Insurance Helps Those Left Behind
Published by Joe Mersol
I had the occasion to work with a wonderful family earlier in my career in which the patriarch absolutely did not want to purchase much needed insurance. His family and I after months of follow up finally convinced him to obtain coverage to replace his economic value to his family. A year later this gentleman developed cancer and over the following months would hug, kiss, and thank me because he knew that when he went to heaven his wife would be taken care for. After his passing his wife was still so thankful that she submitted a letter to the local newspaper in which she told her story, thanked me again, and encouraged readers to review their insurance needs.
Doing the Right Thing
Published by Joe Mersol
During the early years in my career with New York Life I had a client who placed his spouse in a facility due to not being able to provide the support necessary for her dementia. Unfortunately, he later went into a severe depression and developed a terminal condition himself. When I learned of his condition and the situation I looked over his account and noted that the beneficiary listed was his wife. This was a problem in that these assets, in the event of his passing, would be subject to his spouses spend down. What this means is that all of his assets would have been subject to Medicaid recovery and the kids may have received nothing as a legacy. By changing the beneficiary to the kids, the spouse (their mom), would qualify for Medicaid and the children's inheritance would not be subject to a claw back by Medicaid.
In order to get this all resolved as quickly as possible, I traveled to Maryland from Ohio and updated the beneficiaries of his New York Life assets and worked with transfer agents for individual stock positions protecting these assets from creditors and probate. These actions insured that assets they had worked for all their lives went to the people they loved.
