Financial advisor or lawyer?

[FloridaJim57]

My wife is trying to learn more about shielding my traditional IRA from Medicaid. I know that Medicaid laws vary from state to state (I am a Florida resident). Should she speak to a financial advisor or an attorney specializing in Medicaid? Just to be clear here, at this time I am in perfect health and as far as I can see mentally competent and am (I hope) a ways off from a nursing home or whatever. But she worries about such things and I guess that's good.

 

[braumeister]

This might be a place to start.
How Can I Protect My IRA From Medicaid?

 

[Sunset]

This might be a place to start.
How Can I Protect My IRA From Medicaid?

Thanks....... Looks like OP doesn't need to worry about spending down the IRA.

Seems like I need to worry a bit, as in IL, my and spouse IRA are counted, don't think I want to spend down DW's IRA when I'm in a nursing home, leaving her with nothing if I live a long time.

 

[OldShooter]

Attorney. There should be an ample supply of specialist attorneys in FL for you to interview and choose from.

Remember, too, that someone with "Financial Advisor" on their business card may have no qualifications at all.

​

 

[Koolau]

My wife is trying to learn more about shielding my traditional IRA from Medicaid. I know that Medicaid laws vary from state to state (I am a Florida resident). Should she speak to a financial advisor or an attorney specializing in Medicaid? Just to be clear here, at this time I am in perfect health and as far as I can see mentally competent and am (I hope) a ways off from a nursing home or whatever. But she worries about such things and I guess that's good.

I'm curious what brought this to your wife's mind. Is your stash low enough that a year or two nursing home stay would wipe you out?

In our case, I worry about if BOTH of us need a nursing home for several years. THAT would be potentially disastrous to our stash. We planned 25 years ago by taking out LTC insurance. Even that is, of course, limited to 3 years IIRC.

 

[Texas Proud]

I would go to a nursing home and ask the manager... when we found one for my mom the first thing they asked was about finances and gave us some names of people who volunteer to see if they could get 'help' paying the bill..

 

[medved]

I would seek advice from a trusts & estates attorney, rather than a FA. This is a legal issue -- and a common one faced by T&E attorneys especially in FL.

 

[pb4uski]

I'm not keen on taxpayers paying for anyone's long term care if the person has resourses that could be used to pay for it themselves. These Medicaid LTC planning schemes are one of my pet peves and I wish they were outlawed.

If long-term care costs end up exhausting someone's resources then I'm ok with taxpayers stepping up.

 

[OldShooter]

I'm not keen on taxpayers paying for anyone's long term care if the person has resourses that could be used to pay for it themselves. These Medicaid LTC planning schemes are one of my pet peves and I wish they were outlawed.

If long-term care costs end up exhausting someone's resources then I'm ok with taxpayers stepping up.

I agree completely and the rules of the game are designed to make people with resources pay their own way. But there are many workarounds and loopholes. It's hard for me to blame people for taking advantage of them. It's similar to the Learned Hand opinion: "Any one may so arrange his affairs that his taxes shall be as low as possible; he is not bound to choose that pattern which will best pay the Treasury; there is not even a patriotic duty to increase one's taxes."

 

[RetiredHappy]

I'm not keen on taxpayers paying for anyone's long term care if the person has resourses that could be used to pay for it themselves. These Medicaid LTC planning schemes are one of my pet peves and I wish they were outlawed.

If long-term care costs end up exhausting someone's resources then I'm ok with taxpayers stepping up.

I am in total agreement. But what is being done is legal, as much as I hate it. It is no different from rich retirees being able to make use of ACA subsidies by managing their income. I hate that ACA laws is written in the way that wealthy/high net worth folks can get significant subsidies. Nothing that I can do about it.

 

[oldtimer]

You need to talk with an attorney that specializes in elder law, not estate law.

 

[medved]

You need to talk with an attorney that specializes in elder law, not estate law.

Actually, T&E lawyers -- especially in Florida -- are typically well-suited to advise about lawfully protecting assets while ensuring Medicaid eligibility, whether done through MAPTs or otherwise. (There may be "elder law" attorneys who are also capable of providing this advice). What a lawyer does/knows is more important than how the lawyer labels his/her area of practice.

 

[street]

You need to talk with an attorney that specializes in elder law, not estate law.

This ^ more so than a FA. My family attorney has given us an attorney to go see that is an expert of elder law dealing with finances. We will also talk to him this fall and get things rolling in the right direction.

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

Here in NY some counties are requiring MORE than RMD distributions from tax-deferred accounts.

It appears to vary by county, here is a blurb I managed to find:

Many county Departments of Social Services require that the Medicaid applicant take distributions from retirement accounts in accordance with life expectancy tables utilized by the Social Security Administration. However, other counties treat retirement accounts as exempt resources if an applicant is over the age of 70 ½ and is taking only the minimum required distribution (“RMD”) required by the IRS Tables. Many permit the use of the IRS RMD tables for married applicants, but require the use of the Social Security tables for single individuals. See, annexed Memorandum dated July 15, 2014 from the Oneida County Department of Social Services Legal Division which indicates that the SSA tables shall be used for single individuals but that the IRS RMD may be used for married individuals who are subject to spousal budgeting. The memo indicates that this interpretation was the result of a conversation between the writer and Eileen Brennan of the NYS Office of Medicaid Management. ]

Link: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://nysba.org/NYSBA/Coursebooks/Fall%202014%20CLE%20Coursebooks/Intermediate%20Elder%20Law%20Update/5_Medicaid%20Treatment%20of%20Retirement%20Plans-NYSBA%20revised%20October%202014%20(Topic%20V).pdf