Incorporating Long-Term Care Into Estate Planning

Incorporating Long-Term Care Into Estate Planning: What to Remember

Eugene Strupinsky • April 4, 2025

Estate planning is a crucial step in managing your financial future, especially as you age. One critical aspect that is often overlooked is the need for long-term care. Planning for long-term care involves understanding the types of care available, how to fund them, and incorporating these considerations into your estate plan. This ensures that, should the need arise, you are prepared and your assets are protected.

Understanding Long-Term Care Needs

Long-term care encompasses the services required when a person is unable to perform basic daily activities due to aging, illness, or disability. The nature of the care needed can range from in-home assistance to full-time care in a specialized facility. Given that the need for such care can arise unexpectedly and costs can mount quickly, it's imperative to plan in advance.

The Costs Involved and Planning for Them

Long-term care is notoriously expensive, with costs varying significantly based on the type of care and location. Without proper planning, individuals may find themselves exhausting their savings or even losing their assets to cover these costs. Incorporating long-term care into your estate planning allows you to explore funding options, including savings, insurance, and government assistance, to mitigate these expenses.

Insurance Options for Long-Term Care

Long-term care insurance is a prevalent method for funding long-term care, offering coverage that government programs like Medicare may not. It's essential to consider the different policies available and how they integrate with your overall estate plan. Policies vary in terms of benefits, premiums, and eligibility, so thorough evaluation and consultation with a professional are advised.

Medicaid Planning and Asset Protection

For those who may not have sufficient insurance or savings, Medicaid planning becomes crucial. Since Medicaid eligibility requires meeting specific asset and income criteria, asset protection strategies such as setting up irrevocable trusts might be necessary. This planning also entails considering the impact on your estate and beneficiaries.

Incorporating Long-Term Care into your Estate Plan

An effective estate plan addresses not just the distribution of assets but also your care preferences and financial preparation for potential long-term care needs. This includes drafting legal documents such as a durable power of attorney for healthcare, living wills, and exploring strategies for asset protection to ensure your wishes are respected and your family's financial burden is minimized.

Act Now for Peace of Mind and Contact Us Today for Comprehensive Estate Planning

Don't wait until it's too late to start planning for long-term care. Contact Khalifeh & Strupinsky, P.C. today by calling 917-717-5007 or filling out our online form to schedule a case evaluation. From our Brooklyn office, we serve clients across the entire region, offering the guidance needed to navigate the intricacies of estate and long-term care planning. Let us help you secure your future and that of your loved ones.

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Are Communications with AI Privileged?: Judge Rakoff delivers opinion in United States v. Heppner

By Kayla Gaisi • March 10, 2026

As generative AI becomes increasingly integrated into our daily lives, it continues to raise legal questions that courts can no longer ignore. This month, the question of whether communications between criminal defendants and public AI are protected from government inspection was answered by Judge Jed Rakoff. That answer was an unequivocal 'no.' In the case at hand, defendant Bradely Heppner was charged with fraud and arrested a month later, in November 2025. When the FBI executed a search warrant at his home, they seized documents containing communications between him and the public AI platform Claude AI. According to Heppner's counsel, these communications reflected a defense strategy Heppner had generated in anticipation of potential indictment. Heppner asserted that these documents were either protected under attorney-client privilege or by the work product doctrine, arguing that he had used Claude for the purpose of obtaining legal advice and had shared these outputs with his attorneys. However, Judge Rakoff rejected both arguments. Attorney-client privilege applies only to communications between a client and a professional who owes them fiduciary duties and is subject to discipline. It is a socially valuable human relationship. Regardless of how advanced an AI systems is, it cannot meet this definition. Claude is not a human attorney and does not have an attorney-client relationship with its users, so communications with it cannot qualify for attorney-client privilege. Aside from this, Rakoff listed other reasons why Heppner's communications with Claude are not considered confidential. Firstly, Claude is a public AI system whose privacy policy discloses that communications can be shared with third parties including "governmental regulatory authorities." Secondly, as his counsel admitted, Heppner sought legal advice from Claude on his own volition, not at their direction. Even if Heppner received legal advice and later shared that with his counsel, that does not render the initially unprivileged communication privileged. The related work product doctrine fared no better for Heppner. This doctrine protects materials prepared by attorneys in anticipation of litigation from discovery by opposing parties. Here, the AI-generated documents were not prepared by or at the behest of counsel and did not reflect counsel's strategy. Thus, they fell outside the scope of the doctrine. Judge Rakoff's ruling matters because it maintains the narrowness of evidentiary privileges that is necessary for protecting the judicial system's truth-seeking function. Extending privilege to communications with public AI systems could create a dangerous loophoole, one where parties could shield discoverable information by filtering it through a chatbot. But given Rakoff's ruling, the main takeaway here is that attorneys should explicitly advise their clients not to share personal or legal information with public AI systems. Despite how routine it has now become for many to ask public AI personal questions, these communications are not confidential, and may ultimately be used as evidence in court.