What is Asset Protection?
Asset protection employs tools and strategies to guard property and wealth. There are several options for safeguarding different types of property or accounts from threats arising from issues involving creditors, taxes, liabilities, or mismanagement. Asset protection often seeks to prevent assets from being susceptible to such threats.
Why is Asset Protection Essential for the Elderly?
The elderly are often in the precarious position of having amassed many assets while facing threats to such assets that did not exist when they were younger. Beyond the obvious reason of holding onto what you’ve worked a lifetime to accrue, there are several reasons to work with an elder law attorney in the area of asset protection.
Our clients request our help with the following:
- Covering the costs of care in long-term facilities
- Avoiding having to drain their savings accounts to qualify for Medicaid
- Making it more difficult for unsavory characters (scam artists) to take advantage of their elderly loved ones
- Guarding their wealth against taxation, judgments, seizures, and other legal liabilities
- Insulating assets in a legally sound way
- Protecting family financial legacies for multiple generations
What Asset Protection Strategies are Available for the Elderly?
Since every family is different, we may employ one or more of the following asset protection strategies:
- Trusts (including our Family Fortress Trust)
- Retirement and long-term care planning
- Establishing joint tenancies
- Setting up LLCs or other business entities
- Acquisition of protected assets
- Other safeguards that prevent property from being seized in a judgment
What is an Asset Protection Trust?
Asset protection aims to safeguard wealth — often in advanced age. An asset protection attorney can help employ various tools to fulfill this need. Asset Protection Trusts are a type of irrevocable trust. Funds from the trust can still be accessed, but distributions are at the discretion of an independent party. A Family Fortress Trust is a type of irrevocable trust that combines asset protection with Medicaid Planning to safeguard assets.
Estate planning and elder law attorneys set up several types of trusts for clients, depending on what they hope to accomplish. When trusts are used to shield assets from creditors, lawsuits, and judgments, they are often called Asset Protection Trusts, abbreviated as APTs.
Rather than seeking an irrevocable trust lawyer or an asset protection law firm, it often helps to focus on a more holistic family strategy. That is what a Family Fortress Trust is designed to do. You can protect your family’s assets and future while positioning your loved ones to avoid many costs that tend to blindside people in their elder years.
Can a Trust Help Pay for a Nursing Home?
Perhaps the better question to ask is this: “Can a trust help you avoid nursing home costs?”
Yes, the right kind of trust can greatly assist you with exorbitant nursing home expenses by helping you qualify for Medicaid. Medicaid eligibility requires years of proper planning guided by an asset protection law firm focused on elder law concerns. The challenge you may face is protecting the assets you want to benefit your family while avoiding excessive long-term care costs that threaten to run your savings dry.
By working with Family First Firm to implement a Family Fortress Trust, you can shield assets that might otherwise compromise your eligibility for Medicaid assistance. You can do so without depriving a loved one of the income from the assets in that trust.
According to Senior Living magazine, the average monthly cost of a nursing home in Florida is $9,034, which increases by about 10% yearly. Imagine how quickly savings can vanish when more than $100,000 is being expended to pay nursing home fees! A private nursing home can cost even more. Understandably, Florida families come to Family First Law Firm looking for solutions to avoid these six-figure outlays. An asset protection lawyer at Family First Firm can help you strategize elder law concerns, such as qualifying for Medicaid with long-term care options in mind.
