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SENIORS Change Will for Spouse on Medi-Cal?

Q: My husband is in a nursing home a has al fe for a Medi-Cal subsidy to help with care expenses. To qualify, I was obliged to take his name off of most of our bank accounts, so that almost everything is in my name now. However, I have my own health problems and I wonder what would happen if I pass away before him, as each of our wills leaves everything to the other. Would he lose his e al be efts a t to make sure he is protected.

By Gene L. Osofsky, Esq.

SPECIAL TO THE FORUM

Great question. Under current law, for your husband to keep his Medi-Cal, he cannot have more than $2,000 in his own name, while you may retain up to $130,380 in yours (in 2021). Since your present plan leaves everything to him, your prior death would pass your savings to him, putting him over his $2,000 resource ceiling and cause him to lose his Medi-Cal subsidy. He would then need to use these assets to pay for his own ongoing care. This scenario could deplete your marital estate without providing the reserve for his needs that you desire.

However, with proper planning, his Medi-Cal subsidy can be retained even while preserving funds for his supplemental needs. To accomplish this, you should revise your will or trust so as avoid leaving your estate to your husband directly, and instead permit him to receive the benefit “indirectly” should you predecease him. (1) The “Skip” Plan: One option is to revise your own will to “skip over” your husband and leave everything to your children, but with the understanding that they will use those funds to pay for such

assets in the S-SNT would not interfere with your husband’s ongoing Medi-Cal subsidy and could, instead, be used to pay for items that Medi-Cal does not cover. Upon your husband’s passing, any remaining assets would go to your heirs, presumably your children. Under either strategy, if your husband’s health later improves so that he can return home or move into a less restrictive environment, the funds thus preserved would be available to pay for his care in the new setting. Alternatively, even if he remains in the nursing home, you will have preserved a separate fund to supplement his needs and A: enhance his quality of life. In either case, changing your own will is an act of love. To avoid “payback” to Medi-Cal after both of you have passed on, additional steps may be necessary as part of your planning, such as by having a kind of “toggle switch” in your plan, whereby – if you are the survivor – your assets would, instead, be handled via an ordinary “Living Trust”. Healthy Couples: For those healthy couples who wish to plan ahead, these same strategies can be incorporated into their own estate plans, to be “triggered” in the event one spouse someday requires nursing home placement and qualifies for a Medi-Cal subsidy.

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baywoodcourt.org (510) 733-2418 items that your husband might need and which Medi-Cal does not cover. This approach assumes that your children will fully honor your request, have no creditor problems, are not at risk of divorce and have understanding spouses who will support this use of “their” inheritance. (2) The Spousal SNT Plan (“S-SNT”): A better option is to leave your estate to the trustee of a Spousal Special Needs Trust created by your will. The S-SNT is a very special trust approved by both federal and state law to hold assets for spouses, such as your husband, who receive public benefits. The trustee could be one of your children. If set up and managed properly, the

WINKLER LAW

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— Give Us a Call — Most Initial Consultations Are Free (510) 357-3403

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Gene L. Osofsky is an elder law and estate planning attorney in the East Bay. Visit his website at www.LawyerForSeniors.com.

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Baggott Achieves Eagle Scout Rank

WILLIAM BAGGOTT, Troop 722, Castro Valley, achieved the Eagle Scout rank on June 16, 2021. For his Eagle Project, William planned and organized the construction of a sign outside of Holy Cross Episcopal Church. The project was completed over 10 workdays with 210 volunteer hours. William is a 2021 graduate of Castro Valley High School. He will attend Cal State Monterey Bay in the fall. William is the son of Christina and Jonathon Baggott of Castro Valley.

CVSan: ‘A Grand Slam’

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Association of Sanitation Agencies (CASA).

In a statement, Oro Loma noted the project was the first of its kind in the Bay Area was completed on time and came in under budget.

It was hoped the new process would remove more than half of the ammonia the old technology let escape into treated discharge. After a year of operation, though, it is removing closer to 95% of the ammonia discharges, the district said.

Oro Loma District Engineer Jimmy Dang explained that ammonia, a natural breakdown product of organic waste contains nitrogen, which combines to form other compounds in water that can cause aquatic plants to grow wildly. The resulting reduced oxygen and sunlight in water can seriously harm fish and other sea creatures.

The new treatment method feeds treatment bacteria much more air than previously, which allows them to turn almost all the ammonia in the wastes into nitrates, Dang said. A second stage then turns the nitrates into nitrogen gas, a natural component of air, which is then released in amounts that are small relative to how much air is in the atmosphere.

The project, completed last year, cost $24.7 million. That was split between CVSan and Oro Loma, who have worked together since the 1950s.

Any major project, such as this one, requires the approval of both organizations’ boards, according to Jason Warner, Oro Loma general manager.

“For a pretty modest cost, we hit a grand slam. We’d hoped for a 50% drop in nutrients and instead got 75% after the first year. It took just under 2 years to build,” Warner said.

The cost of the plant is already reflected in rates, so customers won’t see future rises due to it, CVSan’s Williams said, adding, “This only works regionally if all the other agencies on the Bay join in. Then we’ll see significant changes in the Bay’s health.”

Those stricter mandates for everyone are probably coming, Williams said.

It’s usually best to do things before you’re ordered to, Williams said, adding that he hoped this helps CVSan’s in its future work with regional and state water agencies.