What is Elder Law?
Elder Law involves working with seniors on estate planning, incapacity issues, elder abuse issues, and planning for long-term care. Guardianships and Conservatorships can be used to protect disabled individuals. Planning for long-term care is important because home health care, assisted living care, or skilled nursing care can wipe out a family’s savings fairly quickly. Families often looks to proper estate planning, Medicaid planning, and VA benefit planning to assist with these costs.
Medicaid Planning Myths
So many times clients come to our office under the mistaken impression that there is nothing that can be done to protect assets from nursing home costs. Fortunately much of the circulating consumer knowledge is false or misinterpreted. For example, it isn’t always necessary to wait 5 years after gifting assets to become eligible for Medicaid. The answer actually depends upon the specific facts of your case. With the help of an experienced Elder Law and Medicaid Planning attorney many of the assets you have spent a lifetime accumulating can be protected from high nursing home expenses.
Medicaid Asset Protection Strategies
Although with the recent passage of the Deficit Reduction Act, increased restrictions affect the use of some techniques, other asset protection strategies remain viable, especially for married couples where one spouse requires long-term care. Some of these techniques may include making gifts to family members, using annuities and paying for certain expenses.
Whether you are facing long-term care issues yourself or you have a family member who is, we encourage you to call with your questions or ask us for a free report. Be sure to call sooner rather than later because the timing of the decisions families need to make has a dramatic impact on whether or not someone can actually qualify for this type of support.
Confused about Medicaid? You’re not alone! The complexity surrounding this constantly changing area of the law can sometimes feel overwhelming… it doesn’t need to be.
Caring for the elderly and ensuring their assets are protected are some of the primary services offered by our law firm.
Click here for a FREE report: “Set the Stage for Medicaid Eligibility”
Colorado’s Long Term Care Insurance Partnership Plan: How to Avoid Getting Misleading Information
The new long-term care insurance partnership plans are designed to help Colorado residents plan for long term care (in home care, nursing home care, and assisted living) without depleting a family’s life savings.
While long-term care (LTC) insurance has been available for years, the new LTC partnership plans give an added incentive to purchase LTC insurance. With the purchase of a new LTC partnership plan, the policy holder can protect a portion of his or her assets if it later becomes necessary to qualify for Medicaid.
The new LTC partnership plan provides that for every dollar a LTC policy pays out in benefits, a dollar of personal assets can be kept if application for Medicaid becomes necessary. The assets kept by a Medicaid applicant through this process are not considered in the application process nor are they available for estate recovery. LTC insurance partnership plans do not cost any more than other LTC insurance, but the Colorado Division of Insurance has established requirements for LTC insurance policies in terms of length, benefit amounts, etc.
If you have questions about LTC partnership plans, call your trusted financial advisor or insurance agent to get more information. Make sure that the person you’re dealing with knows about the LTC partnership plans and has been through the required Colorado LTC training.
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