Attorneys and other professionals can sport many different titles,
certifications, and letters after their name. When it comes to VA
benefits to pay for assisted living or private duty nursing or
Medi-Cal to pay for skilled nursing, what do they all mean and why
are they important? Since the advisor that you are considering often
times will be giving you recommendations affecting your very
financial survival, I would suggest that you obtain the best advice
available.
The Potential Disaster
Many people profess to have expertise in the VA benefits arena. They
include insurance agents, paralegals, representatives of Veterans
Organizations, and attorneys. Some know what they are talking about;
most do not!
Those who have some knowledge of the VA benefits field often know
little or nothing about Medi-Cal (known as Medicaid outside of
California). This applies especially to insurance agents and
financial advisors who have recently decided that this arena is a
fertile field for new business. Techniques used in qualifying
veterans or spouses for the VA benefit can often affect eligibility
for Medi-Cal down the road. Medi-Cal is a government program that
pays for skilled nursing facilities. Each state has its own version,
so a Colorado attorney typically does not know the California
Medi-Cal idiosyncracies or California law in general.
It is important to have knowledge of both fields. For example, let’s
consider Harry. Harry is in an assisted living facility. All he has
is a house. On the advice of his insurance agent, the house is sold,
Harry nets $100,000 and transfers it all to his children so that he
can qualify for the VA benefit. That money is then placed into an
annuity sold by the insurance agent. Later that year, Harry’s health
takes a turn for the worse. He transfers to a skilled nursing
facility. The monthly cost triples from $3500 to $10,500. Harry, of
course, has nothing as he transferred it all away to his children.
The children don’t have an extra $7000 per month to pay for Harry.
The family now looks to Medi-Cal to fill the financial gap. But
because of Harry’s transfer of the $100,000 he is subject to a
Medi-Cal penalty disqualifying him from Medi-Cal benefits for
approximately 15 months. The $100,000 is then withdrawn from the
annuity to fill the financial gap. Unfortunately, the withdrawal is
subject to an obscene surrender charge (often in the 10%
neighborhood). (A surrender charge is the amount the insurance
company keeps for itself when the money is withdrawn early.) Had the
transfer been accomplished by other means, the penalty period could
have been zero and the surrender charge completely avoided.
VA Accreditation
The VA recognized that there were people who were not qualified to
advise on Veterans benefits and passed regulations in 2009. In order
to be accredited, individuals must do some or all of the following:
pass an exam, periodically attend a certain number of hours of
classes dealing with VA benefits, and be determined by the VA to be
of suitable character. There are three types of people that are
accredited by the VA. The VA recognizes a number of Veterans Service
Organizations (VSO). These organizations include such entities as
Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, etc. Representatives of
these VSO’s can be accredited. Similarly, others can be accredited.
Non-attorneys are referred to as “Accredited Claims Agents” and
attorneys as Accredited Attorneys. (Claims agents are rather rare.)
In any case, none of these people are supposed to charge to prepare,
present, or prosecute a claim. And except in rare circumstances,
others are not supposed to perform these acts even for free. It is a
Federal Crime to violate these restrictions.
VA accreditation is the only way that a consumer can be sure that
the individual knows the laws and regulations that apply to the VA
benefit programs. Mr. Miller is accredited by the VA and holds
accreditation number 9055.
Board Certification
As pointed out above, when advising on VA benefits it is critical to
also have knowledge of Medi-Cal. So an advisor having VA
accreditation alone is not enough for anyone with anything beyond
nominal assets. The consumer must demand more. California has a
board certification program in various specialty areas. The
specialty area for California encompassing Medi-Cal is called Estate
Planning, Trust, and Probate Law.
An attorney certified as a specialist in Estate Planning, Trust, and
Probate Law has completed extensive specialized legal education
beyond that required to initially obtain a license to practice law.
Many attorneys, even those who claim to "do Living Trusts", no
matter how long they may have been in practice, do not have this
specialized training. See Is Your Attorney Board Certified? Why
Should You Care? for details on this program. Mr. Miller is
certified as a specialist by the California State Bar’s Board of
Legal Specialization. (This is a government agency.)
Degrees & Designations
There are various degrees that one might have after one’s name.
Master’s degrees are the most common. They indicate that one passed
the requirements of the particular college that issued the degree.
Requirements vary from college to college. Some colleges are
accredited by well recognized accreditation organizations, some are
not. (Note, that we are not talking here about the U. S. Government
that “approves” a college or school for purposes of educational
loans----that is a completely different subject and would not be
what I, personally, would look to in order to determine the quality
of the institution.) Nevertheless, degrees indicate the education
that one obtained but not necessarily any continuing education or
experience. So the knowledge that one obtained could be woefully out
of date. Mr. Miller holds a Master’s Degree in Financial Services
with emphasis in Estate Planning from the College for Financial
Planning, Denver, Colorado.
Designations also abound. Many are acquired with a payment of a fee
and minimal effort. So unless you are prepared to do research on the
particular designation and what is required to obtain it, my view is
that you simply take all of them with a grain of salt.
What Should You Be Looking For?
Since the advisor that you are considering will be giving you
recommendations affecting your very financial survival, I would
suggest that you obtain the best advice available. Insurance agents
are fine for advising on insurance products, not legal strategies to
obtain government benefits. We often call in an insurance agent or
financial advisor to provide valuable input, but not to make these
determinations alone. So an attorney who is VA Accredited (if VA
benefits are part of the goal) and who is California board certified
in Estate Planning, Trust, and Probate Law (or certified in a
similar subject matter by an entity that is approved by the
California State Bar) is what you should be demanding. Anything less
is playing with fire!
