Hello, my name is Christopher Lavin. I’m an attorney with the Lavin Law Group. We are an elder law firm here in Lebanon, Ohio.
A lot of clients will ask us specifically about trust planning and Medicaid. Trusts have really advanced a long way in regards to that. You have to have a specific type of trust and it has been irrevocable trust.
But if the attorney is aware of these types of trusts and is competent in these types of trusts, he has to trust can protect an asset, a house, or certain financial accounts from what we call Medicaid spend down or having to be depleted over time. But we have to be extremely careful because it does require the proper type of trust. There are trusts that Medicaid can attach or force you to spend.
Those trusts are the more traditional revocable trust. You hear revocable or revocable living trust. I’m not saying those trusts are not important to a plan.
They are very important for probate avoidance, minimizing some tax consequences, controlling distribution. But unfortunately, revocable means there’s no lid on that box. So the benefit is there’s no inconvenience to you.
You can get into that trust on Monday to go on vacation, but unfortunately, you can also get into that trust on Tuesday to spend it on long-term care. So that’s why we had to put some provisions in the trust that do put the lid on the box. And that’s why you want to discuss the word irrevocable with your attorneys.