Cadillac, MI Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

You need to see an elder law attorney now. There are many ways your mother can obtain the best quality of care at the least cost to her and her family. In fact with planning now she can save anywhere between 50-70% of her assets and accelerate her qualification for Medicaid. I can only imagine how overwhelmed you are right now. It has taken me years to master my expertise and for one to get it in an hour is not possible. I understand the goal is to ensure that your mother receives the greatest quality of car at the least cost to her and her family. The following explanation is a cut and paste of a recent letter that applies to a client's mother. This strategy will work with any amount of assets, large and small. As for the strategies we would use here is a brief explanation. The planning method we use is commonly referred to as ?half a loaf?. The explanation is a cut and paste of a recent letter that applies to a client?s mother. This strategy will work with any amount of assets, large and small. This strategy is commonly known as half-a-loaf planning. I encourage you to share this with your siblings. The money that is saved is meant for your mother?s needs during her lifetime, such as bed holds should she return to a hospital and need to hold the bed, extra care or even supporting the home. Transfers/Gifts Under Medicaid Laws one can protect a portion of their assets from having to be spent down to pay the costs of long term care by transferring them out of their name as outright gifts. This type of transfer will cause one to be ineligible for Medicaid for one month for every $7,032 transferred or be ineligible for one day for every $234 transferred. In other words, if one transferred their assets totaling about $200,000 (the value of the assets minus a person's resource allowance of $2,000.00), one would be ineligible/disqualified for Medicaid for 28.44 months or 28 months and and 13 days ($200,000 $7,032 = 28.44) beginning on the date one becomes eligible for Medicaid, but for the transfer of assets. To clarify, the law penalizes a person from qualifying for Medicaid when they become eligible, but for the transfer of assets. This does not mean one cannot make gifts. We can still utilize a lump sum gift (usually not all of the assets) and convert the amount not gifted into an exempt asset or transaction. This strategy would cause a penalty period as a result of the amount gifted away and the amount not gifted would then be used to pay for the care during the penalty period caused by the lump sum gift. For example, we can utilize a special promissory note or a short term annuity. These strategies are further explained below. Finally, all gifts completed that are older than 5 years are not reportable. Also, a person can spend their money as they see fit as long as it is for fair value. The advantage of making gifts is that the transfer is simple to accomplish. The disadvantage is that one will lose control of her assets. A gift to one's loved ones means that the funds transferred belong to them, no matter what promises anyone may make to hold the funds. The funds are vulnerable in the event of a divorce, lawsuit, bankruptcy or the decision to simply use the funds for themselves. While this may be difficult, we need to know if there have been any gifts over $234.00 made within the last five years. If a person has made such gifts we would like to know when, how much and if possible, receive documentation of said gifts. Please note that the following can be considered gifts under Medicaid regulations: adding someone?s name to a bank account; loaning a loved one money without a formal loan agreement in place; and, gifting under federal income tax laws. Gifting Strategies we can still utilize a lump sum gift (usually not all of the assets) and convert the remain