Many people fear that they may end up in a nursing home, which means a great loss of personal autonomy and an enormous financial price. Monthly costs for skilled nursing care runs into thousands of dollars each month in my state of Massachusetts.
Most people end up paying for nursing home care out of their own pockets until they have exhausted their assets; this is where they become eligible for Medicaid assistance.
There are many tools and strategies that a planner can employ in order to ethically preserve assets and fund long term care needs, such as:
annuities, long-term care insurance, reverse mortgages, and the use of certain trusts.
If you or a loved one may be facing the need for long term care, it is best to seek guidance from an estate planning attorney and implement a plan that will work to preserve the assets of the family and allow you greater control and dignity throughout a complex and often heart-wrenching process.
