Moving For Care: The Hidden State-by-state Rules That Could Cost You

Should you move your aging parents across state lines for care? In this episode, certified elder law attorney Janet Colliton, Esquire of Colliton Law Associates, P.C. in West Chester, PA, breaks down the critical legal and financial factors families face when planning elder care.

Transcript:

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

Oh, three, two, one. Well, Jan, it’s so great to see you. Thanks for stopping by the program this morning.

Janet Colliton, Esquire of Colliton Law Associates, P.C

Good to be here, Jeff.

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

Yeah, and I’m so glad, you know, you have spent a lot of time in elder law. It’s a very important certification that I don’t think I would be able to go through. So you’ve gone through the rigors of that.

You have a lot of experience. And I guess my reason for reaching out and the reason why I saw your piece on whether you should move to another state for care, and that is, I thought about, you know, I live in Charlotte, North Carolina, my parents live in Baltimore. This is a very important topic.

And what prompted you to write this piece?

Janet Colliton, Esquire of Colliton Law Associates, P.C

Well, I’ve been practicing in elder law for the last about 25 years. And I, well, and actually, I became involved when my mother was sick. And so my brother and I actually went into business together to be able to help other families.

And then I received contact from other individuals in other states saying, I have this program, say, in Ohio. If I move to Pennsylvania, am I going to be okay or not? And that is a very difficult question to answer because the differences between states are dramatic.

And one of the factors that caused me to write the article, and I write a regular newspaper column on this subject, on elder law, with the local newspapers. One of the things that caused me to write this article was, I attended a conference in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, of elder law attorneys. And there were lawyers there from New Jersey, Delaware, New York, Florida, actually the attorney from Florida, Howard Crooks, is certified both in Pennsylvania and Florida.

And they started describing the differences between the states in how they view, in that case, they were talking about Medicaid. And of course, Medicaid is only part of what we’re dealing with when we’re making the decisions whether people can move. But I was aware of differences.

I wasn’t aware of as many differences as there are. So, yeah.

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

Go ahead. I’m sorry. No, no.

Finish your point.

Janet Colliton, Esquire of Colliton Law Associates, P.C

I’m sorry. No. I have a son who is very ill and needs assistance at home.

But there is a limited income cap of $2,982 a month. If you go to $2,983, you’re dropped.

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

I wonder how they arrived at that number, out of curiosity.

Janet Colliton, Esquire of Colliton Law Associates, P.C

That’s a good question to ask. We have asked state attorneys that question. And of course, there are situations where people just go slightly over the limit.

We had one lady whose husband died, and she stepped up to his Social Security, and it kicked her off the program because she had an increase in Social Security. So, then I’ve had clients call and say, or individuals who are exploring, they call and say, well, I understand there are things that you can do about that. And I say, well, yeah, there are in Delaware.

Delaware has a thing called a Miller Trust. And it’s not really available in Pennsylvania. So, people get very upset because you’re telling them they can’t do things that they thought they would be able to do.

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

So, clearly, there are different levels of standards of care, levels of care, depending on where you live. So, you’re in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, I’m in Charlotte, North Carolina. There are different standards.

How does someone figure out what care is available to them? So, they’re living in California, as an example. Is there a website?

Is there resources that the California state government provides? How do you typically find that information?

Janet Colliton, Esquire of Colliton Law Associates, P.C

That’s one of the things that I explained in the article. I have contacts with the National Association of Elder Law Attorneys and the National Elder Law Foundation throughout the country. So, and I know a lot of these people because I’ve attended conferences with them.

So, they know me, I know them. So, I can get on the phone with somebody in California, say, or New York, and where we can set up a conference between the potential client and that attorney and find out, you know, in detail how they’re handling things currently in their state. California, by the way, has, comparatively speaking, very good resources available.

Florida allows all kinds of things that other states don’t allow in terms of what you can keep for the IRAs, 401ks, that kind of thing. And even they have an arrangement where adult children can enter into a contract with parents and say, I’m going to take care of you for the rest of your life. You know, the longevity is X number of years.

My services are worth X number of dollars. And they can qualify their family member on that. So, there are enormous differences.

But one thing I did point out in the article is that you’re not just moving for the sake of are you qualified for a benefit in another state. There are obviously a tremendous number of considerations. First of all, are you physically capable of the move?

You don’t want to move in a situation where it’s going to affect your health. Also, what kind of support system do you have in another state? If you have an adult child in Florida or North Carolina or whatever, you know, compare the differences between where you are living now and where you are going.

Also, for higher end, higher income and asset individuals, many of my clients now are looking at and moving to continuing care retirement communities. That’s governed by a contract. And it’s a totally different situation.

So then I become, I go back to being a contract attorney, looking at what the client is agreeing to or how much they’re spending. And people in my area are spending a million dollars to go into a one-bedroom apartment in a very attractive community and still paying monthly payments to the community. But they have amenities right there, pretty much everything they want.

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

Yeah, I mean, that sounds like a lot of obviously it’s a lot of money and maybe not indicative of for the average person. But I have to think, you know, just kind of pulling back a little bit, Jan, you know, we have an aging America. People are living longer.

I know you said you’ve been practicing elder law for over 25 years. You’ve established your own practice. I have to think that you’re going to be very busy, even more busy.

They’re going to be busy when they see the program, of course. But you’re going to be even more busy in all seriousness, because more and more people are going to be 65 or older. They’re going to need the help of an attorney like yourself to figure out the ins and outs of what to do when they age, as they age.

Janet Colliton, Esquire of Colliton Law Associates, P.C

Yes. And also with the big, beautiful bill, a lot of the benefits that have been available in the past are under attack or being refigured. And it’s going to be a very challenging time because some of the standard ideas that we would follow might not necessarily be available.

It’s becoming more and more difficult to provide care. I think that’s one of the reasons why people who have the money buy into the very expensive communities. Some of them are really nice, but you need money for that.

It’s like anything. If you can afford it.

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

You talked about some of the decision points. I’m going to go back to that for a couple. We’ve got about two or three minutes left, and we’ll have to bring you back because this is an unsettled topic that I think we’ll be talking about for years and decades to come.

But let me go back to the decision making criteria. And I have to think that if you’re going to move from, say, Charlotte or North Carolina to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, that’s very disruptive. If you have a friend network, if you’re going to be moving to a new location, you’re going to have to get your feet wet in terms of where everything is, your hospitals, your doctors, all those kind of things.

That plays into that decision making.

Janet Colliton, Esquire of Colliton Law Associates, P.C

That’s right. And I would say most of the time, the people I know don’t move without knowing people in the location that they’re moving to. So they explore.

And sometimes, I mean, I live in a fairly affluent area. Sometimes the people own homes and say they have a home in Pennsylvania and one in Florida, and they can choose between them. But sometimes they visit to other areas and get to know about those areas.

But one of the features of what we do is to try to connect people to where they’re going so that it’s not as disruptive a move.

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

Yeah, look, I think it is the older you get. I mean, look, I don’t like change. I don’t think people in general like change.

I think that’s pretty disruptive. Do you think, Jan, just to kind of close things out, do you think we’ll ever go back to a time? It used to be where elders would move in with their children.

I’m thinking back into the late 1800s, 1900s in America, before people, we had technology and people went all over the place. Do you think we’ll ever get back to a place where parents move in?

Janet Colliton, Esquire of Colliton Law Associates, P.C

Absolutely. And it’s happening. And people are adding additional rooms to their homes.

So they’re expanding. So they go to live with their children. And then we have mom’s section of the house and children’s section of the house.

And so sometimes the children get babysitting from that too.

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

Yeah, I think it probably works out. And the grandparents get to see the grandkids and whatnot. What about the reverse?

Because I’m actually lobbying to move in with my parents again. Do you think that that’s an opportunity for me to move back to Maryland to stay with my parents?

Janet Colliton, Esquire of Colliton Law Associates, P.C

Sure. As I say, sometimes there’s an addition to the house. And then I work with realtors.

I work with builders. You know, contractors and other attorneys. And I’ve written about that too.

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

Yeah, I guess it’s never one size fits all. We’re all individuals. And I guess people are going to have to work through that process.

Jan, we’re going to have to leave it there. But another to be determined because this thing, I don’t think ever ends. Jan, great to see you.

Great piece. Thanks for joining us. And we look forward to having you back on the program again very soon.

Janet Colliton, Esquire of Colliton Law Associates, P.C

Okay. Thanks, Jeff. Sounds good.