal Ethics
   3:30 - 4:30, Chesseley A. Robinson III
   1. Avoiding Conflicts of Interest (Who is Your Client?)
   2. Dealing with Clients' Diminishing Mental Capacity
   3. Spotting and Preventing Elder Abuse
   4. Appropriate Client Communications
   5. Navigating through Family Conflict
   6. Setting and Collecting Attorney Fees

Accreditation Details:

JOHN R. BENNETT III, of counsel to Eldreth Law Firm, PLLC, serves clients in eastern and central North Carolina. His practice focus is Medicaid and estate planning and qualifying clients for Medicaid long term care assistance. Mr. Bennett served as an adjunct professor at Wake Forest University School of Law, where he taught the estate planning course. He also served as an adjunct professor at Wake Forest University School of Accountancy, where he taught estate and gift tax in the Graduate Accounting Program. Mr. Bennett has been a presenter and course planner for numerous bar association courses, including the review course for lawyers seeking to be designated as a specialist in estate planning and probate law. He has served on the North Carolina Bar Association Continuing Education Committee for the Estate Planning Section. Mr. Bennett earned his M.B.A. degree from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, his undergraduate degree from the University of the South, his J.D. degree from Wake Forest University School of Law, and his Masters of Law in Taxation from Tax Program at the University of Florida School of Law.

CHESSELEY A. ROBINSON III is the sole practitioner with Chesseley A. Robinson, III, based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Mr. Robinson is a barred attorney in the District of Columbia and practices educational law. He has conducted in excess of 100 due-process hearings under IDEA 1997/IDEIA 2004 in the District of Columbia. Mr. Robinson is a former hearing officer for Guilford County Public Schools for the Employment Security Commission of North Carolina. He has been an adjunct instructor of criminal law and procedure, and legal ethics at both Southeastern University and Bowie State University. Prior to attending law school, he was a teacher and student mentor part time at Bonner Academy, a program for troubled and/or disadvantaged teens. Mr. Robinson earned his B.A. degree from North Carolina State University and his J.D. degree, cum laude, from the University of the District of Columbia-David A. Clarke School of Law. He is admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Mr. Robinson has an emerging practice before the United States Supreme Court.