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Uncovering “Hidden” Pre-Planning Opportunities with the Asset-to-Income Ratio

by with No Comment Estate Planning Drafting SoftwareLegal MarketingSystems & Processes

Uncovering “Hidden” Pre-Planning Opportunities is one of the biggest shocks from attendees at our Medicaid training is when they learn about the asset-to-income rule to qualify clients for Medicaid sooner. The Medicaid law states that, when the income of the community spouse of a Medicaid applicant is less than the minimum monthly maintenance needs allowance, then the community spouse may exempt additional assets needed to attain the minimum monthly maintenance needs allowance.

Bigstock-Five-years-old-little-cute-boy-41670169Said simpler, if the community spouse doesn't have enough income, they can exempt additional assets to ensure the necessary income is produced. This situation happens all the time, but the exemption is rarely used.

That's why Monday October 20-22nd we are hosting a 3 Day Asset Protection, Medicaid and VA CLE Program.

In this event we will be sharing crucial information such as:

 

●       Why clients don't care how much you know, and what they want from you.

●       There's no such thing as crisis Medicaid planning, and the preplanning you are missing out on is right in front of you.

●       The key features and provisions of grantor, non-grantor, and pure grantor trusts and when to use each for asset protection, Medicaid and VA planning.

●       The newest forms and procedures to file VA apps and appeals and receive timely decisions.

●       Why annuities are often the "lazy-attorney" approach to Medicaid planning and what that method fails to consider.

●       How to calculate whether an IRA should be liquidated and when not to use personal service contracts when Medicaid planning.

At a recent two-day summit we hosted with national veterans expert Victoria Collier, these were the biggest issues raised by your colleagues who attended. Are you prepared? Is your level of understanding in these areas sufficient to serve this growing marketplace? Here is what a few attendees said was the most useful to them:

"The most valuable thing about Day 1 was learning about asset to income rule."

— Carl, Baton Rouge, LA

"The worksheets and having a way to explain Medicaid planning to clients on their level was the most valuable part."

— Susan, Cypress, TX

"Was thrilled to learn there is no such thing as crisis planning and now I have so many more pre-planning opportunities I didn't see before."

— Lisa, West Palm Beach, FL

The asset-to-income rule is just one of several overlooked rules that are overlooked or not fully utilizes to help clients qualify for Medicaid. Feel confident using them in your practice! Click here to to join this must attend event to get the essential strategies you need to protect your clients.

See you there!

David J. Zumpano, Esq, CPA, Co-founder Lawyers With Purpose, Founder and Senior Partner of Estate Planning Law Center

Bellomo

Being A Competent Attorney Is Only Half The Battle

by with No Comment Asset ProtectionEstate Planning Drafting SoftwareLegal MarketingSystems & ProcessesVA

I've always thought of myself as an excellent attorney — well-versed in all of the strategies that we use on a daily basis to protect our clients, their loved ones, and their legacies.

BellomoIt wasn't until several years ago, however, that I really began to understand that a thriving practice is built on more than just being a great attorney — it requires systems to handle your marketing, to generate a steady flow of referrals to your door, and a tried and true method to increase your closing rate.

I invite you to take 90 seconds and check out the video – it's all about the systems I've put into place in my office, and how you can do the same in yours. Take your practice to the next level!  

Click here if you'd like to look at the agenda and all you'll learn at the Lawyers With Purpose Practice With Purpose Program in Phoenix October 20-22nd.

Warmly,

Jeff Bellomo, Esq., Certified Elder Law Attorney, Bellomo & Associates, LLC 

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The Initial Contact Focuser

by with No Comment Coaching & ImplementationSystems & Processes

A few years ago, a federal investigator subpoenaed one of my calendars to prove a local doctor had committed massive insurance fraud.  The doctor ultimately lost his license and served prison time, based in large part on my calendar.

About that same time, I received a parking ticket in the mail, and was able through my calendar keeping, to prove that I had been in another city that day many miles away.

Screen Shot 2014-09-08 at 7.30.51 PMUsing the Initial Contact Focuser may not help you fight a parking ticket or be used in a federal investigation, but the information it captures cannot be recreated after the fact.  The ICF documents the number of prospects who have contacted your firm in any given time period, and perhaps most importantly, documents where those prospects came from.  The ICF should guide and measure the results of every marketing decision you make.

When I hear that a law firm is not either using the ICF or capturing this information in some other way, it’s truly difficult for me to understand.  That valuable information is forever lost.  Putting contact information on a post-it or a phone pad is no way to run a business.

Long-term planning for growth and success can only be successful through systematically capturing, measuring and evaluating information.

A firm that I work closely with recently organized all their ICF information for the prior 12 months and was dismayed to see that a newspaper ad for which they had paid more than $400 per month for more than a year had not generated a single client.   

Another firm created lunch & learn opportunities, cooking and paying for lunches at the local senior center for a number of months before reviewing their ICF data, and calculating that the ROI was negligible.

How can you measure the success of any of your professional relationships if the ICF is not carefully maintained?

This sample shows not only the results of professional relationships, but also documents a referral to another law firm. 

This tool is available on the LWP members website in both Excel and Word formats and can be found by searching “5 Key.”  This information can also be captured through most any database software.

Make reviewing the weekly ICF a part of your weekly team meeting – I promise you won’t regret it.  If you need any support please let me know – ncatale@lawyerswithpurpose.com!

If you want to learn more about the systems and tools that Lawyers With Purpose has to offer, please consider joining us in Phoenix, October 22nd – 24th for our Practice With Purpose Program.  Click the link to review the agenda and see all that you get in just 2.5 days!  Click here to register now.

Nedra Catale – Coaching, Consulting & Implementation, Lawyers With Purpose

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Hidden Dangers of Medicaid Qualifying Annuities

by with No Comment Asset ProtectionEstate Planning Drafting SoftwareMedicaidSystems & ProcessesVA

Today, many elder law attorneys rely on Medicaid qualifying annuities to get their clients qualified to receive Medicaid benefits. They're also used when clients seek VA pension benefits.

While Medicaid qualifying annuities have become the default solution, they are not without risk. One challenge is that MQA's do not work well for single individuals. Second, even when used in married planning, there is no assurance the amount placed in the Medicaid qualifying annuity will actually be preserved. In fact, it could all be lost with the subsequent disability or death of the community spouse.

Bigstock-Problem-And-Difficulty-Concept-51429601These are just some of the issues (not to mention the Veterans Administration's changing position on annuities when applying for veteran pension benefits) that we will be discussing at the Asset Protection, Medicaid and VA Practice With Purpose Program October 20-22nd  in Phoenix, AZ.

National Asset Protection, Medicaid and VA experts and dozens of attorneys like you will be collaborating to identify the hidden risks in the different Medicaid and veterans' benefits strategies. This program promises to be the hands-on strategic solving many lawyers crave in their practice. Click here to get a full outline and to register for the program.

In these three days here is just some of what we will cover:

ASSET PROTECTION:

  • Recent updates to asset protection and Medicaid compliant strategies.
  • The new asset protection strategies dominating the marketplace.
  • The death of DAPT'S, FLP'S, GRATS, GRUTS, and tax planning, and what's replaced them.
  • The five essential trusts and key drafting needs to serve 99.7% of clients.
  • The Power of Powers of Appointment, in the right places.
  • Four "must have" drafting considerations and three "most forgotten" powers in trust.

MEDICAID:

  • Four steps to Medicaid eligibility for any client.
  • How to calculate the "breakeven" to ensure the proper filing date for the shortest penalty period.
  • Medicaid Qualifying Annuities: Hidden risks and how to properly disclose them to clients or protect from them.
  • The seven key factors to calculate any Medicaid case in seven minutes (or less!).
  • IRA's: Exemption versus taxes, how to calculate if IRA's should be liquidated or exempted in Medicaid and VA cases.

VETERANS' BENEFITS:

  • New fully developed claims process for veterans and widows.
  • Qualifying assisted living facilities as UME's.
  • Key language to complete the physician affidavit for more timely approvals.
  • Update on three year look back for VA benefits.
  • The key reports no longer required for VA applications.
  • Dangers of annuities in VA benefits planning.
  • The effects of the Supreme Court decision on DOMA related to veterans' benefits.

HERE'S WHAT YOUR PEERS HAD TO SAY ABOUT THE PROGRAM:

  • "It will change your practice and your life!" –John Koenig
  • "Great way to grow into a real firm and help one's community." –Antoinette Middleton
  • "Go to the training session and consider and evaluate upgrading your delivery of services, for me it's modernizing what I can offer." –Wally Kelleman

Are you going to miss or attend the most important event of the year? Click here now to join some of your most successful colleagues and leave confident in the strategies you provide to your clients every day. 

David J. Zumpano, Esq, CPA, Co-founder Lawyers With Purpose, Founder and Senior Partner of Estate Planning Law Center

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Does Your Car Have A Name?

by with No Comment Coaching & ImplementationSystems & Processes

The “Fact-Finder” in me was interested to learn that Nationwide Insurance surveyed more than 1,000 car owners last September and discovered that nearly 25% of us have named our cars.  In fact, women are significantly more likely to have a nickname for their cars than men (27% vs. 17%).

Bigstock-Cartoon-Car-4797277Next week my “Bessie” has an appointment with our mechanic for a going over.  She’s getting a new timing belt (ouch!), a change of transmission fluid, and I think he mentioned something about a 38 point check.  When I get my Bessie back, she will be thoroughly checked out.  I’ll find out from the experts if there is anything else that I need to be concerned about.

Did you know that LWP offers a similar service for you and your team? Our Implementation Coaches have a point-by-point checklist where we can “check you out” and identify holes in your processes, areas where you may want additional coaching, and even pinpoint potential problems you may not see coming.

Some of our members have asked for an overview of the training and support provided by the Implementation Coaching team. This can be found on the LWP member website, under the last tab – Implementation—in the Introduction folder. In fact, the entire Implementation tab has been reorganized to provide immediate and direct access to the tools needed to progress through the learning path.

Each Module has been set up to support the work that your Implementation Coach does with you and your team.  If you’ve not been on the website in a while, I hope you’ll make a point of checking out the reorganization and addition of new tools.

And please – let us know your thoughts!  We value your feedback.

If you are interested in attending our Practice With Purpose Program, register and reserve your spot today! This event always sells out and will teach you all you need to know to run an efficient and successful estate planning / elder law practice.  We look forward to seeing you in the room. 

Nedra, Catale – Coaching, Consulting & Implementation, Lawyers With Purpose

Moynihan and Lyons

Congratulations To Terry Moynihan, LWP Member Of The Month

by with No Comment Systems & ProcessesTeam Building

What is the greatest success you’ve had since joining LWP? 

Our greatest success to date is implementation of the workshop system.  The public is responding to our "7 Threats" advertising campaign and we appreciate that LWP has provided high quality presentation and promotional materials.  These have allowed us to get up and running with the workshops pretty quickly.

Moynihan and LyonsWe also value the well-developed procedures for workshop set-up, presentation and follow-up.  With each workshop we present, the entire process becomes more efficient and we become more confident that this system will be a key component of our growth and prosperity.

 

What is your favorite LWP tool?

Our favorite LWP tools are the Pipeline and Cash Flow Focusers.

 

How has being part of LWP impacted your team and your practice? 

 The biggest impact from being part of LWP came out of our attendance at the June Retreat, in Chicago.  Using the tools provided, we have been able to unify our team around well-defined processes and specific goals.  We now have a clearer idea of where we are going and what we need to do to achieve practice goals.

DocuBank logo with tag

Integrating Easy

by with No Comment Legal TechnicalMedicaidSystems & ProcessesVA

Tiffany Brown, Vice President of DocuBank, again join the Lawyers With Purpose blog as a guest and shares her perspective of how the administrative part of running a practice can be daunting. 

DocuBank logo with tagWhenever you find something that builds value AND is simple to set up, it’s a win-win.

Thanks to some clever programming on the part of Lawyers with Purpose, getting started with DocuBank is one such winning proposition.

The DocuBank service is a value-added benefit for both your clients and your firm but it’s also one other very important thing – easy.

The DocuBank enrollment form is built right into the Lawyers with Purpose software so that your clients simply sign the form during the signing meeting and your staff  then sends it along with the documents to establish their membership.  Any information not supplied by the software can always be added by the client at a later date.

Getting started with DocuBank is easy.  We have been working with attorneys for more than two decades to establish and comprehensive turnkey process.  Having the software integration as part of the DocuBank and Lawyers with Purpose partnership means that the DocuBank solution is even easier for you to implement. 

The discounted rates available to you through Lawyers with Purpose mean that adding DocuBank memberships to the service you provide for your clients is also affordable.  Click here to find out more about DocuBank.

Click here to find out more about how DocuBank can be a great value-added tool for your firm and your clients.

Tiffany Brown, Vice President, DocuBank

 Roslyn Drotar – Coaching, Consulting & Implementation, Lawyers With Purpose

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Marketing To Nursing Homes: Talking Price

by with No Comment Legal MarketingSystems & Processes

If you've been following our series about marketing to nursing homes, then we're glad to see you back for the third post in the series. If you missed the first two parts you can find Part 1 here, and Part 2 here. 

In this post we'll tackle the question of talking price. If you get your foot in the door with the administrator, is that the time to share your fee schedule, or do you risk your contact making a hasty value judgment on the costs?

Bigstock-Blue-Door--Very-High-Definiti-1429912Bottom line, you have to prove the value of what you're offering first.  Then when they ask – and they WILL – let them know your fee.  The cost is one month of nursing home care to protect the house. Again, let them know the value first.  They aren't just looking out for themselves, they're protecting their residents.

It's a good idea not to undercut. Just tell them, “This is what it is,” because the business office manager knows how much work is involved in dealing with Medicaid, putting the application together or running it through the system. (The administrator, on the other hand, might not be quite as aware of what is involved, so tailor your message to the audience.)

So, a lot of times, the business office will be your biggest ally when it comes to cost.  You let them know your fee, and the business office is probably thinking, “Yes, I do this myself and it’s worth it to have you do it.” So be straightforward about it, because they’re going to ask you.  If you’re not willing to share that info or you kind of beat around the bush, you won't gain their trust and they might not be comfortable sending clients to you.

Tell the business office that it’s usually one to two months of nursing home costs, according to how complicated the process is. When you put it in those terms, the business manager relates the numbers to their fee, as well.  You might not nail down exact figures, but it helps if you ballpark it to what their dollar figure is, what they’re charging their clients. Check back here soon for more on nursing home marketing.

Roslyn Drotar – Coaching, Consulting & Implementation, Lawyers With Purpose

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What’s The Difference Between Coaching, Consulting & Implementation

by with No Comment Coaching & Implementation

In a nutshell, Coaching, Consulting & Implementation (CC&I) is the coach drawing information “out” while the consultant puts information “in” and the implementation unites everything into a systemized, bite-sized, one small step-at-a-time achievable path and plan.

  • Bigstock-Lane-in-meadow-and-deep-blue-s-38652739Coaching – Coaching is all about unlocking our members’ potential to maximize their own performance.  It is about guiding members to a place of self-directed learning rather than teaching. Power in Partnership™ is collaboration between the coach and an individual and/or team that support the achievement of extra-ordinary results. Coaching is about guiding members to set realistic, reachable and quantifiable goals that help a team move forward into action.  As coaches, we are companions who walk alongside our members through their explorative journey.
  • Consulting – Consultants analyze data and advise members of best practices to help them make the best possible choices. Consulting is about teaching and evaluating strategic plans to help members meet their “Money Plan” goals.  As consultants, we provide information-based expertise while showing you the “what,” “where,” “when,” “how” and “why” supported by tracking and measurement.
  • Implementation – Implementation focuses specifically on supporting members through teaching and the implementation of LWP Systems and Processes into their practices.  Implementation always anchors back to the LWP tools and demonstrates how the processes intertwine and support each other.   

Every journey begins with a destination in mind.  Whether your goal is to create an efficient and profitable practice, a purpose-driven practice that has a lasting impact on your community, or a saleable practice that leaves a legacy for your family, CC & I provides controlled growth, increases revenue and creates practice efficiency that helps reduce costs, improve operating margins and creates consistent cash flow.

Regardless of your destination, the CC & I program within Lawyers with Purpose provides members with a guide and a compass to assist with the journey.  Allowing lawyers to make a difference with a comprehensive approach of:

Be (Coaching) + Do (Consulting) + Have (Implementation) = A practice with purpose…a Lawyer with Purpose.

Molly L. Hall, Co-Founder, Lawyers with Purpose, LLC, and author of Don’t Be a Yes Chick: How to Stop Babysitting Your Boss, Transform Your Job and Work with a Dream Team Without Losing Your Sanity or Your Spirit in the Process.

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Start Where You Are

by with No Comment Coaching & ImplementationSystems & ProcessesTeam Building

Sounds pretty obvious, doesn’t it? But how often do we really give ourselves that gift? How often do we stop and tell ourselves, wherever we’re headed, this is where we start? It means being willing to let go of the past. It means resisting the need to race ahead.  It means controlling the stories of why we can’t get started.

Bigstock-Athletes-At-The-Sprint-Start-L-58880123It may be creating a marketing plan when you only have $500 a month to realistically dedicate to the project. It may be finally firing that employee who “knows everything” when you don’t have the rehire in place. It may be making the unyielding commitment to hardwire five hours into your calendar for marketing when you have to answer the phones, draft trusts and greet clients who arrive 20 minutes early so they can tell you all about their grandbabies.

Sometimes the simplest truths are the most slippery. We convince ourselves that it “isn’t that bad” or that we might be “overreacting” or have “unrelenting standards.” These are all especially true if you lead with responsibility and/or harmony on the strength-finder assessment. But if we simply allow ourselves to start from where we are today, that is often more than enough.

Last week I was working with a firm, and the focus of our Coaching, Consulting & Implementation (CC&I) call was “getting the right people in the right roles.” They had just hired two new people within the past four weeks and had let go of a “lifer” employee. They were trying to train the two new hires for the role of “Legal Assistant,” i.e.  “please do it all and take the pain and pressure away.”  The attorney went into explaining about how the firm can't do Y until X and when A is up and running they can implement B. I listened intently to the mental download and then started with “I've got all that.  But we are here and let’s start from exactly where we are. Because in my experience, the have, do, be method never works out to your advantage. (When we have A, then we can do B so we can be the law firm I have always envisioned.) That's because I have never met a firm that woke up one day and all the missing pieces were finally in place (i.e., people, time and money). We’re going to take a different approach.”

The approach of starting where you are:  It allows you to originate from a clean slate so you can get to the root and cultivate a deeper understanding of what you need, right here, right now!  It gets to the heart of the matter – which eliminates all opportunities to create a bigger-than-necessary project. The approach of start where you are allows for one small step at a time. This may sound hokey, but this approach allows us to get down and dirty and take a look at our distractions – the things that tend to get between you and your optimal success.

We'll see you next week at the Members Tri Annual Retreat in Chicago and begin working on your next quarter Money Plan (and yes, we'll be starting right where you are).  In which areas of your practice do you need to start where you are?

Molly L. Hall, Co-Founder, Lawyers with Purpose, LLC, and author of Don’t Be a Yes Chick: How to Stop Babysitting Your Boss, Transform Your Job and Work with a Dream Team Without Losing Your Sanity or Your Spirit in the Process.