An Estate Planning Portfolio includes important information that will help you and your family manage your estate and affairs. The following table outlines important components. Revocable Living Trust With a Revocable Living Trust, your family will avoid Living Probate, Death Probate, and can reduce or completely avoid state and federal estate taxes. Divorce Protection Trust …
Estate Planning Blog
The Complete Estate Planning Portfolio
Asset Planning Protection for Seniors
Asset protection planning is extremely important to seniors because most do not have the option of going back to work. The biggest threat to the financial security for most seniors is disability, and the need for long-term care. Planning for this risk is critical. Healthcare costs can be paid via savings and earnings, long-term-care insurance, …
Long-Term Care Planning
Everyone’s situation and priorities are different, so there is no one-size-fits all approach to long-term-care planning. You should, therefore, discuss all of this with a trusted financial advisor. When you do, use the following as a basic checklist: 1.Should I purchase long-term care insurance? And, if so, will that eliminate the need to consider MassHealth …
Irrevocable Trust Options for Long-Term Care
Income-Only Irrevocable Trust An Income-Only Irrevocable Trust has several benefits for those who are able to take advantage of them. If it’s properly arranged to meet MassHealth’s strict guidelines, assets can be protected and MassHealth benefits can be used to pay nursing and disability care. You can even transfer an interest in your home to …
Summary Table: Income and Assets as Categorized Under MassHealth
Assets Income Countable Exempt Community Spouse Exempt Institutionalized Spouse Countable Bank Deposits (Savings, Checking, Money Market, CDs) House (up to $828,000) Spouse’s Assets under CSRA (up to $119,220) Income (minus $72.80 personal needs allowance) IRA One Vehicle MMNA ($1,991.25/mo to $2,980.50/mo) Pension Annuities Funeral Social Security Assets over $2,000 $1,500 in Life Insurance VA Benefits …
MassHealth Treatment of Income
When a nursing home resident becomes eligible for MassHealth, all of his or her income, less certain deductions, is paid to the nursing home. There is a small personal needs allowance (currently $72.80) and a deduction for any uncovered medical costs (including medical insurance premiums). As you will see below, the situation is different if …
MassHealth and Your House
Up to certain limits, a nursing-home resident’s home is not counted against the asset limit for MassHealth eligibility so long as the resident intends to return home. (Although this sounds paradoxical, “intent” is actually simple to establish.) The default limit on excluding the home as a countable asset is $500,000 of home equity. Some states, …
MassHealth Treatment of Asset Transfers
There are strict rules limiting the ability of nursing home residents to transfer their assets in order to qualify for MassHealth. Some asset transfers can trigger a period of ineligibility based on the state’s average private-pay cost of nursing home care. In Massachusetts, for instance, the penalty is one month of ineligibility for every $9,300 …
MassHealth Treatment of Assets
Exempt Assets To be eligible for MassHealth, you can’t have more than $2,000 in “countable” assets in your own name. Countable assets basically include everything except for the following exempt assets: 1. Personal possessions, such as clothing, furniture, and jewelry 2. Your principal Massachusetts residence with up to $828,000 in equity 3. One vehicle, if …
Medicaid and MassHealth
If you don’t have long-term care insurance, then nursing home care is generally paid out of pocket. There are advantages to paying privately for nursing home care, especially if you are trying to enter a particular high-quality facility. But the expense is considerable – in some cases as high as $12,000 per month. Without proper …