Welcome to Elizabeth!
August 11, 2021
Please meet our new associate, attorney Elizabeth Doyle! We are so happy to have her as a new member of our team.
Elizabeth earned her undergraduate and law degrees from Suffolk University, as well as a master’s degree from Northeastern. Like many elder law attorneys, personal experience brought her to our field. She has seen what it’s like for close family members to walk in the caregiver’s shoes and is ready to support our clients and their families.
She is also a crazy dog mom who never misses a Saturday morning spin class, loves to hate running long distance, and will travel far and wide for a good cup of coffee.
Please join us in welcoming Elizabeth!
– Alexis, Doreen & Christina
We’re Hiring an Associate Attorney!
April 30, 2021
Dear Friends,
Our firm is growing, and we need to hire an associate attorney. If you know an attorney who would enjoy practicing elder law and special needs planning – and would love to spend time with yours truly 😄 – please pass this post on to them.
Thank you!
– Alexis & Doreen
Seeking an Associate
March 22, 2021
Seeking an Associate
We are an entrepreneurial elder law and special needs planning firm in Norwell that is on track for growth, and we need an experienced associate to join our team and work directly with the owner to help our clients. Our team consists of one attorney/owner, one legal assistant, and one paralegal.
We are known for helping our clients to stay at home for as long as possible, find the care they need, and still leave something behind for their families – and for doing those things because we care.
We are growing fast, and we need an associate who can hit the ground running (or if not running, then at least jogging). We are looking for a self-starter who will be able to work effectively without much supervision. We need an associate with experience in some combination of elder law, special needs planning, veterans benefits, MassHealth planning, estate planning, and probate. Please note that we do not do litigation.
The ideal candidate will be able to take initiative and complete tasks with minimal hand-holding. Applicant must have at least one – three years of experience in any of our listed fields. More years of experience also welcome! Applicant must have a demonstrated commitment to elders and special needs individuals. We love our work and are passionate about helping our clients – we are seeking an associate who feels the same way.
This position will be responsible for important work, including:
- Working with clients to elicit their issues and goals.
- Solving the puzzle of how to fund the care clients need, to stay at home for as long as possible, without burning through all of their assets.
- Creating estate plans that make things as easy as possible for the heirs, maintain family harmony, and, for families with special needs heirs, protect the heir’s continued access to public benefits.
- Managing all probates.
- Understanding an array of programs, laws, and regulations, and applying them to each family’s unique situation. Namely, but not limited to: Medicaid, Medicare, health insurance, life insurance, long-term care insurance, drug plans, annuities, reverse mortgages, Social Security (SSI, SSDI, retirement), PACE, EOEA and ASAP programs, VA benefits, housing options and programs (both public and private), estate planning, trusts, probate, tax (income, capital gains, estate, gift), and real estate transfers.
If the statements below apply to you, then you may be our next associate!
- Have a minimum of one – three years of experience in any of our listed fields. More years of experience also welcome and appreciated.
- Are ready to work approximately 40 hours per week.
- Can combine working from home with time in the Norwell office. Must be able and willing to work in our office two – three days per week (post-quarantine).
- Are passionate about assisting clients and families with all facets of elder care and special needs planning, from financing home care, planning for nursing home care, planning for special needs children, creating estate plans, and more.
- Have a demonstrated commitment to elders and/or special needs individuals.
- Enjoy getting to know families one at a time and helping each work through their particular web of issues and goals.
- Are happy to manage all probate matters.
- Are able to work with people in crisis and/or with diminishing capacity.
- Have strong verbal communications skills.
- Have impeccable writing skills. Must write in “plain English” – no “legalese.”
- Have down-to-earth, approachable personality.
- Are exceptionally detail oriented.
- Have ability and desire to work independently.
- Enjoy puzzles or detective novels. (OK, so this one’s not a requirement, but it’s a helpful trait!)
- Ask good questions.
- Have a joy of learning.
- Are familiar with Macs, or, happy to learn them.
- J.D. with a Massachusetts license.
- Are seeking your long-term “work home.” As a solo law firm, we are not in the position to invest time in an associate who seeks to gain some experience and move on. We are looking for the right fit that will suit both you and the firm for many years.
Pay starts at $50,000 per year, to increase as certain benchmarks are met.
To apply:
Prepare a cover letter with no more than two paragraphs, plus a closing sentence. In the first paragraph, explain what you believe are the three most important qualities needed in someone who works with elder law and special needs planning clients and why you believe these are the most important qualities. In the second paragraph, explain why you applied to this particular posting. As a closing sentence, please write, “I have read the instructions contained in the job posting and have followed the instructions.”
Do not send your materials through this website. Email your resume and cover letter in PDF format to doreen@alexislevitt.com. The subject line of the email should be your last name (all caps), followed by the position you are applying for (lower case), followed by one word that you would use to describe yourself (all caps). For example: SMITH paralegal AWESOME.
We look forward to reviewing your application.
Applications received through Indeed.com, other job sites, or that do not conform to the instructions above will not be considered.
Please note that there is no public transportation to our area.
No telephone calls or third-party recruiters, please.
Useful Info During COVID (v.6)
February 17, 2021
Scammers Gonna Scam
As we begin vaccinations, you can be sure that scammers will be coming up with creative ways to separate you from your money. Per the FTC, keep the following in mind:
- You likely will not need to pay anything out of pocket to get the vaccine during this public health emergency.
- You can’t pay to put your name on a list to get the vaccine.
- You can’t pay to get early access to the vaccine.
- No one from a vaccine distribution site or health care payer, like a private insurance company, will call you asking for your Social Security number or your credit card or bank account information to sign you up to get the vaccine.
- Beware of providers offering other products, treatments, or medicines to prevent the virus. Check with your health care provider before paying for or receiving any COVID-19-related treatment.
If you get a call, text, email — or even someone knocking on your door — claiming they can get you early access to the vaccine, STOP. That’s a scam. Don’t pay for a promise of vaccine access or share personal information. Instead, report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov or file a complaint with the Massachusetts Attorney General.
Our team is working mostly from home still. As always, reach out with any questions related to elder law, veterans benefits, long-term care, estate planning, and special needs planning. Get outside, and wear your mask!
– Alexis
Useful Info During COVID (v. 5)
August 15, 2020
Hello Friends!
I hope you have been enjoying / avoiding / surviving this heat, depending on your predisposition to such weather. We live in a proper New England house with not enough storage and no A/C (just window units), so I have definitely been missing the luxurious central air conditioning in my office lately! But we have been getting to the beach a bit, especially in the evening (the best time of day). I hope you have too. Don’t you just love living on the South Shore?
Let’s start at the top:
#1 If you have a loved one in a nursing home, then you know there are a lot of changes going on lately when it comes to procedures and protocols. Here are a few places where you can go to keep up: Consumer Voice, MANR, Center for Medicare Advocacy, and mass.gov. If you have an issue with a nursing home and you don’t feel like you are making headway, call your Ombudsman. These are volunteers who genuinely love the role and usually want to help develop a solution that is win-win.
#2 Great news on qualifying for MassHealth home care! As you may know, MassHealth has some programs that will pay to send home health aides into you home. To qualify, you must (1) medically need a certain level of care, (2) be below an asset limit, and (3) be below an income limit of $2349/month.
Ironically, this last piece, the income requirement, has put home care out of reach for many over the years, needlessly forcing people into the nursing home, which MassHealth will pay for with no income cutoff. For far too long, if an elder meets the other requirements for home care, but is $1 over the income limit, she must spend down, every single month, on medical care, every dollar over $542. That means that she could use the excess over $542 to pay for health insurance, private aides, and the like, but then she is somehow supposed to pay for groceries, heat, home repairs, sundries, and all the rest on just $542 per month! Impossible to do. Most elders in that situation have no choice but to move to a nursing home (which can cost the state much more than a home care package!!).
But – great news. On a temporary basis, during the state of emergency, MassHealth is CHANGING the rules for anyone over-income for home care. Instead of spending down to $542, an elder can simply spend down to the actual home care income limit of $2349. It will be very interesting to see the data as the months go by, to see how many more seniors were able to stay at home with this simple change. But what about after the state of emergency, you may ask? Well, there is a health care bill currently in conference at the state legislature. Please call your state representative and your state senator, and ask them both to talk to their caucus representatives about making this change permanent.
#3 Last week I had my first telehealth appointment! What a pleasure to not have to drive, navigate through a building, and then sit in a waiting room forever. An added bonus was getting a glimpse into the doctor’s life and personality, as he was sitting in his studio at home, surrounded by musical instruments. That added a new dimension to the relationship. Congress is talking about making telehealth a more prominent part of our medical landscape post-pandemic – yes, please.
#4 This is your periodic reminder to keep your health care proxy and emergency contact information with you at all times! If you are out and about, that could mean keeping copies in the glove compartment of your car or making up a card to keep in your wallet. We enroll all of our clients in DocuBank, and they send you a wallet card that connects emergency responders to your key health information. I keep my DocuBank card in my wallet, and if I am going off adventuring without my bag, I put the card in my pocket. Like when I go rowing with the fabulous crew out of the Hull Lifesaving Museum.
#5 Along the same lines… your health care agent can do a better job for you if you have shared your care wishes. There are some great tools out there to help you think through your priorities and wishes for yourself, and then share them with your health care agent. One free option online is the Conversation Project. We give our clients the Your Way Workbook. If we gave you one and you have not completed it – go pull out your black folder with all of your estate planning documents, find the Your Way workbook in there, and fill it out!
As always, reach out with any questions related to elder law, veterans benefits, long-term care, estate planning, and special needs planning. Get outside, and wash those hands!
– Alexis
How Not to Sign Documents for Your Parents
September 20, 2018
Very often, adult children find themselves in the position of signing documents on behalf of their parents. This could take the form of signing a parent into a hospital or nursing home, signing a Medicare notice, signing the lease at an assisted living, etc.
When signing documents for a parent, do not sign just your own name. On most documents, that makes you the financially responsible party!
ALWAYS sign this way: your name, comma, your role.
For example: “Alexis Levitt, POA for Cpt. Jack Sparrow” or “Alexis Levitt, POA” or “Alexis Levitt, HCP”, etc.
Signing your own name can open you personally to unwanted liabilities. Always remember that you are not signing as yourself, but as an assistant to your parent.
Elder Care Workshop Series at Norwell Public Library
March 7, 2017
Getting older? Taking care of someone who is? Come to this three-part series to learn some helpful tips from local Elder Services professionals.
Wednesday, March 8:
“Who Can Help Me?”
Find out how to access elder services in your community.
Presented by Susan Curtin, Director at Norwell Council on Aging.
“Elder Law 101”
Get to know the basics of preparing for your future.
Presented by Attorney Alexis B. Levitt.
Wednesday, March 15:
“Learn to Speak Alzheimereze”
Discover tips to work with a person who is changing before your eyes and to learn to speak ‘Alzheimereze.’
Presented by Alzheimer’s coach Beverly Moore.
Wednesday, March 29:
“Hospital to Home”
Understand how to make a successful transition from hospital to home.
Presented by Kim Bennett, LSW, of Visiting Angels, Inc.
“Do I Need Palliative or Hospice Care?”
Learn about the difference in important care choices.
Presented by Catherine Harrington, BA, RN, of Norwell VNA and Hospice.
***Workshops will be held at the Norwell Public Library from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. Registration is requested, but not required via email at Doreen@alexislevitt.com or calling 781.740.7269.
This series is sponsored by the Law Office of Alexis B. Levitt, the Norwell Council on Aging, and the Norwell Public Library.
WATD Radio Show!
December 21, 2016
I had a new experience this weekend – I was on the radio!
Patti Abbate & Tom Foye co-host WATD’s “My Generation” radio show every Sunday from 7p – 8p. This week, I was their guest and we talked about a host of issues related to elder law and special needs – the need for everyone to have a health care proxy and power of attorney, the rules around nursing home payment and Medicaid, who does and doesn’t need a will, the vital importance of estate planning for parents of adult disabled children, and more. And there is so much more we still need to talk about! Looking forward to being on again.
You can listen to the whole show here.
Thanks for having me, Patti, Tom & WATD!
Life Estate Deeds – An Antique Technique Providing Modern Convenience
October 16, 2014
When we pass away, our assets are divided into two groups – probate and non-probate. Non-probate assets are things like bank accounts and life insurance policies that you have named joint owners or TODs on – they transfer to the named beneficiaries upon your death without any court involvement. Probate assets are held only in your name. The court looks to your will, or the intestacy statute, if there isn’t a will, to determine who receives these assets. This can be a lengthy, and potentially costly, process.
One way to make your home a non-probate asset is to create a life estate. This concept was borrowed from old English property law. You, as the owner of the home, deed the home to yourself for life (making you the “life tenant”) and then to another person(s) known as the “remainderman” (most often your children). Upon your passing, the remaindermen immediately become the owners of the home (they just need to file a copy of your death certificate with the Registry of Deeds).
Creating a life estate has many benefits. First, upon your passing, your home transfers seamlessly to the remaindermen without any court involvement. Second, you are guaranteed the right to remain in your home for the rest of your lifetime – you cannot be compelled to sell or move out. Next, after your passing, the remaindermen receive a step-up basis for capital gains purposes, minimizing the capital gains tax due should they decide to sell the property after your death. Fourth, because the remaindermen have no ownership interest in the home until after your death, their creditors (in the event of a bankruptcy or divorce, for example) cannot access the equity in the home during your lifetime. Lastly, the entire value of the home can be protected from your nursing home costs so long as the life estate is created at least five years before you ask MassHealth for assistance in paying for nursing home care (more on this below).
Creating a life estate, however, has its potential pitfalls. First, the remaindermen must all sign off if you decide you want to mortgage, reverse mortgage or sell the property. The thought of giving up so much control can be frightening for many homeowners. (It’s worthwhile to note that your remaindermen should have their own powers of attorney in place, in the event you need their approval and they are out of the country, in the hospital, or otherwise incapacitated.)
Also, if you need to ask the state for assistance in paying for nursing home care in the five years following the creation of a life estate, you could be disqualified for a period of time. MassHealth uses a formula to calculate the “value” of your life estate based on your life expectancy and the value of the home. The disqualification can also be cured if the remaindermen agree to deed the property back to the life tenant outright, destroying the life estate. If it’s likely that you’ll be asking MassHealth to help pay for your nursing home care in the next five years, then you should meet with an elder law attorney to explore other options to protect the value of your home to the greatest extent possible.
A life estate deed can be a valuable addition to your estate plan. If you’re interested in learning more about life estates and whether this might be the right solution for you, call our office to schedule a planning session.
Home Care Goes High-Tech
October 9, 2014
CNN recently ran a fascinating article about the expanding use of technology in the field of home care for seniors with Alzheimer’s and dementia, allowing them to remain independently in their homes longer.
You’ve probably heard of “call for help” bracelet or necklace devices, but did you know that a wireless sensor attached to a key fob can text a caregiver if a parent or loved one leaves his or her home? Or that a bedroom motion sensor can monitor sleep interruptions and middle of the night bathroom trips? A company called SmartThings manufactures a variety of sensors, which compile data wirelessly and report back to you via a smartphone app. Stores such as Lowe’s and Home Depot also have their own automated home-monitoring sensor systems.
More senior-specific systems include Lively, GrandCare, and BeClose. They offer senior-targeted products such as bathroom and pillbox sensors, and blood pressure and glucose monitoring devices. Reports from these devices can be easily shared with the elder’s doctor. In a nod to social media, caregivers and loved ones can even upload photos and messages using the Lively app, which are printed and sent to the elder via mail twice per month!
Of course, even the niftiest of devices can’t replace a caregiver. But these devices can supplement in-home care and enable seniors to remain safely in their homes longer, while giving their families some peace of mind.
(Disclaimer: We haven’t used or investigated any of these devices, we are just passing along the information. Before investing in any new device, you may want to do some research, such as reading online reviews or asking friends if they have used them.)
