Bonita Springs Medicaid Planning Checklist
Medicaid planning is not something that starts the moment you decide that you or a loved one need to go into an assisted living facility. It is a process that should start years before that. It should include regular updates to reflect changes in your life. The residents of Bonita Springs have some very comfortable assisted living facilities to choose from. Every Bonita Springs resident needs to utilize a Medicaid planning checklist. This will make sure they get the assisted living facility of their choice.
Find A Good Attorney
The first step on a Medicaid planning checklist should be to find and hire an experienced Medicaid crisis and non-crisis planning attorney. There are many rules associated with applying for Medicaid, and the planning process is not something that you should do without the help of an experienced professional.
Gifting Penalties
Some people try to keep assets such as homes and cars in their family by gifting them to their children before they apply for Medicaid. Activities such as transferring real estate to a child or transferring large sums of money to a child can result in a penalty periodfor Medicaid approval. It is important to understand this period is not necessarily five years. It can at times be a shorter period of time.
Gifting That Is Allowed
There are some forms of gifting that Medicaid will allow such as transferring a home to a disabled child, or transferring ownership of a home to a sibling who has equal financial interest in the home. Transferring funds to a trust established for a disabled dependent is also allowed by Medicaid in some circumstances.
Actions To Help Prevent Estate Recovery
Estate recovery is a process Medicaid uses to seize your assets when Medicaid looks back at your financial transactions from the last five years and discovers issues. Your Medicaid planning checklist should include activities to offset estate recovery such as:
- Funding a irrevocable trust
- Gifting a house to a disabled dependent
- Gifting a house to a child five years prior to Medicaid application
- Buy a new home as joint owner with child that includes a right of survivorship
These actions can help to make some of your more substantial assets untouchable by Medicaid during the estate recovery process.
It takes an experienced attorney to help you develop and complete a comprehensive Medicaid planning check list. The Mattar Firm has years of experience in crisis and non-crisis Medicaid planning. We understand the laws and we know exactly what can be done to preserve your assets for your future generations. Instead of risking your assets by trying to do your Medicaid planning on your own, you should contact one of our experienced medicaid planning attorneys today.