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Jones Elder Law
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When your parent or loved one needs nursing home care

Help protect a parent’s assets during a Missouri Medicaid crisis.

Your family does not have to figure out nursing home Medicaid alone. Adult children are often expected to make urgent financial, legal, and care decisions with little guidance. A coordinated plan can protect the person needing care, protect available assets, prevent costly mistakes, and give the family a clear path to Medicaid eligibility.

The short answer

Can an adult child handle this for a parent? Often, yes, if the parent can still understand and sign legal documents, or a valid financial power of attorney gives the child enough authority. Many traditional estate planning powers of attorney do not include the powers an asset protection plan needs. Jones Elder Law uses an enhanced power of attorney, and we review any existing document before money moves.

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Before moving money or changing a deed, find out who can act and review the Medicaid consequences. The first call is complimentary. Rosalind M. Robertson, an elder law attorney, takes it herself, and our goal is to return every request within one business day.

20+ yearsfocused on elder law and Medicaid planning
1,000+ mattersplanning, implementation, and application experience
Attorney ledfrom the first conversation through determination
★★★★★ 5.0 on Googlefrom 49 client reviews
Rated Superb on AvvoStephen C. Jones, 9.9 · Rosalind M. Robertson, 9.5
Endorsed by fellow elder law attorneysPeer endorsements on both attorneys’ Avvo profiles

Before the family takes action

Good intentions can still cause expensive Medicaid problems.

Families often act quickly because the nursing home bill has started and someone has to take responsibility. The safest first step is to slow down long enough to find out who has authority, what has already happened, and which assets and planning options remain.

01Confirm who can actReview powers of attorney, trusts, conservatorship orders, account ownership, and the parent’s ability to make decisions. A child’s relationship to a parent does not automatically give legal authority.
02Identify every assetGather bank and investment accounts, retirement assets, annuities, real estate, vehicles, insurance, business interests, and income. A plan cannot protect assets the family has not identified.
03Find prior transfersList gifts, checks to children, deed changes, joint accounts, caregiver payments, and property sold below value during the five year lookback. Review them promptly and line up the response with the application date and any deadline.
04Coordinate the familyDecide who will gather records, talk with the nursing home, carry out transactions, and work with the attorneys. Clear roles reduce delay, conflict, and duplicated effort.

The most dangerous assumption

“I have power of attorney, so I can do whatever is needed.”

A financial power of attorney does not give unlimited authority. Many traditional estate planning powers of attorney limit gifts to a small annual amount and leave out the powers an asset protection plan needs, such as changing beneficiary designations, entering a caregiver agreement, stating an intent to return home, or creating trusts. That is why Jones Elder Law uses an enhanced power of attorney, which we also offer to new clients in crisis planning.

If your parent can still understand and sign legal documents, we can often put an enhanced power of attorney in place, even in a crisis. If your parent cannot, we start by reviewing exactly what the existing document allows and what else can lawfully be done.

We review the legal authority first, then build the protection strategy around what can lawfully be completed.

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A complete family solution

The Family Asset Protection Plan™ turns a confusing crisis into a defined course of action.

The plan is for families helping a parent or loved one who cannot manage the Medicaid process alone. It brings the legal, financial, family, and application decisions into one organized strategy. If your loved one has already been admitted, start with what to do when someone is already in a nursing home.

Without a coordinated plan

The family reacts one decision at a time

One child talks with the nursing home, another moves money, and someone files an application before the whole situation has been reviewed. Each step may seem reasonable alone while creating a larger problem.

  • ✓Authority under the power of attorney is assumed, not confirmed
  • ✓Gifts or account changes create an unexpected penalty period
  • ✓Assets are spent that could have been protected
  • ✓Siblings get different information and conflict grows
  • ✓The application is filed before the plan is ready
  • ✓The family answers the state without legal guidance

With the Family Asset Protection Plan™

Every decision supports the intended result

Jones Elder Law determines who can act, what can be protected, how past transactions affect eligibility, and how the transactions and the Medicaid application must fit together. The strategy depends on whether the person needing care has a spouse who stays at home or needs single or widowed applicant planning.

  • ✓Confirm the legal authority of the person acting
  • ✓Build a full picture of assets, income, care costs, and transfers
  • ✓Choose the right married or individual protection strategy
  • ✓Assign clear tasks with step by step instructions
  • ✓Complete the plan in the right order
  • ✓Prepare, file, and manage the application through the decision

What family protection looks like

One plan. Clear roles. No guessing.

Consider an adult daughter helping her widowed mother after an unexpected nursing home admission. Her mother owns a home, bank and investment accounts, and an annuity. A brother received money earlier to help with a personal expense, and the daughter has a power of attorney but does not know what it allows.

A prompt review of the legal documents and the earlier transfer, timed with the Medicaid application date, answers the key questions. What can be protected? Does the home or any other asset need action? How will the mother’s care be paid for during any penalty period? Which documents and transactions must be completed? That review should come before the family follows generic instructions to spend down for Missouri Medicaid.

A complete plan gives the daughter precise instructions, protects her mother from avoidable losses, and keeps the family working toward the same Medicaid result.

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Issues that deserve special attention

Family arrangements must be documented, fair, and built into the Medicaid strategy.

Medicaid reviews financial activity, not the family’s intentions. Transactions that feel ordinary inside a family can be treated very differently during an application.

Care provided by family

Caregiver agreements

A child may spend a great deal of time helping a parent, but payment for that work should not be informal. A written agreement, reasonable pay, records of the services, and timely payment help separate real care expenses from gifts.

  • ✓Agreement signed before future services
  • ✓Duties and pay clearly stated
  • ✓Time and services documented
  • ✓Payments coordinated with the Medicaid plan

Money or property already transferred

Prior gifts and family loans

A check, deed change, forgiven debt, or sale below market value may create a penalty period. The family should disclose every transfer, so we can decide whether it was exempt, can be corrected, or must be handled in the plan.

  • ✓Review the full five year lookback
  • ✓Identify documents and bank records
  • ✓Evaluate returning transferred assets
  • ✓Plan for any remaining penalty period

Protecting the vulnerable person

Family roles and safeguards

The plan should protect the person needing care while giving the responsible family members enough authority and information to act. When family members disagree, written roles and careful records matter even more.

  • ✓Identify the decision maker
  • ✓Define each family member’s tasks
  • ✓Keep complete financial records
  • ✓Reduce confusion and future disputes

From family crisis through the Medicaid decision

We give the family a complete plan and stay involved while it is carried out.

Here is how the work is organized, so you always know what happens next and who is doing it.

1

Call an attorney

Rosalind M. Robertson learns who needs care, who is helping, what has happened, and the broad financial picture.

2

Hold every transfer

The family pauses gifts, deed changes, and large withdrawals until the facts are reviewed.

3

Vision Meeting

Stephen C. Jones explains the strategy, the family’s roles, the expected result, the timing, the work, and the fixed fee.

4

Plan and carry out

We prepare the legal documents, deal with prior transfers, and give the family exact instructions for each step.

5

File and follow through

We prepare and file the application, answer the state’s requests, and advocate until a decision is made.

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Give the family a clear starting point

Choose one person to organize the records and questions.

Collect the existing legal documents, care bills, account statements, and agency letters in one place. Work out who has legal authority to act and which decisions need the parent’s participation. A shared list of deadlines and open questions helps everyone work from the same facts, without uncoordinated transfers or promises.

What families say

In their own words.

“When Dad could no longer remain at home, I was trying to find a nursing home, manage his finances, and understand Medicaid all at once. Jones Elder Law gave us a clear plan and handled the legal and Medicaid work that I did not know how to manage. They took an overwhelming situation and made it manageable.”

Susan, Jones Elder Law client

“The planning was not simply about preserving an inheritance. It meant that money remained available for the things Mom might need that Medicaid would not provide. Jones Elder Law helped us protect her comfort, choices, and dignity while she received nursing-home care.”

Charles, Jones Elder Law client

“Stephen took the time to understand our family, our finances, and what we wanted to protect. He explained the recommended plan in language we could understand and answered every question we raised. We hired Jones Elder Law because we trusted that they knew exactly how to handle our situation.”

Randy, Jones Elder Law client

Testimonials reflect the experiences of individual clients. Every matter is different, and past results do not guarantee a particular outcome.

Questions from adult children and families

Clear answers before the family makes an important financial decision.

Often, yes, if the parent can still understand and sign legal documents, or a valid financial power of attorney gives the child enough authority. Many traditional estate planning powers of attorney limit gifts to a small annual amount and do not include the powers a protection plan needs. Jones Elder Law uses an enhanced power of attorney so those powers are present, and we review any existing document before a transaction is made.

A traditional estate planning power of attorney is written for everyday money management. It often limits gifts to the annual gift tax exclusion, currently $19,000 per person, or to things like education. That is rarely enough for asset protection. It also usually does not allow the agent to move assets to himself or herself. Under Missouri law, an agent needs written authority to make gifts, and a gift to the agent is self-dealing unless the document specifically allows it.

Jones Elder Law uses an enhanced elder law power of attorney that gives the agent the powers a protection plan can require. These include making larger gifts, transferring assets to the agent when specifically authorized, changing beneficiary designations, entering caregiver agreements, stating the parent’s intent to return home, and creating trusts, including OBRA 93 trusts. We also offer it to new clients when we are doing crisis planning, as long as the parent can still understand and sign it.

Not necessarily. The law looks at your parent’s ability on the day the document is signed, not at the diagnosis. In general, a person needs to understand what the document does and what it means for them. A person can have some memory loss or other cognitive impairment and still be able to sign. Being able to manage a checkbook and being able to understand a legal document are not the same thing. Many people with early or moderate memory problems can still sign, especially on a good day.

Do not assume it is too late. When the documents are signed, the attorney, the witnesses, and the notary attest that your parent signed freely and had the capacity to sign the legal document.

The first step is to review every existing power of attorney, trust, account designation, and property record to see what the family can already do. If the documents do not give enough authority and your parent cannot sign new ones, a conservatorship proceeding in court may be needed. Waiting can reduce the family’s options, so the question of legal authority should be addressed promptly.

Sometimes, but informal payments can create serious problems. A written caregiver agreement should be signed before the services are provided, the pay must be reasonable, and the work and payments must be documented. Payments made without a proper agreement may be treated as gifts during the five year lookback.

Not before the consequences have been reviewed. Changing ownership can create a penalty period under the five year lookback, expose assets to the child’s creditors or divorce, cause family disagreements, and produce tax consequences. A safer planning option may be available.

Disclose the transfer promptly, even if an application has already been filed. Some transfers can be corrected, some may qualify for an exception, and others must be included in a coordinated plan. Hiding or overlooking a transfer can cause a denial or a penalty period the family is not prepared for.

No. The Family Asset Protection Plan™ covers legal authority, prior transfers, asset protection, the order and timing of every transaction, and the Medicaid application. The firm prepares the documents, guides the work, files the application, responds to the state, and advocates through the decision.

Bring the family’s questions together

Tell an elder law attorney what is happening with your parent or loved one.

Give us the broad picture, including who needs care, who is helping, and whether anyone has already moved money or filed an application. Rosalind M. Robertson, an elder law attorney, will review it and contact you.

Our goal is to respond within one business day. If a payment or application deadline is approaching, call 636.493.3333.

A short description is enough. Do not include account numbers or other sensitive financial information.

Please do not include Social Security numbers, account numbers, or other sensitive financial information.

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