Long-term care involves not only a loss of personal autonomy; it also comes at a tremendous financial price. Proper planning can help your family prepare for the financial toll and protect assets for future generations.

Long-term care can be very expensive, especially around-the-clock nursing home care. Most people end up paying for nursing home care out of their savings until they run out, at which point they can qualify for Medicaid to pick up the cost.

Medicaid rules require that recipients have no more than $2,000 in “countable” assets in New Jersey and $15,900 in New York and limited income. Any excess assets need to be spent down before you can qualify for Medicaid. In addition, in order to be eligible for Medicaid, you cannot have recently transferred assets. If you transfer assets within five years of applying for Medicaid, you may be subject to a penalty period during which you cannot receive benefits. After you die, Medicaid also has the right to recover from any assets in your estate.

Careful planning in advance can help protect your estate for your spouse or children. If you make a plan before you need long-term care, you may have the luxury of distributing or protecting your assets in advance. This way, when you do need long-term care, you will quickly qualify for Medicaid benefits. The following are some tools that can be used in an estate plan to prepare for Medicaid:

  • Trusts. One of most important estate planning tools you can use is an “irrevocable” trust — a trust that cannot be changed after it has been created. After death the principal is paid to your heirs in accordance with your instructions. This way, the funds in the trust are protected. For Medicaid purposes, the principal in such trusts is not counted as a resource, provided the trustee cannot pay it to you or your spouse for either of your benefits. And to avoid Medicaid’s applicable “look-back period,” the trust must be funded five years in advance (or a shorter term – up to three years – to access New York Community Medicaid) before applying for benefits.
  • Protecting your home. After a Medicaid recipient dies, the state must attempt to recoup from his or her estate whatever benefits it paid for the recipient’s care. This is called “estate recovery.” For many Medicaid recipients, their house is the only asset available, but there are steps you can take to protect your home. Putting your house in a trust can be a good option. Another option is a life estate, which is a form of joint ownership of property between two or more people. They each have an ownership interest in the property, but for different periods of time. The person holding the life estate possesses the property currently and for the rest of his or her life. The other owner has a current ownership interest but cannot take possession until the end of the life estate, which occurs at the death of the life estate holder.

Talk to your attorney about whether your estate plan should include preparation for possible Medicaid eligibility.