Medicaid Planning: Protection of Home & Irrevocable Trust Another method of protecting the home from estate recovery is to transfer it to an irrevocable trust.  Trusts provide more flexibility than life estates but are somewhat more complicated. Once the house is in the irrevocable trust, it cannot be taken out again.  Although it can be […]

Medicaid Planning & Testamentary Trusts Testamentary trusts are trusts created under a will.  The Medicaid rules provide a special “safe harbor” for testamentary trusts created by a deceased spouse for the benefit of a surviving spouse.  The assets of these trusts are treated as available to the Medicaid applicant only to the extent that the […]

Medicaid Planning & Income-Only Trusts An “irrevocable” trust, on the other hand, is one that cannot be changed after it has been created. In most cases, this type of trust is drafted so that the income is payable to you (the person establishing the trust, called the “grantor”) for life, and the principal cannot be […]

Medicaid Planning & Supplemental Needs Trusts The Medicaid rules also have certain exceptions for transfers for the sole benefit of disabled people under age 65.  Even after moving to a nursing home, if you have a child, other relative, or even a friend who is under age 65 and disabled, you can transfer assets into […]