If you are planning ahead for your retirement years and the twilight years that will follow, you should certainly consider the matter of nursing home asset protection.
Nursing homes are extremely expensive around the country, but here in Connecticut, the costs are particularly high. You are looking at an annual expense of well over $100,000, and people often require multiple years of care.
It can be hard to imagine a time when you will not be able to handle your activities of daily living. This is understandable, especially if you have taken good care of yourself throughout your life.
However, according to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, seven out of every 10 seniors will someday need living assistance. Plus, if you are in good health, healthy people will typically live longer lives. As you reach an advanced age, it becomes more and more likely that you need long-term care.
Nursing Home Asset Protection
When you digest all of the information above, you can see why nursing home asset protection is important. Long-term care insurance can be part of the equation, but this coverage is quite expensive.
For many, the primary solution is Medicaid. This government program will pay for long-term care, and it pays for the majority of the long-term care that seniors are receiving.
Since Medicaid is a program that is only available to people who have very limited financial resources, there is a low limit on countable assets. This limit is just $2000 for an individual, but some things that you own don’t count, including your home.
However, if you maintain direct personal possession of your home through to the time of your death, and you use Medicaid to pay for long-term care, a Medicaid lien could be placed on the home. Medicaid does seek reimbursement from your estate if you use the program to pay for your care.
To prepare yourself for future Medicaid eligibility, you could give gifts to your family members. You could look at this as an exercise in giving inheritances in advance, because after all, you would be giving your assets to a nursing home if you cannot qualify for Medicaid and you do require long-term care.
To properly execute this nursing home asset protection plan, you would want to act in advance. If you complete your gift giving at least five years before you apply for Medicaid, you can obtain eligibility as soon as you need long-term care. On the other hand, if you give away assets within five years of applying, your eligibility would be delayed.
Nursing Home Asset Protection Consultation
We would be glad to help if you would like to discuss nursing home asset protection with a licensed professional. To set up a free consultation, send us a message through this page: Hartford CT Elder Law Attorneys.
Mr. Nirenstein is licensed to practice before the courts of the State of Connecticut and the United States District Court. He is a member of the Connecticut and Hartford County Bar Associations, and the Estate and Probate, Elder Law, Business Law and Real Estate Sections of the Connecticut Bar Association.
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