Denver Estate Planning & Elder Law Blog

At our law firm, we help small-business owners in Colorado plan for the eventual exit from their commercial enterprises by developing creative, comprehensive business succession plans. In part 1, we introduced the idea of creating a business exit strategy for the eventual departure of the owner or founder of the business, which could be either unplanned such as because of disability, a planned retirement or several other potential scenarios.

Today, we will cover some of the more common legal vehicles used in business transition planning.

March 21, 2019, is World Down Syndrome Day, followed by World Autism Awareness Day on April 2. According to the CDC, almost 17 percent of Colorado adults have some kind of disability and 7.7 percent of adults have cognitive impairments.

The bottom line is that many Coloradans have children, grandchildren, siblings, spouses, parents or grandparents with cognitive or developmental disabilities, physical disabilities, disabilities related to aging or other kinds of serious impairments. People with severe disabilities almost always need to access public benefits for housing, long-term care, medical care and more — and some of the federal or state programs have asset and income eligibility limits.

We recently posted here about the importance of long-term care planning in case of the temporary or permanent need for long-term health care at home, in assisted living or in a nursing facility. As a follow-up to that post, today we will talk about long-term care insurance as a potential component of this planning.

Your employer may offer LTC insurance as part of a benefit package, likely through a group policy. You might need to pay premiums, but they may be relatively affordable if your employer subsidizes the policy. In addition, a policy through employment may not require that you undergo a physical examination to qualify for coverage, which can be an important opportunity if you have any pre-existing conditions that might disqualify you from coverage or raise your premiums, depending on the terms of the particular policy.

At Chayet & Danzo, LLC, we help our Colorado clients prepare for the possibility that eventually, they may face the need for long-term care because of an illness, accident or condition that develops in older age. Many people do not care to think about these possibilities, but being prepared financially and logistically for long-term care can help loved ones when you face the need for such care.

For example, a person at any age could unexpectedly fall and strike his or her head. This can cause temporary or permanent disability related to a brain injury. Long-term-care services may be delivered at home and could include nursing care, help with personal hygiene, housekeeping support and other services. In some situations, moving to a rehabilitation facility or nursing home, either temporarily or permanently, may be necessary.