Everyone knows that nursing home care in Rochester is very expensive, but when family and home health care aides are unable to provide a loved one with the care they require, it can become necessary to find a residential solution. At Friedman & Ranzenhofer, our Rochester nursing home planning lawyers provide seniors and their loved ones with financial planning options that can make nursing home care easily affordable with some help from Medicaid. Here is what you should know about nursing home planning.
Nursing Home Planning | Medicaid’s 5-Year “Look Back” Period
As part of Medicaid’s nursing home care eligibility review, the last five years of your financial life will be examined, including transfers of cash or assets made to anyone other than your spouse. If making a large gift to a child or loved one during the five-year period when applying for nursing home care, Medicaid will calculate a no-payment period which will reflect the amount of the transfer. Medicaid will divide the average cost of nursing home care in Rochester, to determine a length of time in which benefits will not be paid.
Nursing Home Planning | Pooled Income Trust
Some of the most significant financial tools available to you for Medicaid and nursing home planning are trusts. Trusts are legal entities which you can transfer assets or cash into. If you were to transfer a high-value asset like a piece of property or home into a trust, you will no longer be the legal owner. Trust documents will designate who the trustee will be (often an adult child) and lay out the rules of how they must manage the trust.
Another type of trust, which is a pooled income trust, was created to lower your income to eligible levels, all while paying expenses, preserving your earnings, and keeping your extra income available to be passed on to your heirs. Our Rochester Nursing Home Attorneys can help guide you through many ethical, and legal ways to protect yourself and all that you’ve worked for. When it’s time to think about long term care in a nursing home in Rochester, contact one of our experienced Rochester nursing home planning lawyers at Friedman & Ranzenhofer.
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