Planning for your family’s future.
Medicaid & Elder Law
As you and your loved ones age, planning for long-term care and financial security becomes more important than ever. Medicaid and elder law focus on protecting your assets, ensuring access to healthcare, and preparing for the future—critical steps in securing your family’s well-being.
Why Medicaid and Elder Law Matter:
Protect Your Assets
Medicaid planning helps safeguard your hard-earned assets from being depleted by the high costs of long-term care. With proper planning, you can ensure that you or your loved ones qualify for Medicaid benefits while preserving assets for future generations.Access to Long-Term Care
Nursing home and long-term care costs can be overwhelming. Medicaid is one of the primary ways to cover these expenses. Elder law attorneys can help you navigate the complex rules and eligibility requirements to ensure you receive the care you need without exhausting your savings.Guardianship and Powers of Attorney
Elder law also covers important decisions about who will manage your affairs if you become incapacitated. With legal tools like powers of attorney and guardianship, you can designate trusted individuals to handle your healthcare and financial decisions when you're no longer able to do so.Ensure a Smooth Transition
As your family ages, having a plan in place ensures a smoother transition for both healthcare and finances. Medicaid and elder law focus on giving you peace of mind, knowing that your loved ones will be taken care of and your assets protected.
At Ortego Law Firm, PLLC we work in Medicaid and elder law planning, providing compassionate legal guidance for aging individuals and their families. Our team is here to help you navigate the complexities of elder care, ensuring that your family is well-prepared for the future.
What it is: Many families use the benefits offered by Medicaid for nursing home care rather than paying privately.
Quick Breakdown of Service
Who needs it most: Anyone over age 65 years old should consider consulting an elder law attorney about the options for Medicaid planning to protect assets. Emergency Medicaid planning is needed for people facing nursing home care in the near future or already residing in a nursing home who want to qualify for Medicaid.
Why it’s necessary: There are many misunderstandings about the Medicaid program. With assistance from an attorney experienced in this area, you may qualify for Medicaid without a complete spend down of all resources in most cases. There are significant benefits to Medicaid planning that can help you preserve assets for your spouse or children.
Our Medicaid & Elder Law Services
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We assist our clients with Medicaid Planning in near term or emergency contexts so that they execute a strategy to get the most out of non-countable assets for Medicaid purposes and qualify even when their income is over the income threshold for Medicaid.
Our planning process involves a thorough review of the client’s assets, detailed recommendations to qualify for Medicaid, and preparation of the Medicaid application. We also assist clients with Medicaid appeals if we have prepared the initial application.
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Medicaid has a 60 month (5 year) look back period. If you have transferred property for less than fair market value or given away property in the five years before you apply for Medicaid, then those transfers are considered penalized transfers and a formula is applied to determine how long the Medicaid applicant must pay out of pocket before they will qualify for Medicaid.
Some of our clients plan in advance by creating a Medicaid Asset Protection Trust and transferring some or all of their countable assets into the trust far in advance of applying for Medicaid. The trust is a separate entity from the client and the trustee of the trust will be a trusted family member or professional trustee. Later when the client applies for Medicaid, they can qualify without having to pay the nursing home out of pocket until they have no countable assets.
FAQs
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If you give your child all your property or sell it to them for less than fair market value, then this is considered a penalized transfer if it occurs in the five years before applying for Medicaid. This is not an asset preservation strategy when qualifying for Medicaid.
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No. Your home (equity up to a value of $713,000 in 2024) is a noncountable asset for Medicaid purposes. There are many other noncountable or excluded assets when it comes to qualifying for Medicaid. We help our clients determine how to qualify for Medicaid in a way that preserves assets for themselves and their families.
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A properly drafted and administered Qualified Income Trust (also called Miller Trust) can be used to allow a person to qualify for Medicaid when they are over the Medicaid income threshold.
How to get started.
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Complete Our Online Intake Form
Get started from the comfort of your home by filling out our easy-to-use online intake form. This helps us gather important details about your situation, so we can hit the ground running when we meet.
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Call Us Directly
Prefer to talk? We’re just a phone call or email away. Reach out to us with your questions or concerns, and one of our friendly team members will guide you through the next steps in protecting your assets and family.