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There are right ways and wrong ways to go about rightsizing, home selling, and selecting your new home, and it’s never fun having to experience the “learning curve,” especially if it’s been many years since you have moved. The process of home selling has changed greatly thanks to technology and the invention of the Internet.  Expectations by Buyers are also very different these days, making an experienced agent invaluable for guidance and advocacy.  Remember, feeling that the move (the house, the contents, choosing where to move, setting up a new home) will be overwhelming is normal! In my role as my Team’s senior move specialist, my joy is to work along with our real estate agents to help our older adult clients navigate the entire process with a complete array of resources and services in full support, all the way through settlement and beyond. Previously in this newsletter, I provided guidance on choosing the right agent, what happens during the home visit by the agent including an examination of market analysis & pricing, timing of the sale, and staging.  Next steps for navigating the process? Relocating: Where are you going? This is one of the first questions your Agent should ask in order to understand the overview of your needs and to create your best path. Different and common scenarios include moving to a condo or one-level home, in with adult children, moving out of state to retirement meccas such as Florida and Arizona, and moving to local retirement communities. One of my passions is making sure that Sellers are as educated as possible about all of the choices available to them. Many people don’t know the very important differences between 55+, CCRC, Independent or Assisted Living communities and the health and financial formats for each can vary greatly. For example, some communities require health as well as financial clearances, some have buy-in fees and some do not. Some are fee-simple ownership and some have leases, even if they appear to be similar. If you are moving to a location that has not incorporated safety features found in “universal design” construction, be sure to ask for resources for the specialty companies who install grab bars for example, as these can literally be life-savers. Sometimes in-home care is needed if your loved one has been ill and needs help in the interim before the move. I take pride in being able to share these resources as well. Senior Living Search: Did you know that there are specialists who can help with your research into the various kinds of senior living communities? Life Care Managers are able to help guide you to the communities that would be your best fit and are also able to provide assessments for level of care, family counseling, and to be a part of the conversation between legal and financial advisors for families when a move is happening quickly or unexpectedly due to health events or the loss of a loved one. Sharing this resource with my clients is often a life-saver for families when events feel overwhelming and an expert is needed. Downsizing: Downsizing possessions is your next target. Ideally you have been chipping away at this task well ahead of time, as it can be a lot to tackle simultaneously with preparing your actual home. You will want to have a grasp of the square footage and storage you’re leaving and those figures for where you’re moving to, and you’ll also want a space plan to help you decide what you will want to take and, more importantly, what will fit, look great and serve you in your new home. Once you know what you’re taking, decide what you’d like to offer to family and friends if treasured heirlooms or larger pieces just don’t work in the new space. Hold on to everything else in order to research and have the best outcome from a potential estate sale. The more items you have, the larger the sale, the more likely you are to have a higher-dollar final sale, so don’t let your items be “cherry-picked” prior to having a professional consult with an estate sale expert. Then you can identify what items aren’t saleable and arrange for donation and maybe a tax benefit. Finally, you may need your home to be “cleared” of any last items, which can be done by friends & family or by a professional hauler. Moving: If it’s been years since you have moved, you should rely on your Agent for recommendations for a trusted professional mover who is well-established and also offers short and long-term storage. For short-distance and smaller moves, some real estate firms offer free moving trucks as a convenience and cost-savings to their clients. Move Managers, also called Transitioners or Downsizers, are a relatively new type of moving service and they can be a boon to you if you are overwhelmed, busy, distracted, and in need of “more” than what an ordinary moving company is able to provide. These providers can help coordinate work being done to prepare the home for selling, estate sale processes, space planning the new home, sorting, packing, the actual move, unpacking and setting up on move-in day. Think boxes gone, pictures hung, clothes in closets and beds made. They are an amazing resource and the best ones work closely with your Agent. Power Of Attorney: I have many stories about the problems my clients have faced when they did not have a Power of Attorney in place. Many clients have one that turns out to be non-functional due to being old or “stale” or written without sufficient detail such that it is not enforceable. Make sure you have one, and make sure it’s recent and air-tight! Unforeseen health events that cause homeowners to be unable to complete contracts during the home selling process have caused a lot of heartache, trouble, expense and complete destruction of planned-for timelines in the sale/move/purchase timetable. Consulting your current attorney, or better yet, upgrading to an elder law specialist, is one of the best things you can do for yourself, your spouse, and your family. Financial Management: Even though the demands of selling and moving make you extremely busy in the short term, this is still a time when it is ideal to revisit or create the best financial structure for your future. Think both big and small picture. Having guidance for the savviest ways to handle your homeselling profit, your retirement community’s buy-in expenses, understanding capital gains, etc. are important opportunities to design the best outcome for the long term. For the day-to-day, I like to make sure there is awareness of professionals called Daily Money Managers. They are exactly what they sound like and are an important resource for people who no longer want the tasks associated with managing their finances, who are struggling to maintain them due to health reasons or the demands of technology, and perhaps most importantly for spouses who are at sea if the managing spouse becomes ill and is no longer able to maintain the household accounts. I strongly encourage all of my clients to consult with a Daily Money Manager as part of their pre-crisis planning, and if health issues are already looming, do not wait to learn about this service and put it in place. The opportunity for teamwork between the professional and both spouses is a golden one, and early intervention means that the ill spouse can be a part of the hand-off, and that a non-managing spouse can have peace of mind should anything unexpected occur going forward. VA Benefit: In the spirit of understanding there’s a lot going on when you’re selling your home BUT you don’t want to miss out on any resources to which you are entitled, please know about the Veterans Administration’s “Aid & Attendance Benefit” which can provide monthly income for Veterans and their spouses at the Assisted Living level of care. Having an elder law attorney who is certified to guide you on eligibility and the chance to learn about how he or she can help you to structure your assets to better position you for eligibility is an opportunity you don’t want to miss. Again, think pre-crisis research and planning! For the past several years, twenty-five percent of all home sellers in the U.S. have been 65 years old or older. Being a home seller is a powerful position to be in both as a group and as an individual! I believe in harnessing all of the resources available to my clients with an emphasis on educating and supporting them along the way. My goal is for my clients to have the smoothest transition possible, with the clearest path to an organized, relaxed, risk-managed new and easier lifestyle! Victoria Hathaway is the Director of The Silver Group of the Bob Lucido Team of Keller Williams Integrity. She is a Realtor, Certified Senior Advisor (CSA), Certified Senior Housing Professional (CSHP), Seniors Real Estate Specialist (SRES), Board Member of the Coalition of Geriatric Services (COGS), and serves the Aging Studies Advisory Board, Johns Hopkins University. She may be reached at 410-979-4284 or via email at Victoria@BobLucidoTeam.com.

On Wednesday, May 23, I attended the McDaniel College Center for Aging’s update on Aging in Place. Not surprising, the results of a recent survey given to those over 60 indicated that over 90 percent of the aging population (which is rapidly growing) wants to age in their own home. The exciting news is that more and more services are available to those who wish to “Age In Place.” The reality is that most are unaware of those services which exist and how to find them. Another reality, those services are fee for service not covered by insurance or subsidies. And finally, what the survey did not ask, are you willing to do what it takes to actually have the possibility of successfully aging in place? It seems that everyone wants in on this new catch-phrase and yet the number of people who are willing to make the lifestyle, health or economic changes to be successful pale in comparison. So what does it require on your part to age in place? First, proper planning and setting reasonable expectations is essential. If you wish to age in place, you just can’t “wish” it, you have to be proactive. Assuming that your home is an appropriate setting and refusing to make the appropriate modifications if necessary will most certainly not achieve the desired result. It is important to take a good objective look at your current living environment. Is it safe and accessible? You may not be the one to make that determination. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard, “that rug is fine, it’s been there for 30 years and I’ve never had a problem.” You might not be shocked if you’re the child of a parent who has been putting up the good fight against change. Ah, change. It’s the resistance to change that usually results in the change that we try so hard to control. We won’t change, we don’t need to change, we’re fine … And then the crisis that brings us to the very thing we fear the most — dependence on others. If only we were hard-wired to roll with change and go with it before we are dragged there, things would be so much easier. But we aren’t, at least most of us. So instead of putting some doubled-sided tape on the rug that slides under your feet or removing it, we say, “It’s fine.” Instead of moving to a home whether it be an apartment, accessible home or retirement community, we trudge up and down the steps with bad knees until we can’t and then it happens, the dreaded dependence. Aging in place is entirely possible if you are open-minded and make a plan. If you think it’s just going to happen, you may be disappointed. The survey, which asked if people wished to age in their homes, had some responses that indicated that they did not. Perhaps some of those people were realistic and knew that they must make a transition to a new home or living environment in order to age in place. Planning cannot start too soon. What is it that you intend to do? Where do you intend to live? Is it accessible should the unexpected happen and you need to live on one floor with a full bath and all the things you need? Do you have doorways and a shower that can accommodate a wheelchair if needed for recovery from surgery? If you want the best shot at continuing in your own home as you age, staving off chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes is important. Improving or staying healthy requires a healthy lifestyle and exercise. It’s not too late to become motivated to get up and get moving. The single best thing you can do is exercise 30 minutes per day. Do something, walk, play pickle ball, garden, exercise in a chair, whatever it takes to keep yourself moving! I can’t help but remember the back of a T-shirt on a man I was following while running in a race: “I’m running faster than the guy sitting on the sofa!” So get out there and walk, run or raise you legs in a chair faster than the guy sitting on the sofa! Do what it takes to have a shot at the golden dream: Aging In Place. Jill Rosner is a registered nurse, certified geriatric care manager and owner of Rosner Healthcare Navigation.  She provides patient advocacy and care management services to clients with health and aging issues.  Contact her at JillRosnerRN@aol.com

This past spring, Olivia R. Holcombe-Volke, Partner with Elville and Associates, co-founded the Community Advocacy Network (CAN), an initiative within the Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service that inspires new attorneys and law students to give low-income Marylanders equal access to justice through pro bono work. The MVLS is a private, non-profit legal services provider established in 1981 to help meet the need for civil legal services in Maryland that provides quality civil legal assistance to Marylanders with limited income at low or no cost. Already a volunteer attorney with MVLS for the last 4 years, Ms. Holcombe-Volke, always an advocate for positive change in the communities in which she serves, worked for several months with the other founding members to make CAN a reality. “Having served as a volunteer attorney with various pro bono legal services organizations for the majority of my years in practice, it is tremendously exciting to be a founding member of MVLS CAN,” said Ms. Holcombe-Volke.  “This initiative is aimed at connecting new attorneys – and sometimes, attorneys who are simply “new” to pro bono – with the vast resources available to them through MVLS and its network of volunteer attorneys, all with the end goal of increasing available pro bono services for the many Marylanders in need.” For more information about the Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service and the Community Advocacy Network, visit mvlslaw.org/mvls-can/.

As the Client Care Program nears its two-year anniversary, the mission of the CCP (“planning that works”) remains the same – to provide CCP members with the comfort and assurance that their estate and elder law plans will stay updated over the passage of time and that clients and their families receive the education they need.  Though its mission remains the same, the CCP continues to grow in scope as CCP Member benefits grow, including most recently the ability for Members to participate in their own archival family video production at the Elville Creative Studio.  Members are encouraged to express themselves and share whatever they want future generations to remember – their wishes for family, values important to them, old stories they want to pass down for generations to come, and much more.  There are no limits, the creative possibilities are endless. Elville and Associates’ first CCP Continuing Legal Education Event of the year, “A Round Table Discussion on the New Federal Income and Estate Tax Code (The 2017 Tax Act),” was held on Saturday, April 28th at the the Arnold campus of Anne Arundel Community College.  Guests were entertained and educated by Katz Abosch’s CPAs James Eaton and Michael Andrews along with Elville and Associates’ Principal Stephen Elville.  Yes, entertained!  These CPAs were colorful and brought the December 2017 Tax Act to life as they explored a broad overview of the huge changes in the laws. The CCP’s second annual Social Event took place on Sunday, August 19th, as Members and their families enjoyed a matinee showing of the smash-hit musical, “Mamma Mia,” at Toby’s Dinner Theatre in Columbia.  After a delicious breakfast buffet was served before the sold-out show, guests were whisked away to the show’s setting, a Greek Island in the Mediterranean Sea, as extraordinary acting and memorable ABBA songs such as “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!,” “Lay All Your Love on Me,” “Take a Chance on Me,” “The Winner Takes It All” and, of course, “Dancing Queen” entertained and transported everyone back to a younger time, some forty years ago.  As The Baltimore Sun’s review of the show stated, “If you didn’t know you were at a dinner theatre, you’d think you were at a disco!” Elville and Associates’ 6th annual Client Event will be held on Saturday, October 20th, 2018 from 8:30 to noon at the Retreat and Conference Center at Bon Secours in Marriottsville.  This year’s theme is “Understanding Medicare Concepts 2018 – A Continuing Discussion with Mark W. Trent of Medicare Supplement Services.”  By popular demand, we are fortunate to have the engaging and informative Mr. Trent back again this year to update guests about the ongoing changes in the world of Medicare along with presentations by the Firm’s attorneys about Healthcare Decision Making in 2018; Maryland Law Update; Funding and ) Asset Alignment Retrospect; and Client Care Program Experience.  Along with the superb lineup of speakers, delicious food, door prizes, and gift baskets will once again highlight the morning.  Entertainment will be provided by the Max Vanderbeek Jazz Group – a professional jazz trio led by one of the Elville Center for the Creative Arts’ finest school partners and music directors, Dr. Maximus VanDerbeek of Wiley H. Bates Middle School in Annapolis.  Invitations will be forthcoming in The CCP’s final Continuing Legal Education Event of the year is scheduled for Saturday, December 8th, 2018, at the John A. Cade Center for Fine Arts.  Our guest speaker will be Ellen Platt, Geriatric/Life Care Manager with The Option Group, and her presentation, “Navigating Longevity,” will cover an overview of geriatric care management; cognition, brain health, and dementia; care options; and the importance of taking care of the caregiver.  Invitations and more information about this event will be provided in late October. To learn more about the CCP, its many benefits and how to become a Member, please contact Mary Guay Kramer, Client Care Program Coordinator, at 443-741-3635 or mary@elvilleassociates.com.

Stephen R. Elville, Esq., Principal and lead attorney at the elder law, estate and special needs planning firm of Elville and Associates, presented for a third consecutive year at the Financial Planning Association of Maryland’s Spring Symposium on Thursday, May 17th in Pikesville, Maryland. Mr. Elville’s presentation focused on the 2017 Tax Act and offered certified financial planners in attendance a synopsis of the topics of interest discussed at January’s 52 nd Annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning in Orlando. Mr. Elville discussed the 2017 Tax Act and its implications on how the Act affects estates and trusts, business tax issues, income tax issues, estate planning considerations, and asset protection. Mr. Elville works with individuals and families to provide a unique attorney-client experience and peace of mind solutions to the challenges they face with estate, asset protection, and tax planning issues, and with disability and a long-term care planning issues. He has extensive experience in working with clients involved in crisis situations. He also brings a unique and personalized approach to pre-crisis planning. Mr. Elville routinely handles clients issues in the followings areas: wills, trusts, powers of attorney, living wills/advance medical directives, Medicaid asset protection trusts, Medicaid planning and qualification, estate administration, fiduciary representation, nursing home selection, guardianships, special needs planning for children and adults, Social Security Disability Income (SSDI), Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and IRS tax controversy. Mr. Elville was named to the Maryland Super Lawyers list in 2015, 2017 and 2018, and is a member of the National Association of Elder Law Attorneys, Elder Counsel, Wealth Counsel, the Academy of Special Needs Planners, and the National Network of Estate Planning Attorneys. He currently serves as a member of the Maryland State Bar Association Elder Law Section Council and the Charitable Gift Planning Advisory Committee for Anne Arundel Medical Center. He is a frequent guest presenter for banks and credit unions, businesses, the financial services industry and other organizations and is on schedule to present approximately 75 times this year regarding his areas of practice. Mr. Elville also provides continuing education for financial advisors and CPAs through Elville and Associates’ bi-monthly Advisors’ Forum series. His daily blog appears on elviilleassociates.com and WBJC.com and his articles have appeared in The Business Monthly.

By: Jeffrey Stauffer, Community Relations Director – jeff@elvilleassociates.com, 443-393-7696 Mr. Stephen R. Elville, principal and lead attorney at the elder law, estate and special needs planning firm of Elville and Associates, P.C., is attending The National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys Summit January 28-30 in Newport Beach, California. Hosted by the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA), this yearly elder and special needs law event engages attendees beyond a lecture by offering discussion, debate, and applications for the information provided in each session. Session titles include: “How My Communication Style Can Help My Bottom Line”; “Skills and Law When Serving Clients with Diminished Capacity”; and “Navigating Trustees of Special Needs Trusts (SNT) Through Rough Waters.” Earlier in January, Mr. Elville attended the weeklong Heckerling Institute’s Symposium on Estate Planning in Orlando, Florida. Now in its 50th year, the Heckerling Institute is not only the leading continuing education program for estate planners, but also the national gathering place for all members of the estate planning team, including attorneys, trust officers, accountants, charitable giving professionals, insurance advisors, elder law specialists, wealth management professionals, educators and nonprofit advisors. In addition to the highest quality educational programming, attendees enjoyed valuable networking and professional development opportunities and reviewed the latest in technology, products and services displayed by nearly 150 vendors in an exhibit hall dedicated entirely to the estate planning industry. Among the topics of discussion throughout the week were: tax and non-tax planning issues, what lies ahead and suggested useful planning strategies for the future; a review of significant estate planning developments in 2015; strategies for marital planning; an examination of the legal and political developments that define today’s Supreme Court; planning for same-sex and unmarried couples; asset protection planning; and planning for the increasing interplay among wealth transfer tax, income tax, and investment tax. Mr. Elville attends these national events on a yearly basis along with other seminars to be at the forefront of the key, contemporary issues in elder law, estate and special needs planning. Mr. Elville’s work is centered in these areas with special emphasis in the areas of tax planning and asset protection. He earned his law degrees from the University of Baltimore, cum laude, and is a member of the NAELA, The Academy of Special Needs Planners and the National Network of Estate Planning Attorneys, among numerous other organizations. Mr. Elville currently serves as a member of the Maryland State Bar Association Elder Law Section Council and the Charitable Gift Planning Advisory Committee for Anne Arundel Medical Center. He works with individuals and families to provide peace of mind and a unique attorney-client experience through a proactive and collaborative approach based on leading edge legal-technical knowledge. Elville and Associates focuses on the education of its clients, planning team partners and communities in which it serves in the areas of elder law, estate and special needs planning. The firm achieves this through its mission of engaging clients in a multi-step educational process using counseling and superior legal-technical knowledge to ensure that planning works from inception, throughout lifetime, and at death. Clients are encouraged to take advantage of the Planning Team Concept for leading edge, customized planning. The firm also regularly holds free educational workshops and seminars throughout the communities in which it serves, covering topics related to its many practice areas. Mr. Elville and Elville and Associates also hold a bi-monthly Advisors Forum series for financial advisors, CPAs, attorneys and insurance agents, which provides valuable education to planning team members about elder law, estate and special needs planning. For more information, please call 443-393-7696 or complete the form below.

Effective estate planning must contemplate not only your own desires or preferences as to whom or what will receive your estate after death, but also what impact that inheritance might have on the beneficiary.  The most common example of why and when this is important is when an intended beneficiary has special needs and is receiving public benefits, in which case a supplemental needs trust may be necessary to protect both the beneficiary and the inheritance.  Other less obvious circumstances faced by beneficiaries who receive your inheritance deserve contemplation too, though. A beneficiary who is receiving public benefits for a reason other than disability, for example, and who will therefore face the difficult choice between receiving an inheritance and losing the public benefits, or refusing the inheritance in order to stay on public benefits. For most people, this decision is one between a rock and a hard place, utterly defeating the best intentions of the decedent and the decedent’s estate plan. With careful consideration and planning, this unfortunate result can be avoided. Another set of circumstances that is likely to lead to more trouble than a decedent intends to cause for his or her beneficiaries is one in which property is left to two or more beneficiaries who don’t get along.  This reality can lead to infighting, which, in the worst case scenario, can lead to litigation and the dissipation of assets, thereby wasting the distribution the decedent intended for the benefit of the recipients. It may be hopeful, but not realistic, to believe that beneficiaries who don’t get along while you are alive will be able to communicate and work together after you die – particularly where money is involved.  Again, careful planning can ensure that your intentions achieve a positive result and aren’t wasted by the realities of whom you choose to leave your estate to.  The point in all of this is that you may have the very best intentions – but in your efforts to ensure those intentions see long-term success, it is vital to take into account the realities of your beneficiaries and all intended circumstances. For more information, please call 443-393-7696 or complete the form below.