Asset Protection & Medicaid Planning
Planning for Nursing Home Costs
People are living longer now thanks to improvements in health care. However, many of us will need assistance with long-term care during our later years. With nursing home costs in Georgia running $5,000 a month or more, an average estate can be wiped out in a few years.
At Turner Law, we help families with asset protection and planning for the cost of nursing home and other long-term care needs. We serve families in Decatur, the greater Atlanta area and throughout Georgia.
Asset Protection Strategies
No one would want to see the assets they built up over a lifetime being exhausted to pay for nursing home costs. There are a number of ways to preserve a significant portion of your estate and still provide high-quality care for yourself or a family member. Some basic approaches that may be appropriate for your estate plan include:
- Purchasing long-term care insurance
- Creating trusts and transferring assets so that property is not owned by the person who needs nursing home care
- If the incapacitated person is a veteran, planning VA Aid and attendance benefits may provide help with home care to avoid nursing home admission
- Planning for Medicaid eligibility to pay for nursing home expenses
- Creating a special needs trust to supplement Medicaid
The sooner you begin planning, the more assets you can protect. Medicaid has a five-year look-back period when determining eligibility and can penalize applicants’ asset transfers in the five years prior to nursing home admission.
Crisis Planning
Many of our clients come to us in crisis situations when a family member is already admitted or needs to be admitted to a nursing home. Even though your options may be more limited in such a situation, there still may be something an experienced estate planning attorney can do to ensure protection of at least some of your assets from the cost of nursing home and long-term care.
Contact Us for an Attorney Consultation
For competent asset protection when facing nursing home admission, call lawyer Robert Turner at 866-768-5365 or fill out the contact form on this Web site. Our law office is located in historic downtown Decatur, Georgia, just off Decatur Square.
