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There are some very Common Mistakes Florida Medicaid Applicants Make Trying to Qualify for Long Term Care Medicaid Benefits. Here are a few:Giving Away Money or Making gifts to reduce a Medicaid applicant’s countable assets.Giving away assets or income within five years of applying for long-term care medicaid will cause Department of Children and Families to defer qualification of benefits for a period of time (the length of this period if ineligibility depends on the value of the gifted assets).To read more about the medicaid five year look-back rule or watch a video on the five year look back for medicaid, (five year medicaid rule video #2) click on the links.Essentially, any transfer of funds or assets, for less than fair-market value will create a problem. Just because the IRS allows gifting does not mean Medicaid does as well (they don't). Medicaid rules do not have to match IRS regulations - they are two totally different agencies.‍Relying on out-dated or poorly drafted durable powers of attorney or other estate planning documents when attempting Medicaid planning.Failing to include the specific authority to give gifts to a family member and to enter in to a personal service contract with the holder of the power of attorney are other mistakes. This will cause Department of Children and Families to deny the Medicaid application.I see too many free internet forms that fail to meet Florida statutory requirements. Relaying on an old or bad power of attorney form can hamstring our Medicaid planning efforts, or require a guardianship proceeding.To read an article that further explains the potential problems with old powers of attorney, click the link.‍Failure to create or properly maintain a Qualified Income Trust (QIT) or Miller Trust.A QIT or Miller Trust is essential when a Florida medicaid applicant's gross income exceeds $2,313.00 (from all sources) per month as of 2019 (the income cap number increases periodically). If you do not create a properly drafted Miller Trust, and fund it during the same month as when the Medicaid application is submitted (and each month thereafter), the Medicaid application will be deemed ineligible.To read more about Medicaid income trusts(QITs) or to watch a video further explaining how Miller Trusts work or how Medicaid income trusts are properly funded, click the links.‍ Failure to take required minimum distributions from qualified retirement accounts.Most people know that qualified retirement accounts (e.g. IRAs, 401ks, SEPs) are treated differently then other investment accounts. They are given special consideration by the IRS and are protected against the threat of creditors. However, there are specific steps that must be taken to ensure that they are not held against a Florida long-term care Medicaid applicant as a countable resource.Essentially, if one is eligible to take regular distributions, they must do so and the asset itself will be deemed exempt. However, the distributions are counted as income, which may necessitate the creation of a qualified income trust / miller trust.Also, each and every qualified retirement account must take its own regular distributions in order for Medicaid's eligibility requirements to be met. This is another example of how IRS rules do not always match Medicaid rules.To read more about how Floridians can qualify for long-term care medicaid even if they have a large 401k or IRA, click the link.To watch a video that further describes how qualified retirement accounts can be deemed exempt assets by Florida medicaid, click the link.‍Failure to liquidate certain annuities or life insurance policies that possess cash surrender value.If the face value (i.e. death benefit) of any life insurance policies are more than $2,500.00, their cash value will be deemed a countable asset. These life insurance policies have to either be borrowed against or completely liquidated before submitting a Medicaid application.Certain life insurance policies do not have cash value (i.e. term life insurance) and will not be considered countable assets. But universal or whole life policies almost always have a cash-value accumulation component and must be dealt with appropriately in order to become eligible for Florida ICP / nursing home or waiver benefits.Non-qualified annuities may also have cash value and that cash value will be counted as an asset against Medicaid eligibility. Regular annuities can be converted into a medicaid-qualified annuity or cashed out. To read more about Medicaid annuities, click the links.To read more about how life insurance policies are counted by Florida Medicaid, click the link.Failing to plan for the possibility that the community spouse might predecease the institutionalized spouse receiving long-term care Medicaid.About 30% of caregivers will die before the people that they care for do. This is often because care-giving can be so stressful. When its a spouse, it can be difficult for the caregiver to remember to take care of themselves. Ordinary estate planning has one spouse leaving the entirety of their assets to their surviving spouse. But if a non-medicaid spouse only has a will (or dies intestate) that leaves assets to the Florida long-term care medicaid spouse - this will unintentionally result in the loss of Medicaid.Instead, an experienced Medicaid elder care lawyer can create a testamentary special needs trust that will protect the Medicaid beneficiary's access to benefits. These SNTs are also referred to as qualifying special needs trusts.‍ Failing to plan around non-homestead real estate.While Medicaid estate recovery does not apply to homesteads in Florida, that does not prevent Medicaid from trying to recovery against second homes or rental properties owned by the Medicaid beneficiary after they pass away. An experienced medicaid lawyer can guide you on how to qualify for Medicaid, despite owning more than one piece of real estate, and then how to avoid having to sell that real estate to pay back Medicaid after passing away.There are multiple ways to do this, but probably the most common tool is recording a Florida lady bird deed (also known as an enhanced life estate deed). To read about some of the disadvantages and risks of lady bird deeds, click the link. To watch a video that further describes how lady bird deeds work in Florida, or enhanced life estate deed, click either link.

Thank you Theo for the A2A!As others have noted, Sauron was not stronger than even the weakest of the Valar (yes, even Vána the Ever-young who was only mentioned in relation to birds and flowers … Sauron was intrinsically less powerful than her). By the time Melkor had expended the vast majority of his strength to the point that he might have been considered less powerful than Sauron, Melkor was “… counted no longer among the Valar, and his name is not spoken upon Earth.”But why wasn’t Sauron stronger than even the weakest of the Valar?First, because Sauron was merely a Maia. One of the most powerful of the Maiar, true, but still merely a Maia. And in His infinite wisdom, Eru chose to fashion the Valar, not the Maiar, as the most powerful beings within Arda. Chapter two of The Silmarillion, b.k.a. the Valaquenta, expounds on this: “The Great among these spirits the Elves name the Valar, the Powers of Arda, and Men have often called them gods … With the Valar came other spirits whose being also began before the World, of the same order as the Valar but of less degree. These are the Maiar, the people of the Valar, and their servants and helpers.” For those of you who love old chivalric tales, think of the Valar as the knights and damsels and the Maiar as their squires and ladies in waiting. This ties into the second reason that Sauron wasn’t stronger than any of the Valar:Because as a Maia Sauron had not seen as deeply into Eru’s all-powerful Vision of the essence of Arda. Sure he’d glimpsed some of it and had taken part in the Great Music of the Ainur. But there was a vast and unbridgeable gulf between a Vala and one of their servants. For instance, Ossë appears to have been a tremendously powerful Maia who singlehandedly transported the original elves to Valinor by uprooting and pulling an actual island across the ocean. But his master, the Vala Ulmo, literally (not figuratively) sub-created that ocean out of the empty void because of his vastly greater power and the significantly deeper insight he had into Eru’s Vision. That’s the difference between a Vala and a Maia. Now the Valar could and did share a portion of their greater insight with the Maiar, and even some of the Eldar, in the form of lore. Which was powerful, but it was diluted because it was merely relayed insight into Eru’s Vision rather than the actual Vision itself. And that’s really all that Sauron could do: use the lore absorbed first from Aulë and then Melkor to accomplish his little deeds: forging the Ruling Ring, building the foundations of the Barad-dûr, growing the fell beasts that became his Ringwraiths’ flying steeds, et cetera.Finally, and most importantly, because J.R.R. Tolkien’s conception of “power” differed radically from the rest of ours. It had very little to do with who could beat whom in combat. Sauron could trap evil spirits to form werewolves, raise vast armies to wage war, dominate the minds of lesser beings and forge the Ruling Ring. Big whooptie-do. That’s not power. At least, not to Tolkien. Sauron accomplished not a single thing in three long Ages of Middle-earth that even remotely compared to the simple act of Yavanna growing the Two Trees, or Varda fashioning the bright stars and constellations or Aulë crafting the race of dwarves.In the end, the same words that Gandalf the Grey told Bilbo Baggins could apply to Sauron too: “… you are only quite a little fellow in a wide world after all.”

‘Hinduism’ is expressed by Hindus and Hindus can believe pretty much anything they want. One Hindu can believe God exists and another that God doesn’t exist and a third that he is God and all can call themselves Hindus.One person can believe that Sathya Sai Baba and Ramakrishna are incarnations of God and another can believe they are both frauds and both can call themselves Hindus.If you are a Hindu and want to believe in evolution you just believe in it, no problem. No one will hate you, deride you, or insult you for it. If you don’t want to believe in it the same applies.Iskcon is labeled by some, as a fanatical, fundamental, intolerant, aggressive group, and they don’t care if you believe in evolution or not. The theory of evolution is taught in their international school in Mayapur because it’s part of the Oxford syllabus that they follow. None of the students believes it’s true, but they are taught it because the academic world likes that you learn it. So if Iskcon won’t discriminate against whether a Hindu believes in evolution or not, why would anyone else? Many older Hindus don’t believe it’s true because it’s not supported by the Vedas.Here is what Bhagavatam says regarding the manifestation of the different species.King, know from me that all living entities are created by the Supreme Lord according to their past deeds. This includes Brahma and his sons like Daksa, the periodical heads like Vaivasvata Manu, the demigods like Indra, Candra and Varuna, the great sages like Bhrgu, Vyasa and Vasistha, the inhabitants of Pitrloka and Siddhaloka, the Caranas, Gandharvas, Vidyadharas, Asuras, Yaksas, Kinnaras and angels, the serpentines, the monkey-shaped Kimpurusas, the human beings, the inhabitants of Matrloka, the demons, Pisacas, ghosts, spirits, lunatics and evil spirits, the good and evil stars, the goblins, the animals in the forest, the birds, the household animals, the reptiles, the mountains, the moving and standing living entities, the living entities born from embryos, from eggs, from perspiration and from seeds, and all others, whether they be in the water, land or sky, in happiness, in distress or in mixed happiness and distress. All of them, according to their past deeds, are created by the Supreme Lord. SB 2.10.37-40.One might be tempted to think that they are created by the Supreme Lord through the process of evolution, as many Christians believe. But this is not supported by Srimad Bhagavatam. They are created by the Supreme Lord through His agents in the higher planetary systems. Beginning with Brahma.Brahma, who was empowered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, thought of generating living entities and begot ten sons for the extension of the generations.Marici, Atri, Angira, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Bhrgu, Vasistha, Daksa, and the tenth son, Narada, were thus born.Narada was born from the deliberation of Brahma, which is the best part of the body. Vasistha was born from his breathing, Daksa from a thumb, Bhrgu from his touch, and Kratu from his hand.Pulastya was generated from the ears, Angira from the mouth, Atri from the eyes, Marici from the mind and Pulaha from the navel of Brahma.Sage Kardama, husband of the great Devahuti, was manifested from the shadow of Brahma. Thus all became manifested from either the body or the mind of Brahma. SB 3.12.22-27.After manifesting the initial prajapatis, Lord Brahma manifests Svyambhuva Manu and Satarupa who is female, and the population of the universe continues from there with less input from Brahma as reproduction with a male and female principle is established and daughters and sons become manifest some of whom are entrusted to generating the different species.Kasyapa, who is also named Tarksya, had four wives -- Vinata [Suparna], Kadru, Patangi and Yamini. Patangi gave birth to many kinds of birds, and Yamini gave birth to locusts. Vinata [Suparna] gave birth to Garuda, the carrier of Lord Visnu, and to Anuru, or Aruna, the chariot driver of the sun-god. Kadru gave birth to different varieties of serpents.O King Pariksit, now please hear from me the names of Kasyapa's wives, from whom the population of the entire universe has come. They are the mothers of almost all the population of the entire universe, and their names are very auspicious to hear. They are Aditi, Diti, Danu, Kastha, Arista, Surasa, Ila, Muni, Krodhavasa, Tamra, Surabhi, Sarama and Timi. From Timi all the aquatics took birth, and from Sarama the ferocious animals like the tigers and lions took birth.My dear King Pariksit, from Surabhi the buffalo, cow and other animals with cloven hooves took birth, from Tamra the eagles, vultures and other large birds of prey took birth, and from Muni the angels took birth.The sons born of Krodhavasa were the serpents known as dandasuka, as well as other serpents and the mosquitoes. All the various creepers and trees were born from Ila. The Raksasas, bad spirits, were born from Surasa.The Gandharvas were born from Arista, and animals whose hooves are not split, such as the horse, were born from Kastha.From Matrka, the wife of Aryama, were born many learned scholars. Among them Lord Brahma created the human species, which are endowed with an aptitude for self-examination. SB 6.17–29.Some Hindus flinch at the idea of all these personalities producing the different species and like to go with the theory of evolution because that is what they have been taught by people they trust. No problem, the theory is irrelevant in day to day life anyway because first, it’s a theory, and secondly no one lives as if they are the result of random mutations moving around purposelessly in a meaningless world.Most Hindus go with the theory for study and exams and go with their family tradition for puja and protection from distress. ‘Adjusting’ is second nature to Hindus and most can easily accommodate two incompatible concepts simultaneously if it is advantageous.Accommodating the accounts of the manifestations of the different species is problematic to some because they have a concept of sexual reproduction limited to their own experiences, so it seems too fantastic to be true.However, in the higher planetary systems, among the personalities who reside there, there is a process known as manas-praveti which is the ability to procreate without physical sex. The ojas which is developed from semen rises in the body to the Agya Chakra and can then be directed with the power of the mind to a female recipient. Depending on the consciousness of the personalities involved a particular type of body with a particular type of mentality will be generated by the combination of the two people and then manifest externally in embryonic form to grow quickly to full size. In swarga there is no childhood involving nappies and toilet training. Personalities develop to 16 years maturity immediately.Obviously, the personalities mentioned in Bhagavatam are not going into labour and delivering whales, sharks, buffaloes, eagles etc as we see a lady deliver her baby here on planet Earth. But, and here is the interesting part, the DNA from the husband and wife will be present in each species that is generated from them. Their DNA will have come from their parents, and ultimately the first DNA will have come from Lord Brahma as he is the first being with a material body in the universe.Lord Brahma has the ultimate DNA and all his descendants, which means every living creature or plant, will carry some of his DNA, That DNA will be ‘dumbed down’ by the prajapatis to produce the different species. It is done consciously in their mind in cooperation with their consorts. The Bhagvatam describes a process of devolution by design, not evolution by random mutation. The varied DNA in all the species will look the same whichever process you believe is true. It’s a question of whether man originated from a single-celled organism through random mutation or whether beings with far superior DNA to us, consciously generated simpler forms which accommodate less developed consciousness.Darwin’s theory of evolution of the species has been taken up by science as a way to remove God from the world. However many Christians accommodate it with their belief in Christianity, and many Hindus aren’t bothered either way. I once asked a Hindu gentleman visiting Mayapur if he was vegetarian or non-vegetarian. “Both” he replied. Such is the nature of many Hindus. However, if you ask the average Hindu what ghotra he is, the chances are he will give you the name of a person who can be traced back in the annals history rather than identifying with homo missing-linkus.Here is the family tree of some of the notable descendants of Lord Brahma.