I’ll keep it short. “Medicaid Planning” is sold all over the web. When done poorly it Harms the senior client. Here’s a brief description of a very complicated problem.
Some 20 years ago “estate planners” found they could sell “Medicaid Planning” as a way to “protect your asset.” Well, they accomplished “asset protection” by taking away senior client protection. The pitch, still out there, calls for a senior, married or single, to put their “assets” into an irrevocable trust. Thus they are assured if they need Medicaid long term care services they will easily qualify. I call it spend Big Money on “Medicaid Planning” and in 5 years you can go into a nursing home with your assets protected back home.
See the problem? Who wants to be in a nursing home in five years! This is not a hypothetical problem. In January 2025 an attorney posted on the elder law listserv about a senior who set up one of these asset protection trusts and then some years later had to move out of the home into assisted living. But he had very little savings – it was all tied up in the asset protection trust. So the trustee started dispensing money to his son or daughter who then used the money to pay the assisted living bill. It all blew up when he applied for Medicaid Waiver assistance. It was denied. As of writing it is not resolved.
So there it is. This senior spend thousands of dollars for an asset protection trust. When he needed his money he didn’t have it. So money came out of the trust and the Medicaid department denied the application. And now he faces thousands of more dollars in legal fees. Who knows where it will end.
Moral: Don’t spend your estate planning money on a Medicaid asset protection trust. Save your money for YOUR needs. Protect YOUR Independence. Then when you really need Medicaid assistance (which you have already paid for with your decades of tax paying) then contact a reputable elder law attorney and at that time for “Crisis Medicaid Planning.” You will assure your maximum independence, with Medicaid long term care services and supports in your home, your community and Not in an nursing home or institution because you have no choice.
Keep your money. Keep your independence. When the crisis of long term care strikes, then hire a reputable elder law attorney for “Crisis Medicaid Planning” to have your application for benefits come quickly And save assets for those you love.
Call us at 248-356-3500 for a referral.
Jim
