In this Elder Law Minute, Wes Coulson explains how, with the help of DCEL, your loved one can get set up to receive the best care they want and need without immediately going in to a nursing home, as many assume is the case in estate planning.
Video Transcript:
Greetings, I’m Wes Coulson from Dent Coulson Elder Law, and this will be your elder law minute. We’re happy to present these because we think we can help inform you as to the ways in which we can help you and the things that you need to think about relative to the elder care and estate planning journey. Hope you enjoy.
If you’re helping to care for or watch over a parent or other elder who is getting to the point where they need some care but not close to the stage where they would need to move into a long-term care facility, and you want to get them in for an appointment with us to do the planning, hoping that it’s five years in advance of nursing home care, they might be reluctant. They might say, ‘You know what, those elder law attorneys, he’s just going to talk to you about putting me into a nursing home.’ Well, let me tell you a story on a new client that we started with next week that will show you that that’s not how we roll.
So the mother came in with the daughters. The daughter’s taking care of the mother at home, and here is the plan that we developed. First, we are moving her assets out of harm’s way into a trust that will, five years later, protect them from Medicaid spend down. But what we also did is we referred them to a geriatric care manager, and we told the geriatric care manager, ‘Here’s what they need. We need you to help the daughter, who was the in-home caregiver, develop a plan for using outside caregivers, picking the right ones, the right amount of time for the right things, toward the goal of being cost-efficient but also making sure that the daughter has enough help that the circumstance that winds up being the driver of the decision to put Mom in the nursing home is that the daughter is just burned out.’
This has happened to a lot of caregivers, and that she can sustain being a caregiver and keep Mom at home where Mom wants to be cared for as long as possible. Now, you might think those are two different things, but no, they’re not. They’re part of the same plan because what you have to understand is that the longer that the daughter can take care of her mom at home with a little bit of outside help or even increasing amounts of outside help over time, the further into that five-year look-back period that we get. And so that plan is an integral part of the plan for protecting mom’s life savings for long-term care costs.
So that’s just an idea of how this planning isn’t just directed toward getting somebody into a nursing home. It’s toward making sure that they can be cared for in the best setting for them for as long and at home for as long as possible. This is what we do. This is how we can help. If you’re facing this set of circumstances, give us a call. You’ll be happy you did.
Thank you.
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“Your Trusted Advisor on the Elder Care Journey”
Dent-Coulson Elder Law is dedicated to providing families in the St. Louis area with their Elder Law needs. Our practice areas include Asset Preservation Planning, Veterans Benefits, Medicaid Eligibility, Alzheimer’s Planning, Special Needs Planning, Estate Planning and more. We understand the financial challenges you may face as you and your loved ones grow older. At Dent-Coulson Elder Law, our clients’ well-being is our number one priority. For immediate help, call (618) 632-7000 (IL) or (314) 567-9292 (MO), or Contact Us and we will get in touch as soon as possible.
