Life Care Planning, Estate Protection, Disability,
VA & Medicaid Assistance Lawyers
Practice Areas
Blog 
Memory Loss / Alzheimer's Disease / Dementia / Stroke
- Free Living Will and Advance Medical Directive
- Don't Hesitate When the Diagnosis is Alzheimer's, Dementia, Stroke or Memory Loss
- Alzheimer's disease is the "great unlearning"
- Brains Actually Inprove With Age & Are More Shrewd
- Brain Plasticity and Recovery From Stroke
Medicaid Planning / Asset Protection
Life Care Planning
- Help for Seniors - Professional Geriatric Care Managers
- Take Health Care Off The Mainframe
- What "Patient-Centered" Care Should Mean
- Keeping Mom and Dad Safe at Home
Special Needs & Disability Planning
General
News
- Posted on 7/15/2010Secrets to Qualifying for Illinois Medicaid & Veterans' Benefits...
- Posted on 7/13/2010Free Seminar on New Illinois Medicaid rules to implement DRA...
- Posted on 5/29/2010Press Release - National Elder Law Month...
- Posted on 5/14/2010Effects of Dementia on Functioning and Judgment...
- Posted on 5/8/2010Elder Law Seminar...
Library
Memory Loss / Alzheimer's Disease / Dementia / Stroke
- Older Brains vs. Younger Brains
- When the Diagnosis is Alzheimer's, Dementia, Stroke, or Memory Loss Don't Hesitate
Medicaid Planning / Asset Protection
- New Medicaid rules threaten Life Estates. Don't delay. Call now! Beat the date the new Illinois rules become effective.
- Protect Your Home & Assets. Call NOW before New Medicaid Rules Devaste Your Finances.
- Avoid Going Broke in a Nursing Home . . . . . Act NOW before Illinois adopts the federal Deficit Reduction Act (DRA).
- 2010 changes in the Estate Tax and tax basis rules on life estates have created problems for Medicaid and VA benefits planning.
- Call for free consultation before signing a nursing home admission agreement.
Veterans' Benefits
- Military Veterans Entitled to Care Options, and $23,396 to Qualifying Veteran Household
- VA Benefits for War-Time Veterans & Widows Are Not Tied To Service-Connected Disability
- Veterans Administration Gives Money to Veterans and Their Widow(er)s to Pay for Care At-Home or in Assisted Living
- Veterans Benefits and Medicaid Secret # 2
Life Care Planning
- Life Care Planning - A Revolutionary Approach to the Challenges Created by Long Life
- Protect yourself, your spouse, your home and your life-time savings. Don't become a financial victim of the Elder Care Journey.
- As a person grows older, they move along the Elder Care Journey . . . what professionals call the Elder Care Continuum.
- Keeping Mom & Dad Safe at Home
- Are Children Legally Responsible For Their Parents' Care?
Special Needs & Disability Planning
Internships & Career Opportunities
General
- Why LegalZoom is Not the Answer
- Financial Health and The Elder Care Journey
- Consult with Experienced & Knowledgeable Estate Planning Counsel regarding latest developments on Estate and Gift Taxes
- Let Us Help You with Your Elderly Loved One. Call for a Free Telephone Consultation.
- Let Us Help You Help Your Elderly Loved One. Free Telephone Consultation.
Elder Care Panning Attorney Blog | Life Care Planning Legal Blog
This regularly updated elder care planning legal blog contains helpful insights for those thinking about the future of their elder parents, spouses, and other loved ones. This short and informative blog posts contain helpful tips on elder care planning, information about medicaid planning, frequently asked life care planning questions, and other useful elder care planning tidbits that could help you give comfortable golden years to your loved one.Memory Loss / Alzheimer's Disease / Dementia / Stroke
Free Living Will and Advance Medical Directive
Senior residents of southern Illinois can get a free Living Will and an Advance Medical Directive until Labor Day, September 6, 2010. Call 618-549-4529 or toll-free (in Illinois only) 800-336-4529Don't Hesitate When the Diagnosis is Alzheimer's, Dementia, Stroke or Memory Loss
Mother no longer has the ability to live safely on her own. She forgets about the stove and whether she has taken her medicaitions. An experienced Elder Law Attorney can help plan for care at home, in an assisted living facility or a nursing home. With expert help, your mother can qualify for financial assistance to pay for care as she ages.Alzheimer's disease is the "great unlearning"
Alzheimer's disease: a "great unlearning," a "disease of memory," a "demise of consciousness." What does it reveal about the nature of human identity? What remains when memory unravels? How might such insights help Alzheimer's sufferers themselves? The National Public Radio program "Alzheimer's, Memory and Being" explored these and issues.Brains Actually Inprove With Age & Are More Shrewd
Scientists have discovered that brains can flourish in middle age. Middle-aged brains actually improve some areas as time passes. Older brains see connections, and can size up a situation much faster. Older brains get to the gist of arguments faster, and with greater wisdom. Dementia is not inevitable. If we stay healthy, we can actually improve our brains. An older brain can solve problems much better than a younger brain, and is more shrewd.Brain Plasticity and Recovery From Stroke
For years the doctrine of neuroscientists has been that the brain is a machine: break a part and you lose that function permanently. But more and more evidence is turning up to show that the brain can rewire itself, even in the face of catastrophic trauma: essentially, the functions of the brain can be strengthened just like a weak muscle.Stroke is a Major Factor in Nursing Home Admissions
Stroke is a major factor in admissions to nursing homes and other care facilities. Stroke also causes a need for care at-home. An article by Dr. Pascale Michelon on Brain Plasticity discusses how a brain, if stimulated, can respond to injury and compensate for damage by reorganizing and forming new connections between intact neurons.Medicaid Planning / Asset Protection
New DRA Medicaid Rules Threaten Life Estates
Illinois Medicaid rules will soon be amended to implement the DRA in Illinois. It will profoundly affect Medicaid qualification for the payment of nursing home expenses...including seniors who have already given theim home to their children, but retained a Life Estate. A retained Life Estate means the home is not protected.Paying for Institutionalized Spouse's Care
Question and Answer about Medicaid planning for a married couple, one of whom was still working, and where the other spouse needed care in a nursing home. Must the income or assets of a working spouse (the “community spouse”) be used for the care of the spouse in the nursing home (the “institutionalized spouse”)? Divorce is one option, but should never be used without first consulting with an elder law attorney.Life Care Planning
Help for Seniors - Professional Geriatric Care Managers
Professional Geriatric Care Managers can be a great help for those caring for a loved one at home. Planning and sensitivity is important as a parent advances in age. Personal as well as financial concerns ought to be discussed.Take Health Care Off The Mainframe
An Intel executive, Eric Dishman, compares the U.S. health care system to computing in 1959, tethered to big and unwieldy main-frame systems. As our aging population booms, he argues that it is important for the U.S. to reform the health care system by creating a personal, networked, home-based health care system for all. Cross reference to the “Chronic Care Model” and how to improve Chronic Illness Care.What "Patient-Centered" Care Should Mean
Don Berwick, M.D., President Obama's nominee to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is a consumer-oriented advocate for "Patient-Centered Care" and has long been an advocate for an improvement in the quality of health care and for giving patients a greater say in the decisions made regarding their medical care.Special Needs & Disability Planning
Disinheriting a Child Requires Special Provisions
Disinheriting a child or other heir is an extreme measure and should be done only after much thought and care in drafting a Last Will or Trust if a person is going to avoid a court challenge to the estate plan. In Illinois this technically can be done by merely omitting the disinherited child's name. But this can lead to costly litigation. So additional language ought to be incorporated into the estate planning documents.General
Bankruptcy Can Be An Estate Management Tool
Bankruptcy can be an important tool for estate management for some, particularly seniors with huge medical and long-term care expenses.Include your Digital Assets in Your Estate Planning
The first important step, following death or incapacity, is to track down and identify all of the assets, liabilities, and other concerns. To help your family and designated successor, leave a list of assets and liabilities for them. Also, you will want to help your successors by creating an inventory of your digital assets, passwords, etc.Don't forget your Digital Assets when doing your Estate Planning
Inventroy your digital assets. Without a detailed and accurate list, your successors will have a hard time protecting you and your digital legacy.Taking Care of Digital Assets
Tips for handling digital affairs after the death of another person, including changing passwords, contacting e-mail and social media accounts, preserving photographs, protecting financial information, and backing up all data.The Estate Tax is Not Dead
The estate tax is not “dead”. It has been repealed, but, without action by Congress, will come back in 2011 with only a $1 million exemption and a top 55% tax rate. The Obama administration attempted to permanently fix the exemption at $3.5 million, but Congress balked.Lawsuit claims LegalZoom is Unfair & Misleading
Lawsuit claims LegalZoom is unfair and engages in deceptive business practices, that its website falsely states that "customized" documents are reviewed for "accuracy and reliability." Nowhere [does LegalZoom] explain that its documents are not the same as those prepared by an attorney and that that its documents are not truly 'customized'. Plaintiffs claim the documents they purchased were flawed and they had to hire an attorney to correct the problems.A Word About Ethics & Confidentiality
Meet one of my fellow Wealth Counsel attorneys, Suzann Beckett. Suzann is a colleague who practices in Connecticut, and she recently posted to her blog this reminder of ethics guidelines as they apply to sharing confidential information.
Perhaps one of the least talked about aspects of working with a lawyer is the fear some of us have of exposing our personal lives to a total stranger. That reluctance takes a back seat in criminal law, where the process you are thrust into isn't voluntary. But when considering the larger decisions in life, opening the books on a lifetime of financial acquisitions, debts, and concerns to a total stranger can lead some people to avoid involving a lawyer when making long term plans.
Like most fears, the emotional reaction we have can be profoundly counter-productive. Sadly, it isn't all that unusual for costly, irreparable mistakes to be the result of our attempts to keep prying eyes out of our business.
The key is to be selective. When you plan for the future, you don't necessarily want to show the records of your financial holdings to your hairdresser, or the guy who mows your lawn. But it would be a good idea to come clean with the IRS on an annual basis. And although it may seem counter-intuitive, the best way to maintain control of your wealth and property over the long haul is to have an open, honest discussion of your plans with a legal professional who has your best interest at heart. Whether you are buying a home, building a business, filing for bankruptcy protection, or planning for the handling of your estate, you want to be the person in control - and you want the decisions you make to be based on solid legal grounds, not a gut feeling that may or may not stand up when you need it to.
Keep in mind that you are the customer, and the law is in a very real sense, a service industry.
So rest easy when you think about laying open your books, and your plans to a lawyer. The Bar Association holds lawyers to a very high ethical standard. Like your doctor, your lawyer is required by law to keep your confidence. A responsibility that we take very seriously, and one that I find comforting whenever I sit with a client who indicates the slightest concern for the security of their personal information.
When serving as your legal counsel, it is my responsibility to act with your best interests at heart. This posting by Suzann Beckett is a concise reminder that my counsel to you is for you and in your best interest. When offering counsel in my professional capacity, it is always confidential and it is specific to your needs.
Take your Medicine…it’s Good for You and Your Loved Ones
Many do not like to discuss estate planning. When they do, many parents want to treat children "equally." But there may not be enough to go around. Parents must first plan for their own care, then consider being "fair" rather than "equal" to their children. Its important to have a conversation with your family and to be open. It will save family relationships.Buying Tires vs. Legal Services
Build a relationship with an attorney who is ethical, honest, can be trusted, and is both knowledgeable and experienced. Follow this blog for free information.Take a A Positive Step
Don't stress about long-term care or estate protection planning. Take a positive step toward your estate or retirement planning.LegalZoom is Not the Answer
There are good alternatives to LegalZoom. Documents are simple. Wisdom is harder to come. Consult with a knowledgeable and experienced estate planning or elder law attorney. Or consult with the either the Elderly Clinic or Self-Help Center at the Southern Illinois University School of Law.When Good Estate Plans Go Bad
When you purchase a vehicle you don't just buy it and forget about it. You invest in periodic maintenance to prevent problems. You should do the same with your estate plan to prevent possible catastrophic failure. Life is not static. Life happens. The facts in your life change over the course of time. Thus, you should update you estate plan every few years ... or sooner as the facts of your life change.Habiger & Associates Elder Law Office (HAELO) provides legal services to elderly or disabled persons in Southern Illinois. The founder of the firm, Richard Habiger, is an elder law attorney with more than 30 years experience. We are an Elder Law and Life Care Planning Law Firm that provides legal and care coordination assistance, including: Medicaid planning; asset protection; estate protection; Medicaid applications; Medicaid appeals; VA pension benefits planning and applications for veterans and their surviving spouses; planning for those with Alzheimer's, dementia, or other forms of memory loss, and those who have suffered a stoke; Hospice planning; and special needs planning, including special needs trusts and supplemental needs trusts.
HAELO is located in Carbondale Illinois, and serves clients in twenty-seven Southern Illinois counties south of Interstate 70 highway. Southern Illinois Counties: Jackson County, Williamson County, Union County, Franklin County, Perry County, Saline County, Jefferson County, Hamilton County, Johnson County, Randolph County, Wayne County, White County, Washington County, Edwards County, Monroe County, Wabash County, Richland County, Clay County, Marion County, Clinton County, Bond County, Fayette County, Effingham County, Jasper County, Crawford County, Massac County, Pulaski County, Alexander County, Pope County, Hardin County, Gallatin County, and Lawrence County.
Southern Illinois Cities & Towns: Carbondale, Murphysboro, Carterville, Herrin, Marion, Anna, Vienna, Metropolis, Harrisburg, West Frankfort, DuQuoin, Benton, Chester, Pinckneyville, Mt. Vernon, McLeansboro, Carmi, Fairfield, Nashville, Waterloo, Centralia, Salem, Albion, Mt. Carmel, Flora, Olney, Lawrenceville, Newton, Robinson, Jonesboro, Eldorado, Shawneetown, Ridgway, Sparta, Golconda, Johnston City, Marissa, Coulterville, Carlyle, Ullin, Tamms, Elizabethtown, Galatia, Wayne City, Cobden, Lake of Egypt, Goreville, Brookport, Olive Branch, Cave-in-Rock, Carrier Mills, Energy, Cambria, Zeigler, Royalton, Christopher, Rosiclare, Sesser, Okawville, Woodlawn, Thompsonville, Steeleville, Raleigh, Olmsted, Baldwin, Villa Ridge, Mounds, Tunnel Hill, Red Bud, Trenton, New Baden, Ewing, Dix, Norris City, Creal Spring, Bridge Port, Sumner, Waltonville, Breese, Aviston, Germantown, Whittington, Vandalia, and Ina.
Free Books
Memory Loss - Legal Survival Guide
The Guide to Medicaid Planning
The Nuts and Bolts Guide to Veterans' Benefits
Consumers Guide to Hospice Care in Southern Illinois
The Complete Guide to Life Care Planning
Parents Guide to Special Needs Planning
Advisor's Guide to Special Needs Planning
Contact Us
Offices
Physical Address
2010 West Woodriver Drive
Suite 100
Carbondale, Illinois 62901
Phone: 618-549-4529
Mailing Address
200 North Emerald Lane
Suite 100
Carbondale, Illinois 62901
Phone: 618-549-4529
FAQs
Medicaid Planning / Asset Protection
But my caseworker / nursing home intake person / friend / beautician / other advisor has told me rules that are much different than what you are saying. How can you be so sure that you're right?
- If you can really do this, how come I have never heard about this before?
- Are your Medicaid-related asset protection strategies really "legal and ethical"?
General
Testimonials
Thank you for your excellent leadership and many insights at the Young At Heart Seminar at United Methodist Church of Murphysboro on July 13.- I appreciate all you have done over the years to help make this transition simpler for our family.
Janice Cherry - Thank you for taking the time to talk to my sister concerning my Dad.
Sharon B. - You were always there for me and I never felt you were just doing your jobs, your hearts were really in it. If not for you, I don’t think I could have gotten through the most trying time of my life.
S.W. - Thank you so much for getting my mom and dad’s affairs in order. If there is one thing that I could tell others it would be to plan ahead and seek your counsel early.
C.D.