Strategic planning to preserve your wealth and assets while qualifying for Medicaid long-term care benefits — using legal, ethical strategies tailored to your family's situation.
We offer a free initial consultation for this practice area. Contact us today.
The Cost of Long-Term Care
The cost of nursing home care in the Philadelphia region now exceeds $150,000 per year in many facilities — and it continues to rise. For most families, even a relatively modest period of care can devastate savings built over a lifetime. Medicaid provides a safety net, but eligibility requires meeting strict financial thresholds, and the program looks back five years at any asset transfers. Without proper planning, families often find themselves spending down assets that could have been preserved.
What Asset Protection Planning Does
Asset protection planning within the context of Medicaid uses legally recognized strategies to preserve assets for a surviving spouse, children, or other heirs while still allowing a loved one to qualify for Medicaid benefits. These strategies may include the use of irrevocable trusts, annuities, spousal protections, exempt asset planning, and careful structuring of transfers. Every strategy we recommend is legal, ethical, and appropriate to your specific situation.
Planning Ahead vs. Crisis Planning
The most powerful asset protection strategies require time — ideally five or more years before a Medicaid application is needed. A well-designed irrevocable trust funded today can protect a significant portion of a family's assets from future long-term care costs. But even families facing an immediate nursing home admission have options. Crisis planning — working with the rules that apply today — can still produce meaningful results. We are experienced in both.
A Note on Our Approach
We believe that asset protection planning is fundamentally about family. The assets we help protect often represent a lifetime of work, a family home, or a legacy that parents want to pass to their children. We take that responsibility seriously, and we approach every engagement with the care and attention it deserves.
Frequently Asked Questions
An irrevocable Medicaid trust — sometimes called an Irrevocable Income Only Trust — is a legal arrangement in which you transfer assets to a trust that you can no longer control or reclaim. Because the assets are no longer owned by you, they are generally not countable for Medicaid purposes after the five-year look-back period has passed. You typically retain the right to income generated by the trust assets, and the principal passes to your beneficiaries at your death. These trusts require careful drafting and must be established well in advance of the need for care.
Your primary residence is generally exempt from Medicaid's asset calculation while you are living — you do not need to sell your home to qualify for Medicaid. However, Pennsylvania's estate recovery program may seek reimbursement from your estate after your death for Medicaid benefits paid on your behalf. Proper planning — including the use of trusts and deed strategies — can protect the home for your heirs. This is one of the most important and frequently discussed aspects of Medicaid planning.
Federal law provides important protections for the spouse of a Medicaid applicant — the "community spouse" who remains at home. The community spouse is entitled to keep a protected share of the couple's combined assets, known as the Community Spouse Resource Allowance (CSRA), as well as a minimum monthly income allowance. These protections are designed to prevent spousal impoverishment. The specific amounts are adjusted annually. In some cases, we can pursue a "spousal refusal" strategy or seek a fair hearing to maximize the community spouse's protections.
No — and this is one of the most important things families need to hear. Even after a loved one has entered a nursing facility, there are often meaningful planning strategies available. The options depend on how long your loved one has been in the facility, what assets remain, and the marital status of the applicant. We regularly assist families in crisis situations and encourage you to call us as soon as possible rather than waiting.
Ready to get started?
Don't wait for a crisis. Let's talk about protecting your family's assets.