Protecting Your Spouse from Nursing Home Costs

Protecting your loved ones from the devastating financial impact of long-term care costs is one of the most powerful gifts you can give them. In this eye-opening episode, attorneys Greg McIntyre and Haley Matson reveal crucial strategies to shield your home, retirement savings, and other assets if nursing home care becomes necessary in your future.

The conversation begins with a fundamental truth many families face: you've worked hard for your home, built a retirement fund over decades, and want to ensure these assets remain intact for your spouse and children. Without proper planning, the staggering costs of long-term care can rapidly deplete everything you've built. Thankfully, there are legal solutions available when you work with knowledgeable professionals.

Matson walks listeners through several powerful protection strategies, with special attention to the Lady Bird deed - a remarkable legal tool available in North Carolina that allows homeowners to maintain 100% ownership during their lifetime while ensuring the property transfers directly to beneficiaries upon death, bypassing probate and potential Medicaid recovery claims. The attorneys also discuss trust planning, last-minute crisis strategies for those who haven't planned ahead, and how careful asset restructuring can help qualify for benefits while preserving resources. As Matson aptly puts it, "Planning ahead is always better than cramming the night before the test," but solutions exist regardless of your current situation.

Ready to protect what matters most? Schedule a free consultation by calling 1-888-999-6600 or visiting mcelderlawcom/scheduling to speak directly with an attorney who can help safeguard your family's financial future.

Episode Transcript

Greg McIntyre (00:01):
how to protect your spouse if you might need
nursing home care in the future.
I love my wife.
She's my best friend.
She's my bestie.
I love my retirement if I'mever able to retire.
I love my house.
I've worked very hard for it.

(00:23):
I'm probably paying the bankback three times as much as I
paid for it to enjoy it, andit's where we're raising our
children.
So if I need some type ofassisted living, in-home or
nursing home care in the future,I want to make sure it doesn't
spin down all our retirement.
I want to make sure it doesn'tforce me to sell my house or

(00:47):
lose my house, and that I'm ableto take care of her if I need
care, take care of the kids if Ipass on.
So how do I protect it?
I'm here with attorney HaleyMatson and she's going to tell
us a step-by-step approach ofhow to protect your assets, how

(01:11):
to protect your spouse if youneed long-term care.
What's the first thing?
Haley on the list?

Haley Matson (01:19):
The first thing on the list is to go see an estate
planning attorney and they'regoing to take a peek at your
family, your assets and thehealth of your spouse to see if
there's any way that we canpreemptively move stuff from one
place to the other to keep itsafe.
We can also speak about, maybe,a ladybird deed for the home.

Greg McIntyre (01:42):
Or a trust or a trust.
I love to get in early and dotrust planning.
Planning ahead is always betterthan cramming the night before
the test.
We can do both.
But I like to create a nicesafe for the house and the other

(02:03):
assets so that you can keepthat door open and control them
and then shut that safe door ifsomebody needs long-term care,
if either spouse needs long-termcare.
Combine that with foundationalestate planning and you've
really got a recipe for success.
That way you have your agentsappointed to conduct business

(02:25):
for you legal, financialhealthcare.
You've avoided guardianships.
That's a beautiful thing andthat's planning ahead.
But, madsen, you mentioned theLady Bird deed, which is a sweet
deal in North Carolina and it'sa riff or an evolution of a

(02:45):
traditional life estate deed,called an enhanced life estate
deed, nicknamed the Lady Birddeed, probably because Lady Bird
Johnson was Lyndon B Johnson'sbeautiful wife and he protected
his spouse and he implementedthe Medicare and Medicaid system
.
Haley, what is a Lady Bird deedand how can it best protect

(03:09):
your house?

Haley Matson (03:10):
So a Lady Bird deed is a transfer on death deed
for your house.
So you and or your spouse canstill own the house 100%.
So you know, whichever one ofyou does pass away first, the
other one will still own thehouse.
No probate, no nothing.
Once both of you on the deed doend up passing away, then it's

(03:32):
going to move to the beneficiaryor beneficiaries that you have
listed.
The reason this keeps yourhouse safe from forcing a sale
because of Medicaid claims orsomething like that is because
it doesn't go through probate.
It's just a direct transfer toyour beneficiaries once both you
and or your spouse passes away.

Greg McIntyre (03:53):
That's a great explanation of a ladybird deed.
Keep your house, stay incontrol of it, not lose it to
the high cost of long-term care.
Pass it on to the kids.
What could be better than that?
And it's easy, right, supereasy.
So you have the trust.
You know, haley, I don't knowabout your clients, but a lot of

(04:16):
my clients.
Some of them want to do thetrust for the money and a
ladybird deal in the house.
So they'll separate thosethings.
Ladybird deed, you can do it atany point in time.
But again, better to plan ahead.
Let's say someone has failed toplan ahead.

(04:37):
If they failed to plan ahead,gosh.
One of the spouses has ahealthcare situation a fall, a
stroke, illness, injury andneeds extensive long-term care.
What solutions can we offerclients at that point?

Haley Matson (05:01):
If they're looking at the possibility of needing
long-term care and maybe theyhaven't planned ahead properly.
What we can do is we can dosome sort of benefits planning
for them, where we'll sit downand look at a total of all of
the assets kind of where we'reat with health, what a healthy
spouse has and the way thingsare distributed currently and we

(05:24):
can move those things aroundunder the Medicaid rules so that
we can make sure that you areeligible for a benefit if you
need one later on.
This can also protect yourspouse or you from any sort of
claims coming back and takingthat from you.

Greg McIntyre (05:42):
So really, we can offer a full coverage solution
to help protect your money, yourreal estate, your retirement
From a plan ahead perspective,to even those procrastinators
and crammers who wait until thelast second.

(06:04):
Until the last second, we'revery good and our goal is always
to save as close to 100% of theassets as possible while
qualifying the person that needscare for the much-needed
benefit.
Thank you, haley, fordiscussing this with me and
thank you, guys, for watchingtoday.
This is the Elder Law Report,where we strive and aim to bring

(06:27):
you great information to helpyou in your life regarding
estate planning and elder lawasset protection to help you
save your hard-earned money andproperty.
I would offer a freeconsultation to anyone out there
who would like to sit down andmake sure they have their
affairs in order and protectthemselves and their spouses.
You can access that freeconsole.

(06:49):
Give us a call 1-888-999-6600,or you can schedule directly on
our website with an attorney atmcelderlawcom.
Slash scheduling.
Thanks and have a great day.