There are a few different ways to meet the income requirements to qualify for government nursing home benefits. One is by spending down, or giving away, most of your worldly property so that your resources are below the Medicaid maximum threshold.
Unfortunately, giving away assets during your lifetime can create complications for you and your heirs. You may incur a large gift tax bill, while the family member who now owns your home and savings could lose them to debt collectors or divorce. Both of these problems can be avoided by creating a Medicaid trust.
A Medicaid Trust Keeps Your Property From Nursing Home Costs
A Medicaid trust, also called an asset protection trust, transfers assets out of your name and into the ownership of the trust. Since this type of trust is irrevocable, you are permanently relinquishing ownership of everything inside. As a result, anything in the trust cannot be counted as a resource when determining Medicaid eligibility. If done correctly, a Medicaid trust can get you the payment you need for nursing home costs while preserving your property for the next generation.
Some of the many advantages of an asset protection trust include:
- The ability to live in your home. Even though the trust owns your home, you can still live there as long as you are able.
- Access to certain assets in the trust. You can continue to use anything within the home and even drive the car held by the trust.
- Passing control and property to your heirs. You can appoint one (or more) of your relatives as trustees, giving them the responsibility of carrying out the estate planning provisions in the trust after your passing.
In order for the trust to work as intended, you should have one of our New York elder law attorneys at Landskind & Ricaforte Law Group make sure all assets are properly transferred into it before the need for care arises. Contact us today through our online form to get started.
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