How to Pay for the Nursing Home
How can an attorney help pay for nursing home costs?
Hi. I’m Gary, the owner and principal attorney of DeWitt Law in Northwest Arkansas. I’ve helped 1000’s of people here in NW Arkansas protect family, protect themselves, avoid probate, and protect assets for peace of mind.
It might surprise you to find out you don’t have to spend everything you have to get help paying for a nursing home.
An attorney that knows the numbers can look at your situation and help you get any help you are qualified for.
First, people are often told they need to spend everything they have before they can qualify. This just isn’t the case. If you need to spend money, it’s about how you spend the money. You can spend on things other than the nursing home. You can spend in such a way as to preserve the value of your money.
You need to know that Medicaid allows a person or couple to own a home with up to $600,000 of equity as of 2021. You can also have a car, personal belongings, a burial policy, and a few other things. These things are exempt from being counted against you by Medicaid. If you are just a few thousand from qualifying, then buying an irrevocable burial policy may get you there.
If it’s one person in a married couple that needs help, then it may be possible to preserve tens of thousands of dollars for the spouse at home. That’s money that doesn’t have to be spent and goes back to the spouse at home. This is done by converting assets to income in the right way using a variety of financial tools.
If it’s a single person, then part of the money can be given to family if done right. The other part is set aside to pay for a period of long-term care. That money is your family’s outright without strings. The nursing home won’t be able to get it. It has to be done carefully and correctly.
The calculations for how much an attorney can help are too complicated to go into now. It actually takes some time to crunch the numbers to come up with the final figures.
If you want to know more, go to DeWitt.law/ep
If you would like to discuss this and more, call (479)717-6300 or go to DeWitt.law.
