Agenda / Content Covered

1. Special Needs Trusts and ABLE Accounts
   9:00 - 10:00, Jessica Kludt
   1. SNTs vs. ABLE Accounts: Structure, Uses, Benefits, Eligibility, and More
   2. Types of SNTs
   3. Preserving Benefits Eligibility
   4. Qualified Expenses and Other SNT Trust Administration Issues
   5. Tax Considerations
   6. Key Provisions: Sample SNT Document Review
   7. Recent POMS Updates
2. Medicaid Application, Appeals, and Fair Hearings
   10:00 - 11:00, John R. McNair
   1. Filing Medicaid Application: Forms and Procedures Update
   2. Hearings and Appeals Process
   3. Requests for Reconsideration and Fair Hearing Practice
   4. Correcting the Damage Done Before You and Reflecting Life Changes
   5. What Can be Done About Penalty Periods of Ineligibility
   6. Home and Community-Based Medicaid Waivers
   7. Other State and Local Benefits
3. Veterans Benefits, Claims, and Appeals Under the Current Rules
   11:15 - 12:15, Jennifer C. Vermillion
   1. Types of Veterans Benefits: VA Aid and Attendance, Disability, etc.
   2. Eligibility Update
   3. The Modernized Claims and Appeals System
   4. Forms and Procedures Update
   5. Discharge Issues
   6. Addressing Prior Transfers
4. Ensuring Medicaid Eligibility While Preserving Assets
   1:15 - 2:15, Jennifer L. Coulter
   1. Medicaid LTC Eligibility Criteria: Excluded and Countable Assets
   2. Spousal Protections
   3. Asset Transfers, Gifts, Promissory Notes
   4. Prepayment of Qualified Expenses
   5. "Medicaid Pending" and Nursing Homes
   6. Trusts in Medicaid Planning
   7. Lookback Period Requirements
5. Post-Eligibility and Estate Planning Issues
   2:30 - 3:30, Deshonda P. Charles
   1. Coordinating Multiple Benefits
   2. Benefits Overpayment
   3. Loss and Restoration of Benefits
   4. Estate Recovery and Other Probate Issues Associated with Medicaid
   5. State and Local Benefits for the Aging and the Disabled
   6. Survivor Benefits
   7. Tax Implications of Benefits Planning
6. Legal Ethics of Representing the Elderly and the Disabled
   3:30 - 4:30, Terry L. Garrett
   1. Conflicts of Interest
   2. Attorney Fees
   3. Capacity Determinations
   4. Client Confidentiality

Accreditation Details:

Deshonda P Charles , president and CEO of The Tackett Firm PLLC, has over 17 years' experience practicing law in the areas of estate planning and probate litigation, family law, and employment discrimination litigation. She is licensed to practice law in the states of Texas, Louisiana, New York, and Connecticut, before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, and before the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Ms. Charles is a member and past president of the Houston Lawyers Association, a member of the Houston Bar Association, The Greater New Orleans Louis A. Martinet Society Legal Society, The National Bar Association, and The College of the State Bar of Texas. She earned her B.A. degree from Loyola University New Orleans and her J.D. degree from Tulane University Law School also in New Orleans.

Jennifer L Coulter is a partner at the firm of Townsend Allala, Coulter & Kludt, PLLC. She joined the firm in 2011, immediately after graduating from The University of Texas School of Law with honors. Ms. Coulter is the current El Paso Probate Bar president, as well as being a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. She practices exclusively in the field of elder law, focusing on Medicaid planning, Medicaid estate recovery program avoidance and defense, estate planning, and probate. It is her nursing home Medicaid cases that are her driving passion, though. Ms. Coulter earned her undergraduate degree and J.D. degree from the University of Texas at Austin.

Terry L Garrett works in elder, estate and special needs planning, guardianship, and probate at The Garrett Law Firm, PLLC in Austin, Texas. She graduated with honors from Cornell University, was on the Dean's List at Wharton, earned the Parker Award and a Mellon Fellowship at Columbia University School of Law and did post-graduate work at Harvard. Mr. Garrett serves on the Board of the Texas Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and the Education Committee of the National Guardianship Association. She presents for the Alzheimer's Association, has taught for the National Alliance on Mental Illness, and is a member of the Estate Planning Council of Central Texas.

Jessica Kludt is an El Paso elder law attorney with Townsend Allala, Coulter & Kludt, PLLC. She serves on the Board of Directors for the APS Silver Star Board and the El Paso Bar Association from El Paso, and was recently appointed treasurer of the Texas Partners of Adult Protective Services Board. Ms. Kludt's practice includes probate, trusts, special needs trusts, and estate planning. She received her bachelors and J.D. degrees from the University of Texas at Austin.

John R. McNair is an attorney with McNair Dallas Law. He concentrates his practice in the areas of estate planning, probate, wills, trusts, guardianship, and long care benefits planning. Mr. McNair is admitted to the State Bar of Texas and is a certified public accountant in Texas. He is board certified in estate planning and probate by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and board certified in tax law. Mr. McNair is a Certified Elder Law Attorney (CELA) by the National Elder Law Foundation and an accredited attorney with the Department of Veterans Affairs. He is a member of the State Bar of Texas, the American Bar Association, and the Dallas Bar Association. Mr. McNair earned his B.S. degree from Arkansas State University, his Master of Tax Law from Southern Methodist University, and his J.D. degree from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville School of Law.

Jennifer C Vermillion is an attorney with The Vermillion Law Firm, LLC, licensed to practice in the state of Texas, the state of Louisiana, in the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Texas, and before the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. Ms. Vermillion practices in the areas of estate planning, probate, veterans affairs, handles various family and civil matters, and serves as an ad litem attorney in the Dallas County Probate courts. She earned her B.A. degree, cum laude, from the University of Dallas and her J.D. degree from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law. While attending SMU, Ms. Vermillion completed an externship with the United States Department of Justice, Tax Division; and practiced as a student attorney in the SMU Small Business Clinic. She is a member of the State Bar of Texas, the Louisiana State Bar Association, and the Dallas Bar Association where she serves on various committees and sections as vice-chair and officer. Ms. Vermillion also regularly serves as a volunteer attorney for the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program.