Yesterday, I met with couple facing a difficult situation. The husband, in his 50’s, was recently diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s. This harsh news forced the family to evaluate their plans for the future. With such an early diagnosis, both spouses fear that as the husband’s condition worsens, he could be forced to enter a long term care facility for a period that could easily extend 5 to 10 years or more. Under such a scenario, the family would be forced to spend down the majority of their assets on the nursing home before the husband could qualify for aid to pay for long-term care.
To solve this problem, we are creating an irrevocable trust for the family. They will place their home, brokerage accounts, annuities and cash savings into this trust. By doing this, they set those assets aside and prevent the need to spend down those assets on the cost of long-term care in the future. The fact that they got this diagnosis early, means that they have time to plan. To gain full protection of assets placed in a Medicaid Trust, those assets need to be in trust for at least 5 years prior to needing long-term care. Because of the early diagnosis, this couple is confident that the husband will be able to stay out of the nursing home for at least five years. They are relieved to know that all the assets placed in their trust will be protected from Nursing Home Spend Down.
Life can throw us curve balls, but fortunately with the proper Louisiana Estate Planning in place you can avoid losing your life savings to a long nursing home stay. To figure out the best way to protect your assets from long term care costs, call (504) 274-1980 in the Metairie and New Orleans Area or call (985) 246-3020 in Mandeville, Covington, Slidell, Houma, Thibodaux, and surrounding areas.