Why should anyone worry about Medicaid planning? Because nursing home costs are now usually $4000.00 to $8000.00 per month for one person.

Rule of Thumb: NEVER apply for Medicaid until AFTER you have consulted a lawyer who is familiar with Medicaid issues.

Trusts are certainly a good estate planning tool, and they have been made very popular in the past 20 years. However, most of these trusts are revocable trusts. This means that the grantor (owner) of the Trust can revoke (cancel) it or amend it at any time. Because of this feature, the assets transferred to the Trust are not safe from that person's nursing home expenses if that person should need to reside in a home.

To avoid this situation, sometimes an irrevocable trust can be used. But the down side to an irrevocable trust is just that - it can't be cancelled and it cannot be amended in any substantive way. Care must also be taken that the transfer of assets to such a trust does not violate the five (5) year "look back" rule for Medicaid assistance.

Non-exempt Transfers Within Five (5) years

Medicaid is a joint federal and state assistance program, and there are strict limitations on qualifying for Medicaid assistance. What this amounts to is this: when a person applies for Medicaid, he or she, in order to qualify, can only have $2,000.00 cash, an automobile, a pre-paid burial, and basically personal effects. If you make last minute transfers, and they are not exempt, you will be disqualified for a period of time. Most transfers are not exempt unless they are a bonafide sale or purchase for full consideration, or are to your spouse. If a non-exempt transfer is made within 5 years of your application, a penalty period is determined under the regulations and you will not qualify for Medicaid during that period. Hence, you will have to have the means to pay the bill yourself.

Obviously, Medicaid planning will require consideration of many factors and careful legal planning. When one considers that current nursing home costs in this area may range from $4,000.00 to $8,000.00 per month, depending upon the home and the degree of care you may need. Institutions which offer Alzheimer's or "memory care" units are understandably expensive.

Of course not all Medicaid planning involves trusts. But any plan will depend upon a number of factors and a careful analysis of your particular situation.

Some will include the following:-

My age and health and that of my spouse. (what are the odds that either or both would be in a home in the near future?) In other words, am I getting close to the start of the 5 year look back?

Do I or my spouse have fixed income sufficient to pay nursing home costs (private pay) for one and still maintain the other spouse at home?

Assuming not, do we have cash reserves or other assets which could be used to get past any penalty period? (for one or for both)?

Which assets could or should we consider as expendable for use in getting past any penalty period?

Are we in a crisis where one of us needs to enter a long term care facility immediately? (This may require a different analysis with limited options.)

A FINAL NOTE: Once you have applied for Medicaid, some options may no longer be available. See a Lawyer first, before you apply.

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In 2016, the legislature revamped the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution Act. Instead of having a different options for the grounds for a dissolution of marriage, the only grounds now available is irreconcilable differences. Also, the 2 year waiting period has been abolished.

Next what we once knew as joint custody is now referred to as shared decision making and parenting time.

It is similar to the old law; however the new law is broken into two parts . Those being allocation of decision making and allocation of parenting time.

These agreements are much more detailed as to what rights the parties have and what is expected of them as parents.

Further, if the parties cannot agree on the allocation of decision making and parenting time, the law requires that the parties attend mediation before proceeding to trial.

Another big change to the law is the ability to calculate maintenance. We are now able to equalize the parties' income based on the parties' individual incomes and the duration of the marriage.

So what do you do when your ex doesn't follow the court order?

The law allows the ability to enforce an order by the remedy of indirect civil contempt. One brings this action in front of the court by filing a petition for a rule to show cause and having the court issue an order to bring the violating party before the court to answer the allegations of in-direct civil contempt.

It is difficult to do this without the assistance of an attorney, but it can be done. The court may or may not award the prevailing party attorney fees from the violating party.

For more information call for a consultation or click ask us.