Unfortunately, as you get older, the cost of healthcare gets more and more expensive. And though it is difficult to think about, there may come a time when you require the full-time care that a nursing home facility offers. You do not want to leave this financial burden on your loved ones. Read on to discover what nursing home costs can be accounted for in your estate plan and how a seasoned New York City estate planning attorney at Zimmet Law Group, P.C. can help you establish the appropriate documents.
What are examples of nursing home costs that can be accounted for in an estate plan?
First of all, a nursing home is a type of long-term, residential care facility in which you may be provided a wide range of health and personal care services. Because of its abundance of accommodations, staying in a nursing home may become costly. Examples of costs that you must account for in your savings plan, and subsequently your estate plan, are as follows:
- The cost of a private room or semi-private room per month.
- The cost of a security deposit for a room.
- The cost of on-site daily activities, recreation, and entertainment.
- The cost of on-site meals.
- The cost of on-site medical care and mental health counseling.
- The cost of transportation to off-site medical care.
How do I account for these costs?
Understandably so, you likely worked hard to build up your portfolio of assets. And you likely prefer to pass them down to your loved ones instead of losing them to your nursing home bills. This is when certain estate planning documents may be deemed necessary.
For example, you may want to establish an irrevocable trust. This is because the assets that you put in the trust may become the property of the trust itself. Upon your passing, your trustee is responsible for distributing these assets to your beneficiaries as you directed. In other words, because these assets technically no longer belong to you, they can avoid being wasted on nursing home costs.
Or, you may consider having an asset protection trust. Similarly, your assets may transfer ownership and therefore reduce your countable assets. With this reduction, you may then become qualified for Medicaid coverage. You may use Medicaid to cover your nursing home costs rather than depleting your hard-earned assets. But if becoming eligible for Medicaid still does not seem attainable with your estate planning, then you may look into another form of long-term care insurance.
At the end of the day, you should not have to go through the estate planning process alone. Instead, you should seek the assistance of a competent New York City estate planning attorney from Zimmet Law Group, P.C. Contact our firm today.
