The time may come in your life when you need long term care. Whether from a prolonged illness or condition, an unfortunate diagnosis, or simply old age, you may find yourself incapable of performing normal activities of daily living. Or you may need special medical attention to mitigate symptoms of a chronic illness or other condition.
Not many people can afford a full-time nurse or doctor on staff. Most people who find themselves seeking permanent, full time care — from either skilled nursing facilities or from home health agencies — are not able to afford such care. At least not for very long.
To pay for full time, around the clock medical care can cost tens of thousands of dollars per month, and hundreds of thousands per year. With the exception of the ultra wealthy, most will need the benefit of specialized insurance and government subsidies.
The problem is that unless you are completely free of any assets, the government will not offer their assistance to you. You must first spend – or bleed – your entire estate, everything you’ve ever accumulated and intended to pass on to your children, before the government will pay for your medical care through Medicaid.
Most people do not like the idea of having to sell their house and all of their assets to pay for medical care, only to find out that it barely paid for one year! Now they can qualify, but they have nothing left of their legacy to pass on to their heirs. What’s more frustrating is that they may need long term care for a decade or more, but they had to spend their entire life’s savings to cover a small portion of medical care that the Federal government could have paid for, since they are paying for the rest of it anyway.
If you want to avoid this situation, you have come to the right place. I am an attorney who creates special trust documents for the specific purpose of avoiding the situation described above: having to sell everything just to get medical coverage when you are old.
Keep reading and I’ll explain how I help individuals just like you protect their assets – and still qualify for Medicaid.
Oklahoma limits seniors access to Medicaid benefits if they have assets exceeding $2,000
In Oklahoma, an adult wanting to qualify for Medicaid must meet certain eligibility requirements. For those wanting to qualify as Seniors, they must be at least 65 years of age and also meet certain income and asset requirements.
Seniors seeking Medicaid eligibility cannot earn more than $2,829 per month, if they are single, or $5,658/month if they are married. Furthermore, they cannot own more than $2,000 in assets, if they are single, or $4,000 if they are married.
If only one spouse is seeking Medicaid, not only must they meet the $2,000 asset limit, their spouse cannot own more than $154,140 in assets.
Oklahoma seniors that own assets above these limits will have to spend down their estate before qualifying for Medicaid. You cannot just give these assets away, either. Transfers for less than market value will be voided and disqualify you from Medicaid.
You must rid your estate of this money. If you sell assets for market value, the money must be spent. Or Medicaid will take it from you.
Why your typical family trust will not work
Many families in Oklahoma create trusts to place their houses and other assets into. They do this to avoid probate, for a seamless succession of their estate to their children or spouses. But most trusts created for this purpose will not protect the estate from a Medicaid “claw back” upon death.
The reason is that most estate planning attorneys set up trusts to be “revocable.” And for good reason. As the created of a trust, you want to have the freedom and power to change your trust over time; to add or subtract assets from it; to control the administration of those assets; and to add, subtract, or change beneficiary designations or inheritances. You want flexibility, and that is totally fine.
But that flexibility and authority is also what makes the trust not a good shield against Medicaid. If you can still control the trust, then you are still in control of the money and Medicaid will seek to take it from you.
The good news is that there is a way to prevent Medicaid from accessing your assets, and my office can create this special type of trust for you.
How to create a trust that protects your assets from Medicaid
You can protect your assets from Medicaid by creating a special type of trust, that we refer to as a “Medicaid Asset Protection Trust.” Assets placed into this type of trust cannot be accessed by Medicaid, neither during your lifetime nor after you pass. Your family may enjoy and use these assets during your life time and after. You, too, may enjoy these assets during your lifetime while receiving Medicaid assistance.
The key is specifically setting up the right type of trust specifically designed to protect assets from Medicaid. This is something that I can help you with. And something I look forward to doing for all families that pass through my office. This is so important, but so often overlooked by too many Oklahoma seniors.
But now that you know, you should contact my office to get started on a Medicaid Asset Protection Trust.
When is the best time to create a Medicaid Asset Protection Trust?
You should create your Medicaid Asset Protection Trust at least five years before you will need Sooner Care, aka Medicaid, benefits. This would include the Advantage Waiver Program as well as the Program for All Inclusive Care (PACE) administered by DHS. The reason for this time line is because Medicaid has a “look-back” period of five years. Meaning, they can actually look at all of your financial transactions and determine if you had disqualifying wealth, income, or assets during the last five years.
Further, they can even void sales or transfers of certain assets and find you should have earned income even if you didn’t. This power prevents you from being able to gift your property away to your children prior to applying for Medicaid. Therefore, the only rock solid, bulletproof solution is to create a special type of trust specifically designed to protect your assets from Medicaid.
Contact Trust Attorney Travis C. Smith to create your asset protection trust today
If you are interested in protecting your assets with specially designed trusts, contact our office today to schedule a consultation. During the consultation, we will review your assets and discuss your anticipated time lines for eventually needing Medicaid. From there, we will begin the process of compiling your trust and directing your on how to begin transferring your assets into the trust.
Call our office at 405-607-7799 or send us an email to get started.