What Is Medicaid Planning?
Medicaid planning is an easy-to-use term for someone coming to an attorney with the fear of losing all their savings to long term care, especially nursing home costs. Nursing home costs can typically exceed $9,000 per month in Jacksonville, Florida. Medicaid planning includes several different categories. Individuals who may need Medicaid or long-term care in the future, including recent retirees, are looking to make sure all their assets are not taken by nursing homes. For those who will likely need nursing home care within the next year or two, we use the term “crisis” Medicaid planning. Someone who wants to utilize an attorney and trust planning for long-term care nursing home asset protection would be considered a “pre-planning” case in our office.
When it comes to Medicaid, pre-planning is the most tax-efficient way of ensuring that a certain sum of money is not part of your Medicaid spend-down plan. We would look at creating a legal side pot of money that can be used for your enhanced quality of life while you are in a nursing home or to preserve for your children’s inheritance, whichever most interests you. The most common question I am asked is whether Medicaid can take a client’s house while they are in a nursing home in the state of Florida. In the state of Florida, in most instances, unless you do something incorrectly, the state cannot take your house. However, if you do not protect your house ahead of time, your family is will be restricted with respect to the use and upkeep of your house while you are in a nursing home situation.
Another common question comes up when a client has just been diagnosed with a debilitating or terminal condition. Is it too late to pre-plan? You can go to an attorney and determine whether you are too late. It all depends on the progression of your illness and the size of your estate. For some, even if they are on a nursing home’s doorstep, the only option might be to create an irrevocable pre-planning asset protection trust. Others may be diagnosed and not need care for more than five years, but their estate is set up so that they may not be best served by a trust. If you are interested in creating a plan to preserve your estate and your assets from extremely high long-term care costs, your best course of action is to contact an attorney to review your options. We offer a free meeting with a paralegal to evaluate whether our legal services are appropriate for you.
Is Medicaid Planning The Same As Asset Protection Planning?
Medicaid planning is a form of asset protection. Asset protection is a very general term meaning you are you seeking to protect your assets. If you are seeking to protect your assets from long-term care costs, then you would want to do a Medicaid asset protection plan to protect against those long-term care costs. An elder law attorney is appropriate for your needs in that situation. Other people need to seek asset protection advice because they own a business and may get sued or they’re worried about outstanding judgments. They are looking to prevent their assets from being levied. That will require a different type of asset protection attorney and is not typically the domain of an elder law attorney.
What Is The Medicaid Look-Back Period? How Does It Impact Medicaid Eligibility?
The Medicaid look-back period has been put in place to prevent people from giving all their assets away today and becoming Medicaid eligible tomorrow. People would want to do this because they are looking at $9,000 a month in nursing home bills in Jacksonville, Florida. The Florida Medicaid look-back period is five years from the date of your Medicaid application. They go back five years to examine whether you have given any money away or have made uncompensated transfers. Medicaid will penalize you for any uncompensated transfers. The penalty is not a criminal penalty but rather a benefits ineligibility period penalty.
If you are planning while you are healthy, you have certain options available to protect your assets from long term care costs. Since the look-back period is only five years, it gives you the potential to set up certain types of asset protection trusts to protect your assets. If you require nursing home care and you have assets within the five year look-back period, you have another set of options available to protect your assets that will not include the trust. The trust typically provides the most flexibility and protection, if you plan ahead, but there are still options available if you have not created something five years ahead of time.
For more information on Medicaid Planning In The State Of Florida, 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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