End of Life Planning in Pennsylvania - Allentown, Easton & Bethlehem
Our End of Life Planning Attorneys assist clients throughout Easton, Allentown & Bethlehem
End-of-life planning can be difficult. Whether you are planning for your own death, preparing for a loved one’s death, or helping a loved one plan, Madsen Law Offices can explain the available documents and practical steps.
Whether you are planning well in advance or responding to a serious diagnosis, end-of-life planning can help organize decisions and give loved ones clearer instructions. Below is a straightforward overview of topics to consider.
When to Begin End-of-Life Planning
Planning does not begin at one fixed age. Wills, financial powers of attorney, and health-care directives can be useful for adults at many stages of life and should be reconsidered after changes in health, family relationships, property, or personal wishes. Long-term-care planning is more individualized: health, coverage, income, resources, marital status, and prior transfers can all matter. A serious diagnosis can make the review urgent, but it does not automatically make every planning option unavailable.
End-of-Life Planning at Any Adult Age
Core documents can provide authority and guidance if illness or incapacity occurs.
A Last Will & Testament directs the administration and distribution of probate property after death. A financial power of attorney may authorize a selected agent to handle specified financial and property matters during the principal’s lifetime. A living will or other advance health-care directive can record treatment instructions, and a health-care power of attorney can authorize an agent to make health-care decisions within the document’s terms. The appropriate documents and signing requirements depend on the person’s circumstances and capacity.
Pennsylvania Medicaid Long-Term Care and the 60-Month Review
A transfer review can affect eligibility; it is not automatic government seizure.
Long-term care may be paid from personal funds, insurance, Medicare in limited circumstances, or Pennsylvania Medical Assistance, also called Medicaid, depending on the person, the type and duration of care, and the applicable program requirements. Medicaid long-term-care eligibility includes medical, financial, and nonfinancial rules.
When a person applies for Medicaid long-term care, the county assistance office reviews assets transferred, sold, or given away during the applicable 60-month look-back period. Pennsylvania DHS explains that the look-back period is tied to admission to a long-term-care facility or assessment for home- and community-based services together with the application. If the applicant did not receive fair market value, DHS may impose a penalty period during which Medicaid will not pay for long-term-care services. The rule is not an automatic seizure of every asset transferred within five years. The transfer date, value received, ownership, recipient, purpose, and other circumstances can matter, so gifts, sales, trusts, and changes in title should be reviewed before action is taken.
Planning After a Serious or Terminal Diagnosis
A diagnosis may make planning urgent, but it does not make every available step “too late.”
If the person has the capacity required for a particular document, it may still be possible to prepare or update a will, power of attorney, or health-care directive. Other useful steps may include confirming insurance and benefit information, reviewing property ownership and beneficiary designations, organizing account and debt records, and documenting funeral and burial wishes. The available steps depend on the person’s documents, capacity, care needs, finances, and deadlines.
Medicaid transfer rules and estate recovery are different. The 60-month transfer review concerns eligibility for Medicaid long-term-care coverage. Pennsylvania’s Estate Recovery Program may, after death, assert a claim for specified Medical Assistance long-term-care payments made for a recipient who was 55 or older. Under Pennsylvania’s current program, recovery is directed to the recipient’s probate estate; it is not a rule that the government automatically seizes all property when care is received.
Other proper debts and creditor claims may also be presented during estate administration. If applicable estate assets are insufficient, Pennsylvania law establishes an order for paying proper charges and claims. The result cannot be determined merely from marital status or the statement that property is “jointly owned.” Ownership form, beneficiary designations, liens, contracts, and the facts of each debt should be reviewed before property is transferred or an estate is distributed.
Most Common Estate Planning Documents & Services
Power of Attorney
Limited Power of Attorney
Durable Power of Attorney
Living Will
DNR
Advance Medical Directive
Last Will & Testament
Codicil
Will Revisions
Medical Power of Attorney
Estate Planning
Probate
We focus estate planning on wills, powers of attorney, and healthcare directives; if your situation raises trust questions, raise them at a consultation and we'll point you the right way.
After a death: the Probate & Estate Administration guide explains letters, small estates, inheritance tax, and executor duties.
Estate Planning Lawyer FAQs in the Lehigh Valley
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