Practice
Medicaid and long-term care planning
Long-term care can use up a lifetime of savings in a few years. Planning, early or even late, protects what the law allows.
Medicaid pays for nursing home care once a person's countable assets are below a low limit, and it looks back five years at what they gave away. The rules are strict, but they also protect a spouse who stays at home, and they allow some planning even after a parent has moved into care.
We look at everything your parent owns, explain which parts count, and prepare a plan and the application. Where a parent can no longer sign, we start with the power of attorney, or, if there isn't one, a guardianship.
Where we help
Planning before care is needed
Protecting a spouse who stays at home
The Medicaid application and its paperwork
Durable powers of attorney and health care directives
Guardianship and conservatorship when there is no power of attorney
Questions about long-term care
Is it too late if Mom is already in a nursing home?
Often it isn't. Some planning is still possible after admission, especially when there is a spouse at home. Call before you spend down or sell the house.
Will the state take the house?
Not while your parent or a spouse lives there, in most cases. After death the state may seek repayment from the estate, and planning can sometimes reduce that.
Can my parent just give everything to us?
Gifts made within five years of applying can delay Medicaid coverage for months. That's why we review gifts before anyone makes them.
Planning for a parent's care
Bring the latest statements and the deed if you have them. We'll tell you where your family stands.