A Texas Estate Plan that works for you… and your family.
Does your estate plan only distribute property after you pass away and maybe reduce potential estate taxes? Many people think an estate plan’s only purpose is to reduce estate taxes and distribute property after you pass away.
Times have changed in Texas.
Out of control nursing home bills in Texas have made long term care one of the top threats to your life savings before you even have the chance to leave any legacy to your family. Texas nursing home bills can wipe out your life savings while you or your spouse is still alive and trying to survive on a fixed income.
Keep reading if you want the kind of protection that a simple Will or Revocable Trust cannot provide.
There is virtually no “automatic” protection before Texas nursing home bills (currently averaging from $50,000 to nearly $70,000 every year) start to wipe out your life savings one month at a time. Waiting until the last minute leaves you with the least protection available which is no protection in many cases. There are asset protection strategies available that many people choose to take advantage of before they need a Texas nursing home or Texas Medicaid benefits. These proven strategies have helped families protect anywhere from $100,000 to $1 million.
A qualified Texas Medicaid attorney can provide you with an asset protection plan designed to protect your life savings from Texas nursing home bills. This protection can help your spouse survive if you need nursing home care and can make sure your life savings stays in your family and is not lost to Texas nursing home bills.
Need a name of a Medicaid Attorney in Bexar County.
Dear Mr. Shea, My landlady is disabled and is currently in a type of residential/hospice setting and not expected to live more than a few months. Her daughter has asked me for some info about the Miller Trust. My landlady owns a home which I currently rent from her for $600 per month plus utilities. I am also disabled under SSA guidelines and I cannot afford to move. My landlady’s expenses for her care exceed her income substantially and her children currently have to pay the difference. Will a Miller Trust for her SSA retirement, annuity and my rent payments give her protections under the Miller Trust provisions? Her family is considering selling the home to me if I can afford it on my SSA disability check. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks. Chris
My mom has no property of anything of value. She does have retirement income (civil service $1302 and military reserves $545) and divorce property income (her 1/2 of my dad’s military retirement check $727.50) and her social security check is $117 per month. Can her divorce settlement be excluded from the eligibility? If so, I think she could qualify for Texas Medicaid benefits for nursing home.
I have her in a private non-licensed facility and she desperately wants a better place. She has stage IV colon cancer that has spread to her liver and lungs. She is currently under Hospice care.
Please advise.
Maggie
My son Joseph M. suffered a stroke on June 26, 2009 and all indicati;ons are that he is headed for long term care in a month or two is 30k gross short term care stops in Dec. then long term kicks in at about athe same rate. I don’t see how a Miller Trust can help since he is single. He is totally incapacitated and improving slowing – going home with him would be most difficult. Social Sec. is determining his disablity staus which should come athrough in a month or so…is reducing his income through legal means possible to qualify him for Medicaid?-
A Miller Trust can work if the Medicaid applicant is single or married. The key issue is if the Medicaid applicant receives too much income to be eligible for Medicaid benefits.
Every asset and source of income that is available to the Medicaid applicant is considered available. From the perspective of Medicaid eligibility, if an applicant’s income exceeds the limit the fastest way to fix it is with a Miller Trust which can be completed within a couple weeks generally. With income from a divorce, a long term option may be to modify it through the divorce court, but that will probably take longer and may cost more.
A Miller Trust does not “protect” assets or income. It is a tool to re-characterize income so that it is within the strict eligibility limits. A Miller Trust in no way increases the income or assets that a Medicaid recipient can keep, its only purpose is to restructure a person’s income to fit within the eligibility standards.
Responded to via email.
am looking for the DOWNLOAD of the application form! Where is it?
The Medicaid application can be downloaded on the following page as described above: http://texastitle19.com/texas-medicaid-application/