Paying for nursing home costs can quickly erode a lifetime of savings. Long-term care costs can wipe out everything you have accumulated during your life, leaving you nothing to pass along to your children or loved ones. Most people don’t need to lose everything. Legal steps can potentially save some or all your assets.
Legal Strategies Used to Protect Assets
Medicaid Crisis Planning involves helping someone in a nursing home save some of their assets before they are all gone. Most people can protect well over $100,000 through a combination of strategies.
These strategies involve complying with federal Medicaid law, Minnesota state statutes and regulations, and the Medical Assistance application process. As part of our Elder Law practice, Medicaid Crisis Planning involves re-positioning assets as permitted under Medicaid eligibility rules.
Due to the complex nature of this area of law, it is difficult to assess which legal strategies would make sense for a particular situation without a full analysis of the circumstances. Relevant factors include
- the value of assets in the estate
- the type of assets in the estate
- the age and health of the estate owner
- family circumstances (divorces, etc.)
Thus, an elder law attorney in our firm will usually provide a free consultation to talk with the person in charge of the assets to determine how much of the assets can be protected and associated legal costs.
Time is of the Essence
In Medicaid Crisis Planning, timing is critical. The sooner you take action, the more money can be saved. Even if you have been “spending down” for a while, if you still have significant assets to protect, you can still take action.
