Canton Medicaid Planning Lawyer
Medicaid planning involves protecting assets by placing them in a trust, and thereby qualifying for Medicaid coverage of long-term care. Medicaid planning should be done in advance of one’s potential long-term care needs, due to Medicaid’s “look-back” period in which any gifts or assets placed in trusts can make the applicant ineligible for benefits. Canton Medicaid planning lawyer Brian S. Karpe has extensive knowledge regarding Medicaid’s qualification rules and how to best protect your hard-earned assets so that they are available to you in the future, and so that you will be able to pass something down to your loved ones when you are gone.
How Medicaid Planning Works
Nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and independent living facilities (which are often combined in a single large campus) are incredibly expensive. Even wealthy individuals find it impossible to pay for more than a few months before they begin looking at assets to sell off, like the family home. And, most Americans who make it past the age of 60 will end up spending at least a portion of their lives in a long term care facility. To make this affordable for the average American, Medicaid pays for long term care. But, in order to qualify for Medicaid, the applicant must be essentially broke. In 2023, an individual’s total assets must be worth less than $2,000, and their monthly income must be less than $2,742 in order to qualify for Medicaid’s nursing home benefits. Thankfully, you do not have to spend away all of your assets on long term care until you have nothing left before you can qualify for Medicaid. By placing income and assets in a Medicaid trust, you technically no longer own those assets. But, you still have access to them. The assets placed in such a trust are managed by a trustee for the benefit of the beneficiary (you). A few of the different types of Medicaid trusts, such as this, include special needs trusts, irrevocable trusts, and annuity trusts.
Spending Down Your Assets
Another method that can be used in addition to creating a Medicaid trust is spending down your assets. This is accomplished by making gifts to family members, charities, and other parties in the years before you would potentially need to apply for Medicaid. Spending down your assets must be done many years in advance to apply, as the federal government’s look back period of five years applies to gifts and assets placed in trusts.
Call a Canton Medicaid Planning Lawyer Today
Through strategic, long term planning, including gifting and Medicaid trusts, you can qualify for long term care financial assistance and still retain much or all of your assets and income. But Medicaid planning must be done well in advance of when you need to apply for Medicaid benefits. Like all other aspects of estate planning, Medicaid planning also requires working with a skilled attorney. To get started today, do not hesitate to call Canton Medicaid planning lawyer Brian S. Karpe at 860-217-1458 to schedule a free consultation.
