Later in life, your children have grown and have their own families. You may be retired or getting close and thinking about updating your estate plan. It may contain a trust to protect assets like your primary residence and other valuable property you’ve earned over a lifetime. But you’re beginning to think about what will happen to those assets if you become incapacitated and need long-term health services or end-of-life care before you die.
Do you need assistance with the high cost of health care, qualifying for government health care programs, or protecting your home and assets for you or your loved ones?
If you have found yourself asking these questions, we can provide you with a better understanding of long-term care planning.
What is Long-Term Care Planning?
Long-term care planning is a legal strategy that helps you and your family plan for the high cost of different health care services as you age. Proper long-term care planning can minimize the effect that health care costs will have on your savings and assets you may have planned to pass down to family members.
What is the Cost of Long-Term Care?
The median cost of long-term care in New York for 2023 can range from $72,820 annually for in-home care to as much as $168,444 annually for a private room in a nursing home. It can certainly be an extreme financial burden for the entire family.
Paying for Long-Term Care with Medicaid
Medicaid is a federal and state program, and the rules vary from state to state. Our attorneys understand New York’s specific Medicaid rules and can help with the complex application and approval process. Most people with assets think they can’t qualify for Medicaid and have to sell their home and spend their assets just to cover the medical costs that Medicare won’t cover. At the Meyers Law Firm, we can help you prepare and plan for the future now.
New York Medicaid Coverage
New York Medicaid gives individuals and families access to health care resources that they may not have otherwise, but specific eligibility requirements need to be met:
- Be over the age of 65; or
- Be pregnant or have a child 18 or under; or
- Be blind or disabled; or
- Have a child, parent, or spouse in your household who is blind or disabled
- Have an annual household income below a determined amount.
Medicaid planning strategies can protect your family’s savings, retirement funds, home, and legacy. Asset protection trusts are used to transfer assets and comply with Medicaid’s lookback period. Pooled trusts can protect your Social Security and pension from creditors. This ensures benefits are ready when you need them.
New York Community Medicaid Home Care Program
Medicaid home care allows home health care professionals in the community to assist older adults with activities of daily living like bathing, eating, and basic mobility. By qualifying for the Community Medicaid Home Care Program, seniors receive home health care paid for by Medicaid and save thousands of dollars per month while staying safe and comfortable at home. When preserving assets for this program, the lookback period is three years.
Meyers Law Firm can help you navigate the complexities of Medicaid and create a plan that works best for your health care needs.
Special Needs (Supplemental Needs) Planning
Special Needs planning is a legal process to protect any person or family member with a disability. Disabilities may happen at birth, in adulthood, or caused by illness or injury. Planning as soon as possible can ensure significant legal settlements, gifts, or inheritances do not jeopardize your loved one’s government benefits.
The legal strategies you should consider with special needs planning include:
- Establishing a Supplemental Needs (Special Needs) Trust enables you to set aside funds to enhance your child’s lifestyle without affecting their eligibility for government programs
- Appointing a Guardian for your loved one should something happen to you provides continued support of your child’s needs when they become an adult
Guardianship
If you’re concerned about an aging parent or disabled adult, you can ask the court to appoint a Guardian (Article 81) to make decisions for them regarding personal needs and property. Your loved one must be determined incapacitated by a medical professional and by the court. As a guardian, you may help them with:
- Making healthcare decisions
- Deciding where they should live
- Applying for their government or private benefits
- Accessing confidential records
- Paying bills
- Organizing their assets
- Entering into contracts
- Making gifts on their behalf
- Protect their assets from Creditors
Filing for a Guardianship is a complex process. At The Meyers Law Firm, we file the proper documents with the court, help you gather the required medical documents, schedule court dates, and represent you in court.
Contact us for reliable and effective legal solutions.
Glenn R. Meyers, Esq., has been practicing law for 26 years in the New York metropolitan area, including Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester Counties. The Meyers Law Firm (and its predecessors) is a family-operated firm originally established in the 1930s. We believe the firm’s success comes from respecting each client and listening carefully to their unique needs while providing reliable and effective legal solutions. Mr. Meyers and his team focus on estate planning, irrevocable trusts, revocable trusts, Last Wills and Testaments, and other aspects of elder law, including long-term care and Medicaid planning, special needs planning, and guardianship. The law firm also has a personal injury, general litigation, and Bankruptcy division.