Assets and income
Accounts, investments, retirement assets, annuities, real estate, vehicles, and monthly income affect both the strategy and the funds available during any penalty period.
Jones Elder LawProtecting Your Home, Savings & Spouse.Talk with an attorney636.493.3333For a single or widowed Missouri nursing home resident
Being Single Does Not Mean You Must Lose Everything.
A single person does not receive the same Medicaid protections as a married couple. But that does not mean the only option is to pay the nursing home until almost all the assets are gone. With a properly structured plan, the Individual Asset Preservation Plan™ may preserve substantial value while creating a path to Medicaid eligibility.
Do not give assets away or file an application first. The plan must determine how much can be protected, how care will be paid throughout the penalty period, and when the Medicaid application should be filed.
20+ yearsfocused on elder law and Medicaid planning
1,000+ mattersplanning, implementation, and application experience
Attorney ledfrom the first conversation through determination
What must be evaluated first
“No spouse” does not mean “no options.”
The available result depends on more than marital status. A focused review must determine what the person owns, what has already occurred, who has legal authority to act, and whether the remaining steps can be completed before filing.
Prior transfers
Gifts, deed changes, joint accounts, sales below value, and payments to family during the five year lookback must be identified before new transactions are planned.
Legal authority
The applicant’s capacity and the powers in a financial power of attorney may determine whether the family can still complete the necessary legal and financial steps.
Timing and eligibility
The plan must coordinate nursing home status, countable resources, transfers, repayment funds, and the application so that the penalty period begins when intended.
The most dangerous shortcut
A gift by itself is not a Medicaid plan.
Families sometimes transfer money to children and assume the five year lookback means they simply have to wait. That is not how the penalty period works. The penalty period generally begins only after the applicant is in a nursing home, meets the other Medicaid requirements, and has reduced countable assets to the applicable limit.
An unplanned gift can leave the applicant ineligible while the nursing home bill continues and no money has been reserved to pay it. A properly structured plan calculates the amount of money that can be protected and develops a plan for paying the applicant’s cost of care throughout the penalty period.
The amount protected, the method used, the nursing home cost, the applicant’s income, and the Medicaid filing date must all work together.
Two very different financial outcomes
The same assets can either disappear into care costs or protect a meaningful legacy.
This simplified illustration shows the purpose of planning. The actual result must be calculated from the applicant’s income, assets, nursing home cost, and timing.
If the family simply pays until the money is gone
Nearly all $200,000 can be consumed
Assume a widowed parent has $200,000 in countable assets and is already paying for nursing home care. Without a protection plan, the family may continue paying privately until the assets approach the Medicaid limit.
- Months of private pay nursing home costs
- Little money left for needs Medicaid does not cover
- No protected reserve for future support
- Greater dependence on children for personal expenses
- A lifetime of assets permanently consumed
If the family completes a coordinated plan first
Substantial value may still be protected
A properly designed plan determines how much can be protected and provides enough money to pay for care throughout the penalty period.
- Calculate the amount that can be protected
- Keep enough income and funds available to pay for care during the penalty period
- Complete each step in the correct order
- File the Medicaid application at the planned time
- Protect assets that can support quality of life
The Individual Asset Preservation Plan™
A plan that maximizes the assets protected.
Jones Elder Law developed the Individual Asset Preservation Plan™ for single and widowed people facing nursing home costs. The plan is not a form or a single transaction. It is a comprehensive plan designed to maximize the assets protected under the law and establish Medicaid eligibility.
We calculate how much can be protected, prepare the required documents, tell the family exactly what to do and when to do it, determine when the Medicaid application should be filed, prepare the application, and respond to the state until a decision is made.
The family receives a complete path from the current crisis to the intended Medicaid result, not a suggestion to make a gift and hope the timing works.
From the first review through Medicaid approval
Every step is tied to the planned Medicaid filing date.
- Understand the complete situationWe review assets, income, care costs, prior transfers, legal documents, the applicant’s ability to make decisions, and whether an application has been filed.
- Calculate the protection strategyWe determine how much can be protected, how long the penalty period will last, and how the applicant will pay for care during that time.
- Prepare and carry out the planWe prepare the legal documents and tell the family exactly what to do so each step occurs in the correct amount and order.
- Manage the Medicaid applicationWe file at the planned time, document the plan, respond to state requests, and advocate for the applicant until a decision is made.
“My mother was already in a nursing home, and we believed nearly all of her savings would have to be spent on care. Jones Elder Law explained how the Medicaid penalty period worked, developed a plan for paying the nursing home, and helped us protect a substantial part of what she had worked her entire life to save.”
— Scott, Jones Elder Law client
Questions about protecting a single person’s assets
Do not accept “no options” without a complete evaluation.
Can a single person protect assets and still qualify for Missouri Medicaid?
Yes. Although a single or widowed applicant does not have the protections available to a healthy spouse, a properly structured plan can protect a substantial portion of the applicant’s assets while creating a path to Medicaid eligibility.
How much can a single person protect?
The amount that can be protected depends on the applicant’s assets, income, prior transfers, legal authority, care setting, and timing. The exact result must be calculated before any transaction is made.
How does an individual asset protection plan work?
The plan calculates how much money can be protected and how the applicant will pay for care throughout the resulting penalty period. The legal documents, amounts, timing, and Medicaid application must all work together.
Why can’t we simply give the money to the children?
A gift during the five year lookback can create a period of ineligibility. The penalty period generally does not begin until the applicant is in a nursing home, meets the other eligibility requirements, and is below the applicable resource limit. An unplanned gift can therefore create a penalty period with no protected way to pay for care.
Is the home automatically safe because it is exempt?
No. Exempt for current eligibility does not necessarily mean protected for the family. Occupancy, intent to return, equity, ownership, sale plans, transfer rules, and possible estate recovery all require review.
Should we file the Medicaid application before the plan is complete?
No. Filing before the legal and financial steps are completed can cause a denial, establish the wrong eligibility date, or leave the family without enough money to pay for care during the penalty period. The plan should be completed and documented before filing.