Estate Planning - Protecting Your Assets from the StateBy: Ronald Hudkins
[Apr 18, 2008] It isn’t just the US Government waiting out there to grab a chunk of your hard earned estate when you become incapacitated or die. Strangely enough, state coffers are frequently enlarged through the mechanism of Medicaid. When someone requires long-term care in a nursing home, unless he or she has a private long-term care insurance policy, their whole estate may belong to the state when they pass on.
Nursing home care is not free, even in county or state operated facilities. Someone, somewhere, has to foot the bill. If you, or your family, does not have resources to pay for the care, Medicaid steps in. While Medicaid is a federal program, funds are allocated to the states for administrative purposes and are subject to state rules and regulations.
People who apply for Medicare aren’t always aware of exactly how the program works, but even more sadly, most people who are forced to apply for Medicare really have no other choice, so it doesn’t matter how it works. By the same token, Medicaid rules have been revised so that if one half of a married couple requires nursing home care, the other spouse doesn’t have to sell the house and live on the street.
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About Ronald Hudkins
Ronald Hudkins is a retired U.S. Army Military Police member that was assigned as a staff researcher. He has coordinated with military and criminal investigators, set on court marshals and worked closely with the Staff Judge Advocate Generals Office (JAG). He has a keen sense of legal matters - their interpretation, initiatives and guidelines. For imperative financial planning needs he suggests his book “Asset Protection and Estate Planning for All Ages.” Additionally, he offers a Free Newsletter, Articles and Financial Newsfeed at his web site: http://www.AssetProtectNow.com |
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