Many persons who must enter a nursing home or long-term care facility in their later years will come to rely on Medicaid for payment of the great bulk of the expenses. However, the rules for qualifying benefits in Texas and elsewhere require that a person have limited assets that are specified. That fact has resulted in the growth of Medicaid planning, which re-structures the assets so that when the time comes to request benefits, the applicant will be qualified.
Medicaid planning can help to pass assets to one's heirs
Important estate planning decisions
In fiction, the death of a loved one is often romanticized to a certain degree. Upon the death of a wealthy character, grieving -- or gleeful -- family members often await the reading of the will, and many are surprised about the division of the assets. However, this is rarely, if ever, the case in Texas. In most cases, copies of the will have been handed out to those it affects. While the idea of surprising a few people may be appealing in the movies, there are actually many conversations that could help smooth the process of estate planning.
Long-term care insurance makes sense for elderly planning
Long-term care insurance (LTCI) is usually a good idea for someone 55 to 70 who wants to avoid the potential financial hardship that can occur if a nursing home or home-care becomes necessary. The U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services estimates nearly 70 percent of people who reach age 65 will need long-term care at some point. That statistic of course applies across the board, including in Texas. Unfortunately, less than one-third of people over age 50 have begun to plan for their potential long-term care needs.
Living trusts can be combined with a will in the estate plan
There's generally no good reason in Texas or elsewhere why you can't have both a traditional testamentary will and a living trust at the same time. Both of these legal instruments specify what should be done with certain assets upon the owner's death. Living trusts are similar to wills in that respect but the assets are conveyed to the control of the trust during life. In the case of the will, the assets are not transferred until after death and probate of the will.
