Attorneys to discuss 'Michigan Medicaid Asset Planning' online

The National Business Institute will present the live video webinar “Michigan Medicaid Asset Planning: A Practical Toolkit” on Friday, June 4, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Essential knowledge of Medicaid asset planning strategies is a must-have for all professionals who work with aging and disabled clients and their families. This practical course will provide the knowledge and skills attorneys need to help clients protect assets while qualifying for Medicaid and guard against accidental loss of benefits.

The course content will include:

• Qualifying for Medicaid: Eligibility Criteria

• Planning Ahead: Gifts, Exempt Purchases and Asset Transfers

• Medicaid Qualifying Income Trusts

• Special Needs Trusts: Protecting Benefits While Providing for Beneficiary Expenses

• Ensuring Spousal Protections

• Asset Transfers in Crisis Planning

• Maintaining an Ethical Practice

Speaking at the program will be Susan L. Chalgian, Patricia E. Kefalas Dudek, Bob Mannor, and Nancy C. Nawrocki.

Chalgian is an attorney with Chalgian & Tripp Law Offices PLLC where she concentrates her practice in the areas of elder law, estate planning, and special needs planning. She is an active member of both the Elder Law and Disability Rights sections of the State Bar of Michigan, the SCAO Liaison to the Probate and Estate Planning Section of the State Bar of Michigan and National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA). She is a board member for the Greater Lansing Estate Planning Council (GLEPC). 

Chalgian is a treasurer of the Women Lawyer’s Association of Michigan (WLAM) and a board member for the Mid-Michigan WLAM region. She is an accredited attorney with the Department of Veteran’s Affairs. Chalgian is co-author of the ICLE publication, “Advising the Older Client or Client with Disability,” and is a frequent speaker on issues of elder law.

Chalgian earned her undergraduate degree from DePaul University and her law degree from Western Michigan University Cooley Law School.

Dudek is the principal of Patricia E. Kefalas Dudek & Associates and the past chair of the Elder Law & Disability Rights Section of the State Bar of Michigan. Her practice concentrates in elder law, Medicaid, estate planning, estates/trust administration, probate, administrative law and disability advocacy. Dudek’s practice includes advising and preparing estate planning documents, including special needs trusts; representation in Medicaid hearings to secure appropriate services, administration of estates, trusts, guardianship, conservatorship, and other protective arrangements and contested litigation in these areas.

A prolific writer and lecturer on topics related to Medicaid, alternatives to guardianship and estate planning for people with disabilities, elders and their right to control their support services, Dudek was the author of the model contracts for Michigan’s Medicaid Self Determination Initiative. These contracts facilitate control over Medicaid service budgets and allow for creative solutions for housing and supports.

Another creative solution used by Dudek, on behalf of her clients is the use of a pooled account trusts for Medicaid planning.  She was the first attorney in Michigan to draft one of these trusts and to secure approval for Medicaid by both the Social Security Administration and the State of Michigan. She has received numerous local l and national awards for her advocacy.

Dudek is a contributing author for “Representing the Elderly Client and the Special Needs Trust Handbook.” She earned her B.A. degree from Michigan State University and her law degree from the Detroit College of Law (now Michigan State University School of Law).

Dudek is a member of the Academy of Special Needs Planners, American Bar Association, State Bar of Michigan, member, Elder Law and Disability Rights Section, and a fellow of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA).

Mannor is a managing attorney with Mannor Law Group PLLC where he focuses his practice on elder law, estate planning, veterans’ benefits, and holistic life care planning. He is nationally board certified as an elder law attorney by the National Elder Law Foundation.

Mannor is the past president of the Michigan chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, and chair-elect of the State Bar of Michigan’s Elder Law and Disability Rights Section. He is also an accredited attorney through the Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of General Counsel. Mannor is a member of the Academy of Special Needs Planners, ElderCounsel, Lawyers with Purpose, and the Life Care Planning Law Firms Association.

Mannor received his B.B.A. degree from University of Michigan and his law degree from the University of Dayton School of Law. He is a frequent speaker in his areas of practice.

Nawrocki is an attorney at the Nawrocki Center where her practice focuses on the legal and financial issues that affect older people.

Nawrocki counsels elder clients in estate planning, wills, trusts, powers of attorney, Medicare and Medicaid planning, guardianship and conservatorship, and probate issues. She was a founding member of the Senior Justice Committee of the State Bar of Michigan and is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and the State Bar of Michigan.

Nawrocki earned her B.A. degree from Oakland University, her law degrees from Wayne State University Law School and Stetson University College of Law.

This basic level online seminar on Medicaid planning is designed for attorneys, nursing home administrators, accountants and CPAs, social workers, geriatric care managers, trust officers, estate planners, wealth managers, and paralegals.

Cost for the webinar is $349 which includes the course book. To register, call 1-800-930-6182 or visit www.nbi-sems.com.