Living Trusts are valuable estate planning tools, but they don’t do anything to protect your life savings from long-term care costs during the Medicaid or VA spend down process. For that purpose, we need a different type of trust that can work together with your Living Trust called an Asset Preservation Trust.
In this Elder Law Minute, Wes Coulson, Southern Illinois Elder Law attorney, discusses Living Trusts and explains why you also need an Asset Preservation Trust to help protect your assets from Medicaid or VA spend down and long-term care costs.
Do Living Trusts Protect Assets From Medicaid or VA Spend Down?
Transcript:
Hi, I’m Wes Coulson and this is your Elder Law Minute. When we do our public workshop presentations, which by the way I invite and encourage you to attend, we talk a lot about the use of trusts and their value in helping to protect assets from long-term care costs. So, one of the questions that I get quite frequently is, “Well, I already have a Living Trust, we already have a Living Trust, are we okay?”
The answer is No.
’ll make the flat statement that Living Trusts, while very valuable as an estate planning tool, don’t do anything to protect your life savings from long-term care costs. We need a different type of trust for that purpose. A Living Trust can work together with the other type of trust that we call an Asset Preservation Trust.
So, I’m not against Living Trusts, I think they’re a wonderful estate planning tool. But, we need to make sure that your life savings make it safely to the point that you die, and we need something else to help you accomplish that. Again, give me a call, we’ll be happy to help you with that. Thanks.
For more information on Living Trusts and Asset Preservation Trusts, visit these articles:
- Does a Living Trust Protect My Life Savings From Long-Term Care Costs?
- What Will Happen to the Assets That I Transfer Into an Asset Preservation Trust?
- How An Asset Preservation Trust Protects Your Life Savings From Long-Term Care Costs
“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 (877)995-6876 or Contact Us and we will get in touch as soon as possible.
