Is It Too Late To Save Resources If A Loved One Is Already In A Nursing Home?
It is never too late to save resources unless you have a zero balance in your bank account, once you’re in a nursing home. There are families who want to make sure that there is no question that someone will qualify for Medicaid and they want to make sure that an attorney is there to make sure it’s done right. It could be as simple as prepaying for your final funeral costs and burial expenses. It could be too late if someone has a great deal of money, defined as over $400,000 of cash, they are single, and the Medicaid planning options do not justify a cost benefit-result when you consider the prognosis of the person needing Medicaid. It all depends on timing, prognosis, and the amount of resources left to determine whether it’s too late because if you don’t fall in that category, there are plenty of options to be able to protect a good portion of your assets.
How Far In Advance Must An Irrevocable Trust Be Created And Funded In Order To Be Useful In Long Term Care Planning?
A person looking to protect his assets from nursing home costs must create a trust document and transfer their money into the trust five years prior to filing a Medicaid application. The trust is not created and effective on the date of signing. It’s the date that you transfer ownership of the assets to the trust that is important for the five year look back period. The biggest hang up when people create an irrevocable trust for Medicaid planning purposes is that the attorney assisting in the creation of a trust is not actively assisting in the funding of this trust and leaves that up to the client, who may not understand how to actually change the ownership of assets. Therein lies the trouble with establishing the trust and determining which attorney you will use to create the trust.
If you are looking to create one of these trusts, you need to have a specific understanding and action plan to complete the task of the funding of the trust, so that five years after that funding, you get the ultimate benefit that you created the trust for. That is the reason you will see the cost of an irrevocable Medicaid asset protection trust being much higher than a common revocable living trust: the need to get it right and not leave things to chance.
Who Is Responsible For Overseeing The Irrevocable Trust When It’s Set Up?
Whenever an irrevocable trust is set up, the person you name and select as trustee is the person responsible for overseeing your irrevocable trust. Can you be your own trustee on an irrevocable trust for Medicaid purposes? Most attorneys advise that you name someone else to manage your irrevocable trust. The reason most attorneys prefer this measure is that the alternative, you managing the trust, can lead to you mismanaging or mishandling the trust as it relates to Medicaid rules and defeating the whole purpose of setting the trust up.
If you do name yourself as trustee over your irrevocable Medicaid asset protection trust, you enter a grey area with the Department of Children and Families possibly stating that you have too much control over your assets. However, an argument may be made, as long as you have fulfilled and met the trust requirements. (zolpidem buy australia) It all depends on your preferences and your level of conservatism in managing risk while spending a good deal on legal fees to create this arrangement.
For more information on Saving Resources From A Nursing Home In FL, an initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you’re seeking by calling (904) 398-6100 today.
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