The timing of your legal planning to avoid losing assets to nursing home expenses is so critical, we are not going to be able to save as much for them as we would for those who are more pro-active and engage the right legal help when they are still healthy.
I met today with the children of a woman who is presently residing in a Madison nursing home due to her dementia diagnosis. The children had no idea how long term care and Medicaid financing for long term worked.
They told me that Mom owned a home, three annuities, some cash in the bank, and expensive jewelry and antiques. Their financial advisor referred them to my office. I asked them what they knew about long term care and Medicaid. They said they were starting to “hear things” but they wanted to get the truth.
I told them that if all of the assets stayed in their mother’s name, then their mother would be forced to spend her $475,000 of financial assets until she had less than $2,000 remaining. They told me that their mother was spending about $8,000 per month currently on her care. I also told them that – if Mom keeps everything in her name – then after Mom spends all of her finances, she will qualify for Medicaid, but then Medicaid will have the right to enforce its Medicaid Estate Recovery rights after Mom dies, forcing the house to sell after Mom dies to reimburse Medicaid for what they spent on Mom’s care after Mom spent all of her own money.
Since the timing of your legal planning to avoid losing assets to nursing home expenses is so critical, we are not going to be able to save as much for them as we would for those who are more pro-active and engage the right legal help when they are still healthy.
The children will be back in the office next week to sign a slew of legal documents to ensure that they will save and protect about $300,000 of Mom’s assets from losing it to the nursing home. While we weren’t able to save everything because this planning started while Mom was already in the nursing home, we are going to be able to save hundreds of thousands for this family – even if Mom resides in the nursing home for many, many years.
The estate lawyers of Krause Donovan Estate Law Partners, LLC practice law in the areas of Probate, Wills, Estate Planning, and Trusts. We assist clients in and around Madison, Wisconsin with all matters related to estate planning, trusts, and probate matters. Our dedicated attorneys will even make house calls if you are unable to come to our office.
Contact our office by calling (608) 344-5491 to schedule a consultation or use our online contact form.