Posts tagged as:

Asset Protection

Retirement Assets and Medicaid Planning

by Jerrold BartholomewApril 7, 2008

Retirement assets (401ks, IRAs, etc) are considered available assets for purposes of Medicaid qualification in Michigan. In simple terms, that means that those funds have to be spent down until the threshold for asset eligibility is met. In the case of a single person, asset eligibility is generally about $2,000.00, with some additional allowances for [...]

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Estate Planning and Michigan Real Property Taxes

by Jerrold BartholomewApril 4, 2008

Estate Planning often involves transfer of real property. Care must be taken to avoid incurring unnecessary property taxes as an asset protection plan is carried out.
One of the biggest obstacles to overcome is the so-called uncapping of property taxes. In Michigan, property taxes can only increase by a fixed percentage each year, regardless of the [...]

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An asset protection plan is vital to a secure retirement

by Jerrold BartholomewMarch 31, 2008

Retirement for many people is defined as the time when they are able to live off of the income from their assets combined with Social Security and perhaps a pension. But anything from a car accident to a stay in long-term care can quickly deplete retirement assets and jeopardize the fruits of a lifetime’s work. [...]

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Medicaid Applications Scrutinized More Than Ever

by Jerrold BartholomewMarch 6, 2008

Under previous Medicaid policy, applicants for long term care were given the benefit of a doubt most of the time. In some cases, a demonstrated intent to complete asset conversion, which is the process of converting non-exempt assets into exempt or excluded assets and is the heart of Medicaid planning, would be enough to pass [...]

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Late Life Divorce and Asset Protection

by Jerrold BartholomewMarch 5, 2008

Many Elder law attorneys advise loving couples to pursue divorce as a method of asset protection. I have never found the technique necessary and, frankly, find the approach ethically questionable. Alternatives exist for both pre-planning and crisis planning that avoid the murky waters of a consensual divorce between an otherwise happily-wed pair. It is [...]

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Long Term Care Insurance for Everyone?

by Jerrold BartholomewMarch 1, 2008

States have begun to encourage all citizens to obtain long term care insurance as part of the Deficit Reduction Act. No one likes paying premiums on insurance, but for those of modest means, the premiums are especially burdensome and the benefits, considering that Medicaid is available when the assets run out, negligible. According to this [...]

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Protecting the Homestead: Part 1

by Jerrold BartholomewMarch 1, 2008

When a single person goes to the nursing home for long term care, there are several obstacles to overcome in order to preserve the homestead. First of all, the patient will be limited to just $2,000.00 in non-exempt assets. Secondly, the homestead will be at risk for estate recovery–a program by which the state can [...]

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