No, provided you qualify for Medicaid benefits when your funds are gone. That won’t happen if you give away your home or money without proper guidance from an elder law attorney. Medicaid benefits will also be denied and your spouse and children put at risk if an application is not properly documented.
Many people who apply for Medicaid benefits to pay for nursing home care ask this question. For many, the home constitutes much or most of their life savings. Often, it’s the only asset that a person has to pass on to his or her children. Under Medicaid regulations, the home is an excluded resource unless
Older Americans with a life insurance policy that they no longer need have the option to sell the policy to investors. These transactions, called "life settlements," can bring in needed cash, but are they a good idea? If your children are grown and your mortgage paid off, you may decide that there is no longer
We’ve all heard that it’s better to give than to receive, but if you think you might someday want to apply for Medicaid long-term care benefits, you need to be careful because giving away money or property can interfere with your eligibility. Under federal Medicaid law, if you transfer certain assets within five years before
No one wants to face the fact that our loved ones will not be with us forever. Facing our own mortality is frightening as well. Although none of us wants to contemplate a time when we or a loved one might become disabled or die, it is important to be prepared. There are many steps
Movies, television, and books like to present wills in dramatic ways--handwritten notes, videos, deathbed utterances--but what actually makes a will & testament valid? The main difference between a will & testament is the "will" focuses on real property while the "testament" is meant for personal properties like household goods, monies or vehicles. The law varies
If you have been appointed the trustee of a trust, it is a strong vote of confidence in your judgment and trustworthiness. It is also a major responsibility. A trust is a legal arrangement through which one person (or an institution, such as a bank or law firm), called a "trustee," holds legal title to
Siblings do not always receive equal shares of a parent's estate. Sometimes the inequality is intentional and sometimes it is accidental. Regardless of how it happens, it can cause arguments among the children. However, there are some steps parents can take to promote family harmony. If you do not intend to leave your children unequal
Federal law requires that beginning on April 1 of the year after you reach age 70 1/2, you must begin withdrawing a minimum amount "retirement account distribution" from your non-Roth individual retirement account (IRA) or 401(k) accounts. These withdrawals are called required minimum distributions (RMDs). But what if you die after age 70 1/2 and
It is a very good idea to create advance directives in order to plan for the possibility that you may one day be unable to make your own medical decisions. In doing so, there can be confusion about the difference between a living will and a "do-not-resuscitate" order (DNR).
