Nursing Home Costs in 2025: Planning Ahead to Save Your Estate

What would you do if you knew there was a 70% chance a meteor would hit your home? You'd move, right? According to the Department of Health and Human Services, that's the same probability seniors face for needing long-term care—yet most aren't prepared for the financial impact.

Nursing homes in North Carolina now cost between $8,000-$13,000 monthly, amounting to a staggering $100,000-$150,000 annually. Without proper planning, these expenses can quickly deplete a lifetime of savings and even force the sale of your family home. But there's good news: with advance planning, you can protect what you've worked so hard to build while ensuring you receive the care you need.

Attorneys Greg McIntyre and Haley Matson outline powerful asset protection strategies including irrevocable trusts that shield investments and savings from being counted for benefits purposes. They explain how LadyBird Deeds allow you to maintain control of your home during your lifetime while protecting it from Medicaid recovery after death. Essential legal documents like Powers of Attorney prevent court-appointed guardianship and empower trusted individuals to implement asset protection strategies if you become incapacitated. As Attorney McIntyre emphasizes, "Preparation is better than cramming the night before for the test"—a few degrees off course now can put you in the wrong place years later.

Don't risk losing everything you've worked for to pay for long-term care. Schedule a free consultation with the experienced team at McIntyre Elder Law by visiting mcintyreclderlaw.com/scheduling or calling 1-888-999-6600. Their comprehensive approach addresses both estate planning and benefits qualification to give you peace of mind and financial security as you age.

Episode Transcript

Greg McIntyre (00:02):
Hi, I'm Greg McIntyre with McIntyre Elder Law
.
I'm joined by co-counsel HaleyMatson.
.
Hello Haley, hi Greg, how areyou?
I'm good.
I'm good.
So we're going to talk aboutthe high cost of nursing homes
in 2025 and how you can planahead to protect your

(00:22):
hard-earned money and property,your retirement, your home,
those things.
So, haley, how expensive is astay in a nursing home per month
or year?

Haley Matson (00:40):
really depends on where you are, but pretty much
anywhere in North Carolina a onemonth stay at a nursing home is
going to cost you anywhere fromeight grand to like 13.
It can get really, reallyexpensive and that's like a
yearly cost of almost what$150,000?
.

Greg McIntyre (00:59):
So it can get really expensive, yeah it can
get really expensive.
So it can get, you know, $100, ahundred to $150,000 a year.
You can start to really spenddown someone's assets or force
the sale of their home to payfor that care.
And that's a scary proposition,especially for a married couple
or for someone who really wantsto protect their assets to lead

(01:22):
to the next generation or, youknow, just to keep and have and
control because they worked veryhard for it.
So so, knowing the expense,what percentage of people over
65 right now are going to needsome type of long-term care in

(01:43):
their lives?

Haley Matson (01:46):
right now are going to need some type of
long-term care in their lives.

Greg McIntyre (01:57):
Probably around 70 to 80 percent, 70 percent.
According to a 2005 Departmentof Health and Human Services
study, 70 percent of people over65 in America are going to need
some type of long-term care.
Long-term care, really, they'redefining as in-home assisted
living or nursing home care,right?
So if I told you there was a 70percent chance that a meteor

(02:17):
was going to hit your office andcome through that window right
now, would you move?
I would move, you probablywould move.
If you believe that, right?
Yeah, so so you know it's.
It's.
How do I move?
How, if I know this, if I'mover 65 right now, if, if I'm
worried about the high cost oflong term care, if I care about

(02:39):
protecting my assets, if I wantto have control of them, I want
to keep my house, you know, Iwant to maybe consider
qualifying for a benefit that Ipaid for many times over again
with my tax dollars during mylife.

Haley Matson (02:58):
What are?

Greg McIntyre (02:59):
my options in 2025?
.

Haley Matson (03:01):
First thing that I would suggest and the first
thing I would do is I would gosee an estate planning attorney
as soon as possible.
I would go see one who can setme up with some sort of like
trust.
If we're at that point wheremaybe I don't need care in the
next five years, maybe we canlook at other options to protect
our assets, like Lady Bird Deedon the home, and maybe we can

(03:22):
even do that benefits planningprior to needing to actually get
into care, because that's theway that you're going to save
the most of your assets by doingit early.

Greg McIntyre (03:31):
So planning ahead right, planning ahead is best.
Yeah, preparation is betterthan cramming the night before
for the test, right?

Haley Matson (03:43):
Absolutely.

Greg McIntyre (03:44):
So, yeah, you know I'm going to do better on
the test, right, as long as I'mprepared, do better for anything
.
So if I come to you and I wantto plan ahead, let's talk about
trust.
What might I put in trust?
Would I put my house in trust?
Would I put, let's say, I havesome investment accounts, I have
some CDs, I can put all thosein trust, right, yep, I have
some investment accounts, I havesome CDs, I can put all those

(04:05):
in trust.

Haley Matson (04:05):
right, yep, you can put all of them in trust.

Greg McIntyre (04:07):
Okay, and I can set that trust up.
You guys know how to set thatup so that it's, according to
the benefits rules, notcountable as my asset, right?

Haley Matson (04:20):
Yes, you got to do it early.
Though, if we're looking atbenefits, there is that like
five year look back period.
So for that irrevocable trust,which is the one that will get
those assets out of your name,you just want to make sure you
do that as early as possible,but we can absolutely set you up
with that.

Greg McIntyre (04:37):
No time like the present right.
So present being present,present planning.
You know that's what we want todo.
We want to show up early, wewant to show up now.
We want to be fully present andtake inventory of what we have
the people in our lives, theassets and then start to
formulate our goals and how wewant the plan to look to protect

(05:00):
what we have, stay in control,hopefully, of what we have and
access a benefit to pay for longterm care, set ourselves up for
success Right.
Oh, yeah, absolutely path, andthe path is toward staying in

(05:22):
control of assets, keeping myassets qualifying for long-term
care benefits.
It's important that I set thecourse early so that I end up in
the right place right.
Yes, sir, absolutely A fewdegrees off and we could end up
in the wrong place in a journeyof five that takes five years,
right, yep, so it's important toplan correctly.
And then, what about the house?
You know, I have heard a lotabout this ladybird deed, the

(05:43):
enhanced life estate deed.
Tell me how that works.

Haley Matson (05:46):
So the ladybird deed or the enhanced life estate
deed is going to allow you toown and live in your home for
the rest of your life, until youand or your spouse passes away,
and then it gives a beneficiarywho's listed on the deed your
home.
So it works a lot like a pay ondeath for a bank account where

(06:07):
they really can't access thehome.
They don't have any rights tosell it or anything like that
until after you, and if maybe aspouse is listed on your deed
until both of you pass away, itgives you a lot of freedom.

Greg McIntyre (06:19):
And then it belongs to the kids, then it
belongs to my kids if I put themon there.

Haley Matson (06:22):
Yeah, then it belongs to your kids.

Greg McIntyre (06:24):
And even if I access a benefit me and my wife
let's say North CarolinaMedicaid nobody can come back
and take it from me or from thekids.

Haley Matson (06:34):
Doesn't go through probate, so it's safe for the
kids.

Greg McIntyre (06:38):
Because probate what's the big deal with probate
Probate's?
That only window, isn't it whenclaims can attach to your
estate when you leave thoseassets to go through probate
right.

Haley Matson (06:49):
Yep.

Greg McIntyre (06:50):
Now, let's say I need a benefit.
Can you guys handle at the time, me, my wife, you know, if we
come to you, somebody comes toyou, my agent, under a power of
attorney, they come to you.
We set that up.
Um, can you guys handleactivating the benefit for me?

Haley Matson (07:06):
Yeah, that's absolutely something that we can
handle.
Okay, frequently yeah.

Greg McIntyre (07:10):
So you have a benefits department.
We handle that right.

Haley Matson (07:14):
We have a whole benefits department with some
awesome, super knowledgeablepeople, so we work on it all the
time and we have plenty ofexperience.

Greg McIntyre (07:23):
So, you know, I feel like we've built the whole
structure here, but I'veforgotten to talk about
foundations.
I don't want to skip over those.
Hey, I don't want to wind up inguardianship here if something
happens to me.
I want to make sure that ifsomething does happen to me and
I need assisted living, nursinghome care, I want to avoid those
costs, even if I fail to dosome planning.

(07:44):
You know, hey, I don't want toget stuck with with all our
assets frozen me and my wife,things like that.
I want to make sure I appointthe right person to make my
healthcare decisions.
I want to make sure they canwork with you.

Haley Matson (07:58):
Yeah.

Greg McIntyre (07:58):
They need to to protect assets and activate
benefits for me.

Haley Matson (08:03):
Yeah, how do.

Greg McIntyre (08:04):
I do that.

Haley Matson (08:18):
You're going to need to get a general, durable
power of attorney, which is anagent who can handle.
How do I do that?
But that gives them the rightto access your financial and
legal stuff and also gives themthe authority to help you make
health care decisions when youno longer can.

Greg McIntyre (08:35):
That is awesome.

Haley Matson (08:39):
It's awesome.

Greg McIntyre (08:40):
Sounds like you guys have a comprehensive estate
planning and elder law practice.

Haley Matson (08:45):
I think we do.

Greg McIntyre (08:46):
I know we do.
Hey, you know that was a funexercise.
Thank you, attorney Mattson.
Attorney Mattson is aphenomenal attorney and
extremely sharp.
I'm blessed to be able to workwith her.
Thank you for doing this videoeducational video with me,
attorney Mattson.
You know so.
At our firm at McIntyre ElderLaw, that's what we handle.
We understand the high cost oflong-term care.

(09:08):
We do estate planning acrossthe board for all kinds of
issues, but we understand thatwe need to keep one eye on the
high cost of long-term care, onpreserving assets and on opening
yourself and the client up tobenefits so that you have a good

(09:29):
experience in your life, youhave peace of mind, and we want
your life to be made easier withthe ability to pay for care and
not have to lose everythingyou've worked for your entire
life.
I think that's a travesty andthat's essentially what our
practice is based around ishelping you avoid those
situations.

(09:49):
We will be glad to offer a freeconsultation to sit down with
one of our attorneys, includingme or Attorney Madsen.
You can schedule directly onour calendars by going to MC.
That's MikeCharlieElderLawcom.
Mcelderlawcom.
Slash scheduling elderlawcom.
Mcelderlawcom.
Slash scheduling.
Or you can please give us acall 1-888-999-6600.

(10:13):
And one of our great folks willhelp you schedule that
consultation, so thanks attorneyMadsen and we'll see you next

(10:33):
week on the elder law report.

Haley Matson (10:34):
Sounds good, Thank you.