Experienced Clearwater elder Law attorney

(727) 586-4224

Elder Law & Special Needs Planning

Nursing home planning Clearwater

Is your parent, spouse or other loved one been told they are going to need nursing home care? Do you feel overwhelmed and scared by the process? Are you worried about how you are going to pay for a nursing home or how you are going to take care of your loved one? Stop losing sleep over it and call us. We can help!

Protect your hard-earned assets from escalating nursing home cost. The cost of a nursing home can more than $8,000 a month. In order to qualify for Florida's long term care Medicaid also known as Florida nursing home Medicaid, a single person can only have $2,000 in countable resources. If a couple both require nursing home assistance, they can only have $3,000 between them. Good planning may be able to help preserve a substantial amount of your life savings. In most situations you can protect 50-70% of assets and for those who plan early, we can come close to 100% protection. It obviously depends on individual facts and circumstances.

Don't worry, we can protect your most important asset. We can protect the family home from being "taken" by the State. Many people think that if they receive Florida nursing home Medicaid that the nursing home will get their house or that they will have to sell it to pay their bill. Generally, a person's home is exempt from the calculations of assets in determining Florida nursing home Medicaid Eligibility. Florida also allows a person's homestead property to pass to blood relatives free of creditors in probate. If you are on Medicaid in Florida, then Medicaid would be a creditor. Don't despair, there are even ways to title property so that you can leave your house to a non-blood relative.

Keep your plan up to date. Estate plans change when people start talking about nursing home planning. Most married clients have everything tilted in both their names. People tend to think the spouse in the nursing home will always die first. Unfortunately, life rarely works out exactly how we expect it. Under a typical estate plan, all of the assets would then be in the name of the nursing home spouse, aka as the institutionalized spouse in Florida. If planned correctly, and the healthy spouses passes first, we can set things up so that assets pass to a special type of trust that allows the assets to be used to benefit the nursing home spouse, however not be countable as an asset toward Florida nursing home Medicaid. If not needed by the nursing home spouse, the assets can ultimately be left to their children or other intended beneficiaries.

Protect something for you or your children. Our clients have worked very hard all their life, paid taxes and have done well to accumulate a little something. Many desperately want to leave something for their children. In most situations we can help accomplish this goal, however attempting this without a qualified elder law attorney might result in the exploitation of the individual or cause them to become ineligible for Florida nursing home Medicaid. We can help in a way that protects everyone.

We can go over some of the strategies that families may use to protect themselves and their loved ones. If you'd like to discuss how this time of planning benefit you and your family in greater detail, please give us a call. We'd be happy to set up an appointment when we can get together and answer any questions you might have.

Making informed decisions may become more difficult or even impossible over time. The longer you wait, the greater the risk becomes. With proper training, you will ensure that you've take the best steps possible to protect your loved ones and your family's financial security. Do it before it's too late!

If you would like the guidance of an Clearwater elder law attorney who has dealt with these issues personally and has helped many Florida families successfully plan for Florida's nursing home Medicaid, please call today. (727) 586-4224

The Parri Law Farm