Elder Law Articles, Uncategorized
Elder Law Update – March 2009 (Volume II)
The Basics of Medicaid and Long Term Care Planning or…”What the Nursing Home Says You Can and Cannot Keep” In order to understand Medicaid qualifications for Long Term Care, you first need to know how Medicaid treats your assets. Basically, Medicaid breaks your assets down into two separate categories. The first are those assets which are exempt and the second are those assets which are non-exempt or countable. Exempt assets are those which Medicaid will not take into account (at least for the time being). While the laws in Illinois differ in some respect, generally the following assets are exempt:
- The Home, (so long as the equity is not greater than $500,000.) The home must be the principal place of residence. The nursing home resident may be required to show some “intent to return home,” even if this never actually takes place.
- Household and personal belonging, such as furniture, appliances, jewelry and clothing.
- One vehicle, there may be some limitation on value
- Prepaid funeral plans and burial plots.
- Cash value of life insurance policies, as long as the face value of all policies added together does not exceed $1,500. If it does exceed $1,500 in total face amount, then the cash value in these policies is countable. Also, term life insurance is exempt.
- Cash (e.g. a small checking or savings account) not to exceed $2,000 in Illinois.
April 8, 2009 at 4:00 PM
April 23, 2009 at 6:30 PM
May 7, 2009 at 4:00 PM
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Anthony B. Ferraro Attorney-CPA The Law Offices of Anthony B. Ferraro, LLC The Estate & Trust, Elder and Asset Protection Law Firm Columbia Centre I 5600 N. River Road, Suite 764 Rosemont, IL 60018 PH (847) 563-4887 FAX (847) 292-1221 Website: https://abferrarolaw.com/ Email: abferrarolaw@abferrarolaw.com Any tax advice contained in this communication was not intended to be used, and cannot be used, by you (or any other taxpayer) to avoid penalties under the Internal Revenue Code. The Illinois rules of Professional Conduct require attorneys to identify unsolicited communications to prospective clients as Advertising Material. If the context requires, please consider this letter and the enclosed literature to be Advertising Materials. This document is for discussion purposes only and is not intended to be, nor should it be, considered as legal advice. You should never attempt Medicaid planning, Estate Planning, Probate or Trust Administration without the advice of competent legal counsel.