Jaleh Piran-Vesseh – What are some Highlights of your Career?
Video Summary
The biggest highlight of my career thus far was assisting one of our elderly clients with saving her home. This particular individual was in her SC. She had been married for many, many years. I think almost 40 years, to be exact, and her husband had recently passed away.
In the situation, her husband was the one, their entire marriage who took care of the finances, and the bills, and made sure that everything was taken care of. So, this woman, she came to me, and she was being foreclosed on, and she was completely distraught and didn’t know which way to turn, having lost her husband and also now facing losing her home.
So, this woman, I was able to successfully modify her loan, save her home, have the foreclosure lawsuit dismissed, and she is still in her home to this day, the home that she has owned now more than 40 years. So that was probably the biggest highlight of my career, and seeing the biggest difference that I made in her life, because she was so grateful, and every time she came in, she gave me a hug, and she was just over the moon that we were able to do that for her. That was definitely the biggest highlight of my career thus far.
Jaleh Piran-Vesseh – What made you want to be a Lawyer?
Video Summary
Oftentimes, clients will ask me, “What made you want to be a lawyer?” and I hold that very dear to my heart, because for me, as a small child, I always knew that I wanted to help people. From an early age, I decided that being a Lawyer was the best possible way for me to accomplish this goal.
And so, the best part for me of being an Attorney is seeing the impact that I am able to make on my clients’ lives in a positive way, and sometimes, in not positive situations that they’re unfortunately in, tends to be the best part of being a Lawyer and the reason why I decided to get into this field, practice.
Jaleh Piran-Vesseh – What Legal Training do you have?
Video Summary
The legal training that I have stems from my time at Stetson University College of Law, where I graduated with a Juris Doctorate degree. I also have legal training in the fields of Foreclosure Defense, specifically, as well as Elder Law in Medicaid planning, and also in the Administration of Guardianship’s.
Jaleh Piran-Vesseh – What Areas of Law do you Practice?
Video Summary
Hi, my name is Jaleh Piran-Vesseh, and I am an Associate Attorney here at the Law Firm of Waller and Mitchell. I have been here for two years as an Associate Attorney and the areas of law that I practice are predominantly Foreclosure Litigation, both Plaintiffs and Defense work, Guardianship Administration, Elder Law, Medicaid Planning, and Real Estate Litigation.
Ask Jaleh: How Does a Married Person Qualify for Medicaid Coverage, for Skilled Nursing Care?
Video Summary
How does a married person qualify for Medicaid coverage for skilled nursing care? Well the requirements for a married person are very similar to that of a single person. First and foremost the applicant must be 65 years of age or older or must be a disabled adult. The individual must be a citizen of the United States or a permanent resident. You also must be a resident of the state of Florida but the residency requirement simply means that you must be in the state of Florida in a skilled nursing facility or in a care facility at the time the application is made.
You also must be medically needy and need skilled nursing care. Well how is this determined, most people ask? The Department of Children and Families has a special unit known as the Cares Unit that will come out to do a medical assessment after the application for Medicaid is received. They will then determine whether or not the individual meets the criteria for the medical necessity portion that is required to receive Medicaid coverage for skilled nursing care.
There is also income and asset requirements similar to that of a single person. The gross monthly income of the applicant cannot exceed $2,163.00 per month. If the gross monthly income does exceed $2,163.00 per month, the good thing for a married couple, is that the applicant may defer a portion of their income to their spouse in order to qualify. The combined total of both the applicant and the spouse cannot exceed $4,000.00 income per month. If it does exceed $4,000.00 per month, we can set up a qualified income trust also known as a Miller Trust in order to qualify for eligibility to meet the income requirement.
There is also an asset limit for the applicant in a married situation. In the married couple situation the individual cannot have more than $2,000.00 in countable assets. However, the community spouse, also known as the non-institutionalized spouse, can maintain assets of up to $117,240.00. And this obviously is the spouse that is at home. Assets owned by either spouse must be pooled and the care giving or community spouse is entitled to certain exempt or non-available assets which include the personal residence. Now again, the personal residence cannot have an equity value of more than $500,000.00. They can also maintain a vehicle, one vehicle, any age, can be a luxury vehicle, and also a second additional vehicle which cannot be a luxury vehicle and must be seven years or older.
They also could maintain life insurance policies but the cash value or surrender value could not be greater than $2,500.00 for those life insurance policies. And they can also maintain burial funds or an irrevocable, prepaid funeral contract. The irrevocable prepaid funeral contract cannot be – excuse me. It can be for any amount but the prepaid burial account cannot exceed $2,500.00 and this account can be used for pretty much anything associated with the burial expenses such as flying family members down from out of state, flower arrangements or anything that you may need in the process of a burial.
Also, the institutionalized spouse is allowed to keep personal needs allowance in the amount of $105.00 each month to pay for things such as toothpaste, hair care products, anything that may be necessary, toiletries for the institutionalized spouse. And that has changed significantly as for many years it was $35.00 and in 2014 it did go up to $105.00 so people are very, very happy about that.
There is a lot of information regarding qualifications for married couples and I would love to give you more information. Please contact our office if you have any further questions. My phone number is 727-847-2288.
- Published in Medicaid Planning, Videos