Medicaid is a need based government assistance program. To qualify for Medicaid, your income and other financial resources must fall below a certain threshold. Unfortunately, if you do not qualify for Medicaid, you can quickly see your assets dwindle as the cost of long term medical care is very expensive. The costs will eat up your financial resources and assets you wished to leave to your family and loved ones. Additionally, Medicaid only provides for certain basic care needs. You will likely need other income, albeit limited, to supplement what Medicaid gives. In order to qualify for Medicaid and preserve your assets for supplemental expenses and for your heirs, you may want to consider establishing an irrevocable Medicaid trust as it is a trust created specifically for these purposes.
What are the Benefits of a Medicaid Trust?
The main benefit of a Medicaid trust is that it can protect assets from quickly being liquidated for the purposes of paying for long term medical care and extended nursing home stays. This kind of care quickly adds up and can place a huge financial burden on a person and their family, especially without receiving Medicaid benefits. The Medicaid trust preserves the assets and allows an individual to continue receiving Medicaid. The trust assets are not included in Medicaid calculations because the beneficiary has no access to them.
A Medicaid trust is designed so that the beneficiary has no control over distributions of the trust assets. If the beneficiary had any access to trust assets, then the contents of the trust would be included in the Medicaid calculation and would likely end up disqualifying the beneficiary from any further receipt of Medicaid benefits and other government need-based assistance programs. The trustee, guided by the trust document, has sole discretion over trust distributions. Usually, with Medicaid trusts, the designated beneficiaries of the trust are family members and those individuals that the creator of the trust wishes to inherit a portion of his or her estate.
Few people are able to save up enough money to fund long term care in the future. Unfortunately, just because you have been unable to set aside enough money for long term care does not mean that you will qualify for Medicaid. Without Medicaid, what you have managed to save will quickly dwindle away. That is why a Medicaid trust is so valuable. It can preserve your savings and the financial resources you have gathered while providing you with much needed government assistance.
Helping Our Clients and Their Families Find Security in the Future.
There are few with the resources to be able to save up enough to provide for the long term care they may need in the future. Things like extended nursing home stays are such a huge expense that so many people would not have the financial means to pay the bills. Unfortunately, you may have some financial resources at your disposal that, while unable to sustain the payments to a nursing home facility, will still disqualify you from the receipt of Medicaid benefits. If you are one of the many who worry about the future costs of long term care, look into establishing a Medicaid trust. The Law Office of Angela Siegel will be happy to consult with you regarding any questions or concerns you may have. We are here to take care of our clients and preserve their legacy for their loved ones. Contact the Law Office of Angela Siegel today.