Irrevocable Trusts and Medicaid Planning

LONG TERM CARE OR MEDICAID PLANNING

Long term care planning, also called Medicaid planning, involves the protection of assets from potential nursing home expenses.  The most common vehicle for this type of protection is the irrevocable trust.  The best time to consider Medicaid planning is at least 5 years prior to nursing home admission.  While no one has a crystal ball to make the 5 year determination, we typically assist clients in their late 60s or early 70s with long term care planning through the use of irrevocable trusts.  Irrevocable trusts are never truly irrevocable, as New York law allows an irrevocable trust to be changed or terminated with the written consent of those beneficially interested in the trust (the creator of the trust and the beneficiaries).

Crisis planning is also available when a person has not adequately planned more than 5 years prior to a nursing home admission.  Even after a person has been admitted to a nursing home, there is a strategy that allows us to save approximately ½ of a person's assets from the nursing home cost. This strategy can only be implemented after a nursing home admission; and takes into consideration the private pay rate of the facility, the person's fixed income (Social Security, pension and retirement account required minimum distributions), as well as any gifts made within the 5 prior years.