Farm Law and Ag Law Blog

 In our last article the discussion centered around the importance of planning in advance for the possibility of needing Medicaid in the future.   Essentially the idea being to plan for the worst, and hope for the best.   This type of forethought is imperative given that Medicaid requires planning to occur at least five years in advance of needing assistance with paying for the costs of home assisted living or long-term nursing care. The Medicaid Estate Recovery Program allows the government to place a lien on any real estate owned by the Medicaid recipient after death. If you are 55 years and older, and receive Medicaid coverage, your assets are subject to a Medicaid lien without the proper planning.    Depending on the level of care needed, according to recent Genworth figures, the average cost of assisted living is $4,500 per month, and the average monthly cost of skilled nursing is $8,910. Failing to plan for how to pay for these costs can result in the loss of a family farm, or

Medicaid – What is it and why should you (and your farm) should care? Our law firm frequently gets calls from clients wanting to inquire about making a Last Will and Testament or appointing someone as Power of Attorney.   This is quite often prompted by the death of a loved one, the diagnosis of an unexpected illness, or being told of a negative estate experience by a friend or neighbor.   Estate planning at any stage of life is something we would always encourage, but there is an aspect of planning that we often times find overlooked and that is planning in advance for Medicaid. There is much confusion about not only the difference between Medicare and Medicaid, but how and what each program covers specifically.   For the purposes of this article, we will be focusing the discussion on long term care needs such as the expense of a nursing home.   For that discussion, the only important thing to note about Medicare, including Medicare supplement insurance, is that it will not cov

      John was recently quoted in a DC Bureau piece of journalism regarding foreign farmland investment. You can find the article here:  Schwarz quoted in article on foreign farmland investment 

               I have read farm magazines for the vast majority of my life and still do.   Although I do most reading via the internet, there’s something about reading a printed farm magazine that I just can’t get out of my system.   Prior to the last five years or so, I don’t recall seeing a lot of “farm retirement” auction advertisements.   Sure, they were there, but they seem to have picked up during the last downturn in the farm economy.    I figured it was a lot of farmers who did not care to weather another economic downturn.   Seeing that we’ve now had 2-3 years of better years, and the retirement auctions have not subsided, perhaps even increased, I’m not so sure my thinking was correct.   Actually, using the word “retirement” and “farmer” in the same sentence was rare in years past.               What I have noticed is the difference between clients that were raised through the depression versus baby boomers.   Earlier in my career, when I had more farm clients that had li