Newsletter | Dent Coulson Elder Law

Is Asset Preservation Planning Legal?

Asset preservation planning is helpful for protecting your property and life savings from the potentially devastating cost of long-term care. With life expectancies increasing, the chance of needing long-term care later in life growing, the cost of long-term care increasing, and establishing eligibility for government assistance being made ever more difficult, now is decidedly the time […]

Does a Living Trust protect my life savings from long-term care costs?

A Living Trust is an important estate planning document that offers many advantages, including keeping your estate out of probate after you die. However, does a Living Trust protect your assets from long-term care costs? This question gets asked quite frequently and the answer is simply, no it does not. In this Elder Law Minute, […]

What you can and can’t keep with Medicaid: Second Residences and Rental Property

When it comes to second residences and rental property, the Medicaid rules are pretty clear that they aren’t exempt. However, there may be ways to preserve these assets as part of the asset preservation planning process. There are a lot of possible solutions and, although tricky, it just takes the right possible solution matched to […]

What you can and can’t keep with Medicaid: Prepaid Funerals

Generally speaking, both Illinois and Missouri allow an exemption under Medicaid for prepaid funerals. However the rules are very technical and if you are going to purchase a prepaid funeral plan, you really should do that only under the direction and guidance of an experienced elder law attorney. In this Elder Law Minute, Wes Coulson, Illinois Elder Law […]

What you can and can’t keep with Medicaid: Asset Limits – Married Applicants and Community Spouse Resource Allowance

When determining asset limits for Medicaid, married applicants have something unique available to them called the community spouse resource allowance. Basically, what that refers to is the amount of otherwise non-exempt assets that the rules allow the spouse who is not in the nursing home to keep. This is great news for Illinois and Missouri applicants, […]