Medicaid Planning Trusts

Medicaid Planning Attorneys Serving All of Kentucky
Your assets are a culmination of your life’s work. These assets include your house, your car, your furniture, your boat, your art collection, your investment income, and your checking and savings account balances. When you reach the age of 65, you want to continue to protect these assets while still enjoying the benefits of Medicaid. Medicaid provides Long-Term Care/Nursing Home costs for eligible seniors who qualify. The value of your assets may prevent you from becoming eligible for Medicaid. The cost savings of Medicaid alone, especially if you anticipate expensive procedures or nursing home stays, makes Medicaid planning a viable and necessary course of action.

Medicaid planning can assist you with preparing for the future. The time to start planning is now. The earlier you create a unique plan that works for you and your family, the earlier you can relax, knowing that you will be able to enroll in Medicaid the moment you turn 65. Medicaid planning is an acquired skill, and the Medicaid planning attorneys at Goeing Goeing & McQuinn, PLLC can help you decide the best course of action for your future. Should you place your assets in a trust? Should you gift your assets? Our attorneys can assist you with understanding your options and preparing for Medicaid enrollment. Call our attorneys at Goeing Goeing & McQuinn, PLLC today at (859) 904-2045 for a free consultation.

What Is Medicaid Planning?
Medicaid planning is the practice of using a professional elder law or Medicaid planning attorney to assist you with properly configuring your assets in order to ensure Medicaid eligibility. Medicaid is heavily relied upon by seniors to help cover the steep costs of nursing home care. Even wealthy individuals struggle to pay nursing home costs when they are retired. Without Medicaid, the nursing home expenses will eat away at the assets you had desired to pass on to your loved ones. You can prevent this by seeking the assistance of a Medicaid planning attorney.

A Medicaid planning attorney is a licensed attorney who is well-versed in elder law and probate law, including trusts and estates. A Medicaid planning attorney can assist you with determining which assets are implicated by Medicaid, how and when to divest these assets, how to protect these assets from estate recovery, and how to enroll for Medicaid and get approved the first time.

Medicaid Planning Trusts
Several different types of trusts are used in the Medicaid planning process, and the type of trust you use will depend on the type of assets you own and your plans for distributing that asset. When you create a trust, you lose your ownership of that asset. The trust now owns the asset, and a trustee appointed by you will be in charge of distributing that asset. Trusts are a great way to ensure that your assets are protected and held for the benefit of your loved ones. Trusts also allow you to set out rules for how the assets are to be distributed. When you gift an asset to a loved one, he or she may unfortunately mishandle it or budget unwisely. With a trust, you can alleviate this risk by drafting a careful plan for the trustee to follow. In certain circumstances you may even be able to serve as Trustee so that you retain complete control of the assets.

Income trusts are irrevocable trusts that pay income to you and your spouse. You put a large pot of money into the trust, and the trust pays you on a daily, weekly, monthly or yearly basis. You can use this income to cover living expenses. Upon death, the trust will pass on to your heirs.

An asset protection trust can be used to start the clock for Medicaid. Any assets that are placed in an asset protection trust will be 100% protected from Medicaid when the assets have been in the trust for five years. Using this trust would allow you to protect 100% of your family’s assets and provide these assets to your children and heirs without the risk that the assets will have to be used for your long-term care/nursing home costs.

A supplemental needs trust is a trust created for disabled individuals. If you have a relative or friend who is permanently disabled, you are permitted to transfer funds into a trust for their benefit with no penalty. This trust will not affect the disabled person’s financial eligibility for Medicaid and, as the assets now belong to the trust, will also not affect your eligibility. However, if the disabled person dies prior to the funds in the trust expiring, the remainder will go to the state of Kentucky to cover Medicaid funds expended on your behalf.

Medicaid Planning Lawyers Ready to Assist You with Creating Trusts
Creating a trust is not for the faint of heart, and in addition to there being a multitude of different types of trusts, each type comes with its own implications for Medicaid eligibility. Seek the trained guidance of an experienced Medicaid planning attorney to help determine which trust is right for your assets. The skilled Medicaid planning lawyers at Goeing Goeing & McQuinn, PLLC are prepared to counsel you on your options, explain the different types of trusts, and aid you in creating a trust to protect your assets from Medicaid. Call us at (859) 904-2045 to schedule a free consultation today.