Wishing you a new year filled with peace, good health, and happiness.

Our next free Estate Planning Essentials Workshop (our first of the new year) will be live. Registration for our next workshop (which will be Tuesday, January 24, 2023 from 10:00 a.m. until noon) can be made by calling us at (214) 720-0102 or signing up online at www.dallaselderlawyer.com. 

Attendees often ask questions about estate planning, probate, Medicaid and Veterans benefits. We proceed to answer the questions over the course of the workshop (although there will be a presentation also).

Last month President Biden signed into law the Respect for Marriage Act that achieved bipartisan support. The law gives protection of federal benefits to same-sex legally married couples who move to another state where the laws do not recognize same-sex marriage.

It is not unusual that the major asset upon death is a person’s home. Whether or not the deceased had a will, it is often desired that probate be avoided. If the deceased dies without a will, the process of determining who are the heirs and to whom property should be transferred after the payment of debts and who has the authority to pay all bills and distribute the property to the heirs can be made by a court.

As of January 1, 2023, the homestead equity limit for a Medicaid applicant who is not married and who either applies for the nursing home Medicaid program or “waiver” home care Medicaid program will increase to $688,000 ($636,000 in year 2022). Thus, if the home equity (the difference between the appraised value and any debts owed secured by the home) limit is less than that, it is a non-countable resource in determining Medicaid eligibility (which is means-tested). As a result, the vast majority of Texans who have a home and apply for one of those Medicaid programs will not have their home count as a resource. There is an unlimited equity limit if the Medicaid recipient is married (so even a home with an equity of $800,000 would not count as a resource if married).