In this Elder Law Minute, Wes Coulson explains how it’s possible to benefit from owning non-residential real estate when planning with DCEL.
Video Transcript:
Hi,
I’m Wes Coulson extending warm holiday greetings to you and yours from all of us here at Dent Coulson Elder law, and this is your Elder Law Minute.
This is another of our series of videos on what an Illinois Medicaid applicant can and can’t keep. Today we’re going to talk about something that unless you live in a farm community, you may have never heard of, and that is something called a Life Estate. Happens to be actually one of my favorite toys when it comes to planning, because in a lot of cases, it is a way to protect real estate that couldn’t otherwise be protected. First, what is a Life Estate? A Life Estate is an ownership interest, that ends when the person who owns it dies. How much it’s worth depends on the age of the person who owns it. The older you are, the less that interest is worth, but it’s worth more expressed as a percentage of the total ownership interest in property, than you would think.
Now, one of the great things about Life Estates is that if you’re talking about protecting real estate, since it dies when the person who owns it dies, if it’s the Medicaid Applicant who owns it, that means that there is nothing for the state to come after. When that person dies, as I like to say, “they may be shooting after the train, but they’re standing at the station and the train has done left the station”.
We do a lot with planning, sometimes if you have people who own property, half a piece you can flip that so that the Medicaid Applicant owns only or mainly life estate interest and we’re able to protect a significant amount of value by doing that. For anyone who owns non-residential real estate this is something that we can do things that are almost akin to working magic that can help protect quite a bit of assets, that couldn’t otherwise frankly be protected.
Give us a call, we can help. Thanks.
Also looking for information about Medicaid and Asset Preservation? Visit these articles:
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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.
