Clients often ask this question while meeting with me to discuss concerns about the cost of long-term care. Many clients assume that their life savings must be depleted on the cost of at-home care or nursing home care, which undoubtedly results in a general sense of anxiety.
I often meet with clients who have been paying out of pocket for at-home care or nursing home care for months, or even years! It is important for the healthy spouse and the family to know that many options exist to protect most, or even all, of the life savings. It is never too late to protect the life savings, no matter how long one has paid out of pocket for at-home care or nursing home care. The purpose of this article is to let spouses and their families know that they do not have to walk alone while navigating the stressful, often-misunderstood, confusing arena of “at-home” or “nursing home” Medicaid planning.
I have a dedicated team of Medicaid planners and support staff whose sole focus is to walk clients through the entire Medicaid eligibility process, from beginning until the end, as long as that may take. In cases where one spouse is in a nursing home and one remains at home, we can often protect all of the life savings, along with the home. In order to achieve maximum asset protection, my team will develop a personalized plan based on the client’s unique situation. We must also take into consideration that assets must not just be protected now, but also in the event that that healthy, at-home spouse passes away before his or her “nursing home” spouse. While the team of Medicaid planners is working on preserving assets, my estate planning team will be drafting new estate planning documents which serve to protect the life savings and home from having to go to the nursing home or to Medicaid if the healthy spouse passes away first.
It’s never too late to protect the life savings and home. If you or your loved one are faced with needing at-home medical care or nursing home care soon, or are already receiving such care, please consider calling or texting my office at 812–423‑1500 to request a free consultation with my team to discuss how we can help.