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Transferring Title of Home to Avoid Medi-Cal Estate Recovery Can Have Terrible Consequences

Too often seniors have told me that due to their concerns about Medi-Cal estate recovery, they have either transferred title to their home to their adult child, or other non-family member, or added them to title. Under most, if not all circumstances, seniors should avoid this option to protect them from Medi-Cal estate recovery. Medi-Cal is a joint federal and state program that provides financial assistance for low-income individuals so they can afford medical and long term care. When a Medi-Cal recipient dies, the state may try to recover repayment from the deceased’s estate. It has been my experience that this estate recovery option causes many seniors to be overly concerned about holding onto title of their homes during their lifetimes. Many seniors do not realize that Medi-Cal will not pursue estate recovery until the recipient and surviving spouse (if married) die. Rarely, if ever, is it wise for seniors to transfer title of their homes or add a child or another personto title to protect the home from...

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Elder Law & Advocacy Participates in the “Know Your Rights” Workshop

On October 29, 2012, Elder Law & Advocacy was represented by staff attorney, Bob Martin, at the “Know Your Rights” workshop. This session was held in the City Heights neighborhood of San Diego and was assembled to promote healing of residents from trauma suffered due to recent heinous criminal activity. The City of San Diego Human Relations Commission sponsored the workshop. The purpose of the workshop was to gather knowledgeable individuals to speak to traumatized neighbors about issues that are most pressing to their community at this time. Among the issues discussed were immigration, contact with the police, reentry, expungement of criminal records, managing the criminal justice system, fair housing, and landlord-tenant issues. Mr. Martin’s presentation focused on elder abuse. He also addressed numerous other relevant topics. In the elder abuse segment of his presentation, Mr. Martin described to the audience the different types of elder abuse, including physical abuse, emotional/psychological abuse, neglect by a caregiver, and financial elder abuse.  Mr. Martin then discussed victim’s options for remedying and...

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