Nursing home care averages $15,000 a month, and without proper planning, your home and savings are exposed. Most families find out too late that gifting assets to kids or grandkids can actually disqualify you from the Medicaid long term care benefit and put your house at risk. This episode breaks down exactly how that happens, what the five year look back really means, and the specific trust strategy that can protect everything you have worked for.
Michael Rutkowski is an estate planning and elder law attorney with over 20 years of experience, and On the Record is where he teaches this stuff in plain English. In this episode, he walks through the three things you need to qualify for Medicaid long term care, the asset thresholds for married couples and single individuals, and how a Medicaid Asset Protection Trust protects your home, retirement accounts, and savings if set up at least five years in advance. Whether you are planning ahead or watching a parent's health decline, this is the episode to watch before you make a costly mistake.
Chapters:
(00:00) Introduction
(00:46) How DIY Medicaid Planning Backfires
(02:30) The Five Year Look Back Explained
(04:07) Pre-Planning vs Crisis Planning
(06:35) Planning Ahead: What It Looks Like
(07:53) The Three Prong Medicaid Qualification Test
(09:30) Asset Thresholds and the MAPT
(11:46) Why You Need to Act Now
Michael explains you can protect 100% of assets with five years of planning. Have you implemented any of these strategies yet? Comment below.
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