As in part two of our series, your Medicaid planning advisor can best help you determine how the rules apply to your specific circumstances in your specific locality. Before you get into the specifics, however, it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with the general federal guidelines for Medicaid qualification that apply everywhere.
In addition, the state can place a lien on an unmarried Medicaid recipient’s home, unless certain dependent relatives live on the premises or the state permits a “Homestead Exemption”.
Sale of the property, while the person receiving Medicaid is still living, could result in the loss of Medicaid coverage (due to excessive assets) and an obligation to use the sale proceeds to satisfy the lien that Medicaid places against the home.
There are exceptions to this rule. Satisfaction of the lien is not required if the applicant returns home prior to their death or one or more of the following...
As in Part One of our series, your Medicaid planning advisor can best help you determine how the rules apply to your specific circumstances in your specific locality. Before you get into the specifics, however, it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with the general federal guidelines for Medicaid qualification that apply everywhere.
What happens to a Medicaid recipient’s estate when he or she passes away? Like so much else, that depends on whether they have properly planned to protect it.
When a Medicaid recipient dies, the state may attempt to recover the benefits paid to that individual from his or her estate – that is a requirement under federal Medicaid law. However, the state cannot proceed with this recovery process if any of the following applies:
What Are the Rules for Medicaid Qualification (Part 1)?
Medicaid is a federal program that provides health coverage for people with limited assets and incomes. It covers the cost of nursing home care for those who meet the program’s economic requirements for eligibility, and in several states, it will also pay for care in your home!
Though it’s a federal program, Medicaid is administered by the states. Federal law empowers each state to enforce Medicaid eligibility rules according to its own interpretation. This means that application of these rules can vary significantly from state to state and, in some states, from county to county. Qualification for care in your home is also different for qualifying for care in a nursing home.
Your Medicaid planning advisor can best help you determine how the rules apply to your specific circumstances in your specific locality. Before you get into the specifics, however, it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with the general...
Most people, when thinking about estate planning, are focusing on what happens when they die.
There are many legal tools that can be used to enhance the quality of your life and to reduce the burden to your family when disability – which is inevitable for most of us – happens. It is also important to understand that the right kind of estate planning may be a necessary component in ensuring that your spouse or children “left behind” are not left in poverty or overwhelmed.
The first step in estate planning is education. One of the biggest challenges I face as an attorney is making people understand that things they “think they know” aren’t necessarily true. When it comes to estate planning – What you don’t know can hurt you.
Provided within the Family & Aging Law Center Blog, we're looking at some aspects of how estate planning works. Hopefully,...
One of the things that we hear (a lot) from clients is how panicked they are when a loved one that has been in rehab is being suddenly discharged - but the family doesn't think they're really ready to go home - or, even worse, the family is told that their loved one is being discharged but needs 24/7 care or supervision.
Very few families are ready for this. The logistics of getting care for a person in a home environment may seem easy (just hire someone!), but most families, when faced with the cost, realize that this is not a long-term solution. That's when the questions start:
It is...
Though there are many complexities to Medicaid planning, it’s important to understand Medicaid is there to help families like yours. Medicaid planning is the best way to ensure you receive the benefits to assure you protect as much of your hard-earned assets as the law allows, and to receive the care you need.
It is also important to understand that Medicaid planning may be a necessary component in ensuring that the spouse “left behind” is not left in poverty. The first step in Medicaid planning is education. The more you know about how Medicaid works, the better you will be able to look out for the interests of your family.
For more detailed information, it’s best to consult with a qualified legal advisor. So think of this as an introduction.
Medicaid planning can begin anytime, even if your loved one is already living in a skilled care facility....
VA Pension is a benefit that many veterans just are not aware of, or are often told that they don’t qualify for, even if they can become qualified. If you are a Veteran or a Widow of a Veteran, you may be able to obtain tax free income from the VA to help pay for the cost of home health care, assisted living care, and nursing home care. The benefit is called “Improved Pension.” In addition to the Pension, a person who is housebound or in need of the assistance of another person with activities of daily living may receive additional pay called Housebound Benefits or Aid and Attendance Benefits, which is s supplement to the Pension.
All of the following criteria must be met before a veteran or widow(er) of a veteran can receive Improved Pension benefits:
Assets in a Revocable Living Trust are not protected and must be used to pay for the costs of long term care.
If you are married, your home is exempt and cannot be taken when applying for Medicaid. If you are single or widowed, your home is exempt up to $552,000 (2015). If you transfer your home to your children, not only will it result in immediate ineligibility for Medicaid, but it could also:
Giving your assets away means losing control. It’s not safe even if you “trust” who you give it to. If that person divorces, goes bankrupt or is sued, all of the money you transferred is at risk. There are asset protection trusts that permit you to keep 100% control of your assets without the risk of losing them if long-term care is needed.
You do not have to wait 60 months to...
A trust is a contract between the Grantor (the person who creates the trust), the Trustee (one who controls the trust) and the beneficiaries (those entitled to benefit from the trust). You, as Grantor, determine how the trust will be operated by the Trustee and who benefits, how and when.
While a Revocable Living Trust permits you to maintain full control (as Trustee) and have access to all your assets (as beneficiary), an Irrevocable Trust, once created, may prohibit your right to control the trust (as Trustee) or have access to your assets, but you get to decide to what extent.
It is a common misconception that irrevocable trusts, once created, cannot be changed. While that is true of many irrevocable trusts created to avoid taxes (tax reduction or avoidance trusts), it is not true of all irrevocable trusts. An irrevocable trust is a trust you create for the benefit of yourself or others and once created, you, as Grantor, must give up your right...
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