$99k Asset Protection From Nursing Home Costs in Houston
Today I am going to walk you through one of my recent cases. In this case we tackle asset protection from nursing home costs. The client here was an an unmarried nursing home resident. Her nursing home cost more than she could afford so she needed help. Each case is unique, but I hope this gives you an idea of what is possible with the right person and the right plan.
Here are the tools we had to work with:
- After consolidating her assets she had a total of $170,941.32 in a checking account.
- Her only income was Social Security of $1,882 per month.
- Her nursing home bill from Clairmont Beaumont was a whopping $4,596 per month.
Big Monthly Losses
Right out of the gate she is running a monthly loss of $2,714 per month. That is going to eat up her life savings in no time and leave nothing for her children.
She needed asset protection from nursing home costs if she was going to leave anything to her kids. Fortunately her family wanted to see what a Medicaid attorney could do and came to see me.
She is already in a nursing home so there is nothing I could do, right? Wrong.
Step 1 – The Checking Account
The first step was re-structuring her remaining assets to take advantage of the Medicaid rules. You go nowhere as an unmarried person with a big checking account. Once you are over $2,000 it prevents you from moving forward to Medicaid eligibility, it basically stalls you. So I got her out of the checking account and into something a lot more Medicaid friendly.
Step 2 – Asset Protection From Nursing Home Costs in Houston
The next step is where we protect assets from the nursing home costs and the government. She had a couple options, but she chose to protect her assets for her children. So we took a big portion of her assets and set that aside for her kids. There was no Trust or other middleman, her kids had immediate and unrestricted access.
Step 3 – The Result from a Houston Nursing Home Lawyer
Remember, she came to me with $170,000 and a dream of leaving something for her kids. She was also losing over $2,700 per month to Clairmont Beaumont. Other people were telling her to spend down her assets. I say “No Way” when it comes to my clients losing their life savings.
So what did I accomplish for her? $99,000 in iron clad HHSC approved asset protection from nursing home costs. That is what I did for her. Nothing shady, nothing hidden, nothing dangerous – just effective.
Did $99,000 make it worth hiring a Medicaid lawyer? They were thrilled with the outcome, what do you think?
How you doing Mr. Shea;my mother is 75 she only receives social security 1200 a month.She has a home valued at 30,000 to 40,000 or less.She has under 8000 in savings account.She does not have any other assets. She might need a nursing facility in the future. Would she qualify for the nursing home under these circumstanes.If she entered a nursing home and became deceased would they take her property(estate).
Hi Raul – It looks like she is under the Medicaid income limit so she is good there.
The asset limit for an unmarried person is $2,000 but anything around $10,000 can usually be fixed in 1 month or less.
The house is likely subject to estate recovery after she passes away if you don’t put a plan in place for it now while you can. I can help her with that.
And last but not least, if she made any gifts or transfers in the last 5 years (including unexplained cash withdrawals) that can result in a Medicaid penalty that changes everything.
Feel free to contact me for details.
My mom just entered into a nursing home she has Medicaid and Medicare can I sell her home using a special warranty deed. How could that effect me.
Hello. I can’t say for sure without additional information, but if she already has nursing home Medicaid her home was likely exempt during the application process. If you sell the home after she gets Medicaid you are converting the exempt home into non-exempt cash which will have to be addressed to minimize the impact on her continued Medicaid eligibility.