Making a Trust (grandparents, divorce, move, divorced)

[peaches02]

We are in the process of making a trust. Is there Inc advice you can give us. I live in Michigan, and I was wondering about a few things:

1. Are some States better than others to set up trusts
2. Is there anyway to protect your home from Medicaid anymore?
3. Split for caretaker 60/40
4. Are their ways to proctect your estate to go to just your child in case of divorce?
5. What provisions did you set for grand children. I have definite ideas on age controls.

ANY Advice you can give would be helpful. IN addition to this, I am helping one parent in a nursing home that has a trust,and I think they will try to take her home. It is all she has and was to go to us.

Plus, my father has a will and we will be putting it in a trust asap. Suggestions? Thanks a bunch!!!!!

[mathjak107]

there is so much involved with trusts and they all do somethings but not others . do yourself a favor , see an elder law attorney . no one can answer this for you without being well schooled in it in a particular state and with your unique circumstances

[jiminnm]

I second mathjak's recommendation to see an elder law atty, as the answer to many of your questions may vary by state.

Answers to your Medicaid questions will surely vary, as each state administers their own plans. What I will say is that I think every state has a 5 year lookback to investigate property transactions, and track the proceeds from those transactions. The Feds and states are spending billions of tax dollars on Medicaid, and you should expect them to scrutinize any property transfers within 5 years prior to death.

[mathjak107]

putting a house in a living trusts turns a protected asset in to a unprotected one , so see an attorney .

[dothetwist]

Why should seniors shield their homes from Medicare???

It's pure selfishness so they can leave something to their kids; and it's CHEATING.

Either buy long term health insurance or pay up when the time comes.

And why should a homeowner attempt to foist this obligation onto those who do not own their own home? Medicare should be paid out of whatever assets a person has, be it bank accounts or a home.

Shame on seniors who think it's ok to defraud Medicare!

[mathjak107]

i suggest you learn about what medicaid fraud is first . it is you that are actually wrong .


the home is automatically shielded if held in personal names . medicaid made it that way .medicaid gives us lots of tools ,laws and legal methods all left in place to be utilized .

just like your fair share of taxes is whatever you can legally get them down to using the tools and tax codes left for you to use so is our long term care system .

tools are left in place so states do not have 2 people to support on public assistance as the system drives the stay at home spouse in to impoverishment .

every method used to preserve assets could be done away with if the states wanted , they don't purposely .

in fact most states have long term partnership plans that provide a few years insurance and then pick up all bills with a special version of medicaid once the insurance ends .

in our state all assets are protected by our state if you buy a partnership long term care plan . the stay at home spouse has no income restrictions and once the 3 years insurance runs out medicaid pays all bills .

more and more ,states do not want to be filled with impoverished seniors . using the tools and laws left in place purposely for those smart enough to want to learn to use them. that not fraud in any way anymore than you using the laws to reduce your taxable income to your fair share . .

[NewbieHere]

But you would put your house on a trust if you don't need protection from Medicaid and it could potential worth more than $10 million(hypothetical number to clarify the situation). Not all situation is equal right?

[mathjak107]

yes , you could use trusts for other reasons including avoiding probate . but generally there are pro's and cons and any trust that does much estate tax wise must be irrevocable .

we have disclaimer trusts . they allow us to have 9 months after the death of one of us to throw a switch and activate an irrevocable trust that can pass 2x the estate tax exclusion limit . our state has a high exclusion limit but it has these tax cliffs that are horrible if you fall in to it . we have the trust just in case. the good thing is these trusts are transparent if we don't need them .

the assets remain in place as is .

[peaches02]

She has no problem paying her fair share. I have seen my grandparents bullied into signing over their home when they probably did not have to! Thanks for the advice. I will be seeing an elder law attorney to help her and my father (divorced). People shouldn't rush to judge and assume you are trying to scam and cheat. These are VERY MURKY waters to try and tread!

As for myself, I am trying to educate myself so I know what to do with my own assets. Thanks in advance for any suggestions. I am going to make calls tomorrow to find an elder law lawyer.

[mathjak107]

you really will not know what you need until you see an attorney . you may need nothing . but there are so many types , both revocable and irrevocable. they all have pro's and cons and are for different purposes .

no one size fits all and some can be very harmful to a spouse effectively cutting them off from assets if one dies . .

biggest mistake made is when some general practitioner and not an elder law attorney put a house in a living revocable trust to avoid probate .

they then take a protected asset ,who's value is not counted for medicaid purposes and now make it a countable asset . now you have to sell the house and spend down the money to qualify for medicaid . a bummer of a move .