Ask Our Experts
By: Source: AARP Bulletin Today Date Posted: 2005-02-10 13:07:55
The AARP Bulletin's Ask Our Experts column provides answers to important questions affecting older Americans. Read below for this month's column, or review our archive of previously published questions and answers sorted by topic. (Note: Recent news or changes to regulations may affect the guidance offered in this previously published column.)
Submit your own question to the Ask Our Experts column via our easy-to-use online form.
Q. My wealthy aunt passed away 11 months ago. She named me sole beneficiary after expenses and her friend as trustee. The trustee will not disclose account balances to me and has not yet closed the estate. How can I get the trustee to move on it, and how can I find out what is legally mine? I have copies of the trust and the will.
What’s happening to you points out a drawback of a trust. Though a trust gives the person creating it more privacy because it doesn’t need to be filed with a court, the trade-off is that the actions of the trustee can escape court supervision.
The trust should contain your aunt’s directions to the trustee as to how and when to distribute the trust assets. You should have an attorney examine both the will and the trust. Depending on where your aunt lived and what each document says, the attorney can ask the court to make the trustee account for the funds in the trust and distribute the trust assets to the beneficiaries.—Expertise provided by Sally Hurme
Q. I am 63 and was "retired" by my employer in April 2004. I continued in the group medical and dental plan through COBRA. When it expires, how can I get coverage for the four months until I turn 65 and Medicare kicks in?
One option may be to convert your group plan to an individual policy. You may want to compare the cost of converting with the cost of buying a new individual policy that will cover you until you’re eligible for Medicare.
Under HIPAA (the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) states must guarantee a way for individuals to buy insurance if they have exhausted their coverage under COBRA, the federal law that lets certain workers keep their coverage for a time after they leave their employer’s plan. HIPAA does not apply to dental coverage. To learn more, go to AARP’s website and read "When You’re Losing Your Group Health Insurance."—Expertise provided by Geraldine Smolka
Q. I am fully vested in the 401(k) plan of a small company where I no longer work. My previous employer has now asked me to pay a quarterly fee of $25 or change to another plan. Can I be forced to pay these fees?
The U.S. Department of Labor allows ex-employers to charge "reasonable" administrative fees to former employees.
If you have a large 401(k) balance and have been satisfied with your plan, it may be worthwhile to pay the extra fee and stay in the plan. If not, you may wish to transfer your account balance to an IRA (individual retirement account).
One way to make a transfer is to have the investment firm managing your new account request a direct rollover.—Expertise provided by John Turner
Q. If I’m traveling abroad, will Medicare cover the costs if I need medical care?
In most cases, Medicare will not pay for medical care or supplies received outside the United States. But some supplemental Medigap policies—specifically plans C, D, E, F, G, H, I and J—do provide emergency coverage during foreign travel.
Under these plans, Medigap pays 80 percent of costs that Medicare would cover in the United States for the first 60 days of each trip and after the $250 annual deductible is paid. Coverage is subject to a $50,000 lifetime limit.
Some Medicare Advantage plans might also offer coverage for care received abroad. Call (800) 633-4227 or download a PDF for more information.—Expertise provided by Craig Caplan
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