To qualify for Medicaid in Michigan to receive funds to help pay for nursing home care, a single individual or widow can only have $2,000 worth of countable assets.

Does a land contract count towards that asset limit or is it considered an income stream for Medicaid in Michigan?

The answer is….it depends.  Just like many legal questions there are a number of factors in whether the land contract is an income stream or an asset.

A seller’s interest in a land contract is typically viewed as an asset according to the BEM (the manual case workers use to administer Medicaid in Michigan).  The value of the asset is what the land contract could be sold for in the owner’s local area on short notice.  The land contract is the present value unless 2 banks or real estate appraisers say it is non-assignable or that it has zero value.  If that’s the case the the land contract would be valued as an income stream.

What To Do with a Land Contract and Medicaid?

So what to do?  It depends on what your family’s goals.  I’d recommend engaging a Certified Elder Law Attorney to advise on legal strategies to plan for Medicaid.  For example, a half-loaf plan could be used to protect 50-60% of a single individuals assets from nursing home or Medicaid spend down.  With a married couple, we may be able to protect 100% of the assets, so that the all of the assets are available for the health, community spouse.  Give us a call at (888) 390-4360 and we can discuss all the potential options to plan for your family.

The post Does a Land Contract Count Towards the Medicaid Asset Limit in Michigan? appeared first on Estate Planning Lawyers | Elder Law Attorneys | Brighton | Novi | Livonia Elder Law Attorneys.

To qualify for Medicaid in Michigan to receive funds to help pay for nursing home care, a single individual or widow can only have $2,000 worth of countable assets.

Does a land contract count towards that asset limit or is it considered an income stream for Medicaid in Michigan?

The answer is….it depends.  Just like many legal questions there are a number of factors in whether the land contract is an income stream or an asset.

A seller’s interest in a land contract is typically viewed as an asset according to the BEM (the manual case workers use to administer Medicaid in Michigan).  The value of the asset is what the land contract could be sold for in the owner’s local area on short notice.  The land contract is the present value unless 2 banks or real estate appraisers say it is non-assignable or that it has zero value.  If that’s the case the the land contract would be valued as an income stream.

What To Do with a Land Contract and Medicaid?

So what to do?  It depends on what your family’s goals.  I’d recommend engaging a Certified Elder Law Attorney to advise on legal strategies to plan for Medicaid.  For example, a half-loaf plan could be used to protect 50-60% of a single individuals assets from nursing home or Medicaid spend down.  With a married couple, we may be able to protect 100% of the assets, so that the all of the assets are available for the health, community spouse.  Give us a call at (888) 390-4360 and we can discuss all the potential options to plan for your family.

The post Does a Land Contract Count Towards the Medicaid Asset Limit in Michigan? appeared first on The Elder Care Firm.

Hire a Medicaid Planning Lawyer

Having a Certified Elder Law Attorney on your side makes the process of filing for nursing home medicaid so much easier.  There are many pitfalls for those unaware.  If the nursing home Medicaid application isn’t completed properly then your loved one could either be turned down for Medicaid or sacrifice assets that wouldn’t need to be spent down if working with an elder law attorney who is an expert on Michigan Medicaid planning.

What’s Required to Apply for Medicaid in Michigan

There really are only two things necessary to apply for Medicaid in Michigan.  First you need to fill out the actual Medicaid application.  Next you need to provide documentation to verify general and financial requirements.

Sounds simple, right?  If only it was that easy.  There is an art and science to putting together a Medicaid application that is accepted by the Department of Human Services (DHS)

Once you’re found eligible medically for nursing home Medicaid, then you must pass the financial asset test as well.  For a single individual you can only have $2,000 in countable assets to qualify for Medicaid.  A Michigan elder law attorney can help you protect more than the $2,000 through proper Medicaid planning.

Some of the documents DHS may ask to help prove financial eligibility include current tax bills, real estate appraisal, copies of mortgage, bank statements and even bank statements from the previous 5 years.

Married Couples Qualifying for Medicaid

If you’re married and have a loved one in a nursing home and you’re looking to qualify for Medicaid, you will also need to provide a snapshot of your assets upon first entering the hospital or nursing home.  This can help establish how much the community spouse may be able to protect with the help of a Medicaid planning elder law.

Medicaid Planning is Not a Do-It-Yourself Project

It is important to hire a Michigan Medicaid planning lawyer if you’re completing a Medicaid application because there are many dangers to watch out for an opportunities that can be missed.

If you need help with Medicaid for a loved on in Macomb, Oakland, Wayne or Livingston county, contact our office and we’ll be able to offer expert assistance as one of a handful of Certified Elder Law Attorneys (CELA) in all of Michigan.

The post Michigan Medicaid Applications for Nursing Home Care appeared first on Estate Planning Lawyers | Elder Law Attorneys | Brighton | Novi | Livonia Elder Law Attorneys.

When applying for Michigan Nursing Home Medicaid for a married couple, special planning needs to be done to protect the assets from nursing home or Medicaid spend down so that the community spouse is not completely impoverished.

Michigan Medicaid Asset Protection for Married Couples

Our elder law office with locations in Brighton, Bloomfield Hills, Livonia and Novi regularly protects almost all the assets for that community spouse and gets the spouse in the nursing qualified for Medicaid,  even if the family has $100k, $250k or more in assets.

But that’s just the first step of getting Medicaid qualified.

What happens if the community spouse, the “healthy” one, passes away first?

In Michigan, when one spouse is in a nursing home and applying for Medicaid, planning has to take into account the possibility that the spouse who is not in the nursing home may pass away first. This is because the community spouse’s death may make the spouse in the nursing home ineligible for Medicaid if proper legal planning is not done to ensure this doesn’t happen.

In order to qualify for Medicaid, a nursing home resident can have only a $2,000 in assets. However, if that community spouse passes away first and leaves those assets to the nursing home resident, the resident suddenly would be over Medicaid’s asset limit.  That’s a problem

Protection Against Loss of Medicaid Benefits

To protect against the lost of Medicaid benefits by the the community spouse passing away first, the community spouse should update their estate plan with a certified elder law attorney well versed in Medicaid planning and elder law.

That estate plan in our office would involve updating the will and trust, so as to provide for the spouse in the nursing home with a supplemental needs trust if necessary, then when the spouse in the nursing home passes away, the assets would flow to the kids or other beneficiaries.  The net effect is continuing the Medicaid benefits for the nursing home spouse, having a pot of resources to pay for additional services or care to improve quality of life, then the remaining assets going to the other beneficiaries upon death.

Expert Guidance from a Certified Elder Law Attorney

It’s important to seek out advice from a CELA (Certified Elder Law Attorney).  Any attorney can say they do elder law, only a Certified Elder Law Attorney has proven they are experts in elder law.

If you’d like help with your family’s Michigan Medicaid qualification needs, give us a call at (888) 390-4360, we serve families in Livingston, Oakland, Wayne and Macomb counties from our elder law attorney offices in Brighton, Livonia, Novi and Bloomfield Hills.

Click here to learn more: Michigan Medicaid Planning

The post What Happens to a Medicaid Recipient if the Health Spouse Dies First in Michigan? appeared first on Estate Planning Lawyers | Elder Law Attorneys | Brighton | Novi | Livonia Elder Law Attorneys.