If you don't know where you are going, you might end up some place else. - Yogi Berra
Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania, United States
Family Asset protection Planning
Asset protection planning involves a series of legal and lawful techniques to preserve your savings and investments. By planning early, clients move assets that would be subject to future creditors’ claims, referred to as nonexempt assets, repositioning them as assets which are out of reach, called exempt assets, to creditors. In this manner you can preserve your hard-earned money from uninsured medical expenses, long-term care facilities, lawsuits, foreclosure actions and the like.
To be done properly it truly requires early planning. Consider starting now.
We help people to ethically and legally convert available or “countable” assets into unreachable “non-countable” assets. One of the main reasons to do an asset protection plan is for long-term care planning so that clients can avoid losing assets while still qualifying for Medicaid but also, when done early families can protect their assets generally from medical expenses, lawsuits, etc.
Long Term Care Planning
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services two-thirds of people 65 or older will someday need long-term care assistance either at home, in an assisted living type facility, or in a skilled nursing home. Over 40 percent will need care in an expensive nursing home for at least some period of time. Currently the average monthly cost of a semi-private nursing home room in PA is over $9,000. Care at home is also expensive – with a $4,109 average monthly cost for a home health aide.
Medicaid does pay those facilities willing to accept government benefits if one qualifies. Regrettably, Pennsylvania has a strict payback program directed against the estate once the individual dies. Unless assets, or even just the family home, are placed in the appropriate trust Medicaid and force the sale of the residence, under certain circumstances, as well as other assets. Gifting to children can result in your children becoming liable to payback Medicaid for the cost of your care.
Talk to us about a home protection trust
You may have heard of the Medicaid 5-year look-back period, meaning in the 5 years prior to making an application for benefits, did the applicant gift countable assets and if so, there may be a delay in qualifying, called a penalty period. The cost of nursing homes and assisted living facilities are too much for many to pay without outliving their savings. Many people who haven’t planned spend all of their savings in nursing homes and then have nothing left. Not a very good option!
If you need the help, we can guide you through the process. With experience and care, we have put together a system that makes a tremendous difference in people’s lives. To learn more and to see if our planning is right for you, set an initial consultation. When you call the office, you will be told what to expect and you will then shortly receive more information in the mail in advance of your meeting.
