What role Medicaid plays in your estate plan.
Written by: Bonnie Klein Rhoden, Esquire
Many who come to me with questions about planning for potential incapacity do not automatically consider how governmental benefits may impact their future. Including “Medicaid Planning” in your overall plan for the future is important as it may well become a (major) factor in your care.
Planning that includes Medicaid requires you to look for ways to maximize the benefits available through the government program. Medicaid is available for those persons who have insufficient long term care insurance, who run out of savings, or who have a catastrophic illness or injury requiring more than care for elder years.
There are many considerations in planning for Medicaid and as many techniques to preserve your income, your wealth, and other assets. Many use “income reduction” techniques including the creation of special trusts known as “Qualified Income Trusts” (QIT). QITs are also known as “Miller Trusts” which comes from a court case that created authorization for this type of income preservation.
Several type of trusts fall into a category known as Special Needs Trusts which are created for you to preserve assets while avoiding a conflict with Medicaid income requirements. Special Needs Trusts can be established by you for your own care or for the care of your spouse or other family members. You may know someone with a child having special challenges. He or she may have made plans for the child’s care after their own incapacity or death. Likely that plan for a special needs child includes the use of such a trust allowing management of gifted assets, inherited assets, or income.
To use Medicaid planning in your plans for the future it is good to consider consulting with a professional experienced in the area of estate planning, elder law, or incapacity planning. For more information you may refer to this article: What Do My Clients Need to Know About Medicaid Planning (for Starters, Anyway)?, by Kyle Krull, published in the magazine ‘Wealth Management’, edition: October 7, 2015.
Contact Attorney Bonnie Rhoden or Attorney Barton Hogreve for a complimentary initial consultation to discuss how Medicaid may play a role in your future or that of your loved ones. Offices in Cocoa Village and Melbourne. 321-631-0506 or use the contact form at the top of this page.
