Medicaid Planning in Myrtle Beach, SC

Bespoke Estate Law helps individuals and families in Myrtle Beach and the Grand Strand prepare for the legal and financial issues that can accompany long-term care. Our Medicaid planning services address eligibility, assets, property, trusts, and related estate planning concerns. Contact our firm today for a complimentary consultation, and allow us to help you plan for the future.

Medicaid Planning for Long-Term Care

How will you pay for long-term care without unnecessarily exhausting the assets you spent a lifetime accumulating?

The answer depends heavily on your individual circumstances. South Carolina Medicaid has rules involving income, assets, prior transfers, and the level of care an applicant requires. Current state eligibility requirements also distinguish long-term care Medicaid from ordinary health coverage.

Our elder law attorneys can review those issues alongside your existing estate plan. That may include property ownership, retirement savings, previous gifts, beneficiary arrangements, and the legal documents already in place.

Plan Before Long-Term Care Becomes an Immediate Need

Families sometimes make gifts or transfer property without realizing that the decision could affect a future Medicaid application. Federal Medicaid law generally applies a five-year look-back period to certain transfers made before an individual seeks long-term care benefits.

For example, simply signing a house over to an adult child is not necessarily the best way to protect it. The timing and circumstances of the transfer need to be considered first.

Planning several years before nursing home care is needed usually provides more room to evaluate the available options. If that opportunity has already passed, however, it is still worth speaking with an attorney before making additional transfers or financial changes.

Protecting Assets While Planning for Medicaid Eligibility

Asset protection in the Medicaid context requires more than moving money from one account to another. Our attorneys look at the client's overall circumstances, including the types of assets owned, how they are titled, previous transfers, family needs, and the possibility of future long-term care.

Trust planning may be appropriate in certain situations, but the type of trust makes a considerable difference. For example, property held in a revocable trust generally remains subject to claims of the settlor's creditors during the settlor's lifetime, per S.C. Code § 62-7-505. Simply moving assets into a revocable living trust should not be confused with Medicaid asset protection. The legal strategy needs to account for the client's property, timing, Medicaid rules, and estate planning goals.

Your Home Requires Its Own Analysis

For many families, the house is the asset they worry about most. Questions about transferring it to children or placing it into a trust should be considered alongside Medicaid eligibility and what may happen after the recipient's death.

South Carolina's Medicaid estate recovery law is found at S.C. Code § 43-7-460. The statute directs the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services to seek recovery from the estates of certain Medicaid recipients for specified medical assistance. It also places limits on when recovery may occur, including protections involving a surviving spouse and certain children. This is one reason the family home deserves its own analysis before anyone signs a deed or makes other changes to ownership.

Hypotheticals

Imagine a married couple in Myrtle Beach who have owned their home for thirty years when the husband eventually requires nursing home care and receives Medicaid benefits. His wife continues living in the house, so the estate recovery rules involving a surviving spouse become relevant. Now change the facts: suppose the wife died several years earlier, and an adult daughter has been living in the home while helping care for her father. Or imagine that the parents transferred the house to their children shortly before the nursing home admission because they assumed putting the property in someone else's name would solve the problem. Each scenario raises a different set of questions involving Medicaid eligibility, prior transfers, ownership of the home, and possible estate recovery. A family should understand those consequences before changing a deed based on something they heard from a neighbor or read online.

If you have questions about any of the above, call our law firm right away.

Medicaid Planning When One Spouse Needs Care

A married couple may be concerned that nursing home care for one spouse will leave the spouse at home without enough money to live independently.

Medicaid rules recognize this concern and provide certain protections for a spouse who remains in the community. The analysis may involve income as well as assets owned by either or both spouses. Current South Carolina Medicaid rules, for example, specifically recognize a spousal allocation in the long-term care eligibility framework.

Before transferring assets between spouses or making other significant changes, it helps to understand how those rules apply to the couple's actual finances.

When Trusts and Powers of Attorney Become Part of the Plan

Existing estate planning documents will need a review when you begin planning for Medicaid. A trust created years ago may affect how certain property is owned, while a properly drafted power of attorney can become particularly important if declining health eventually prevents someone from handling financial matters personally.

We do not automatically recommend a trust simply because someone is concerned about Medicaid. The appropriate legal tools depend on the client's assets, timing, family situation, and goals.

Medicaid Planning After a Diagnosis or Nursing Home Admission

Ideally, families address long-term care well before it becomes necessary, but of course, life does not always cooperate.

A stroke, Alzheimer's diagnosis, fall, or sudden decline in health may bring these questions to the surface quickly. Even after someone has entered a nursing home, families should avoid assuming that planning opportunities have disappeared. An attorney can review the situation and determine what options remain under the applicable rules.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Medicare Pay for Long-Term Nursing Home Care?

Medicare may cover certain limited skilled nursing services, but it is not designed to pay indefinitely for custodial nursing home care. Medicaid is often the program families encounter when longer-term care becomes necessary.

Can I Give My House to My Children Before Applying for Medicaid?

You can transfer property, but doing so may affect Medicaid eligibility. Talk with an attorney before making the transfer, particularly if long-term care could become necessary within the five-year look-back period.

What Is the Five-Year Medicaid Look-Back Period?

Medicaid reviews certain transfers made during the five years before an application for long-term care benefits. Gifts and transfers made during that period can potentially affect eligibility.

Can My Spouse Keep Assets If I Need Nursing Home Care?

Yes, Medicaid rules provide protections for a spouse who remains in the community. The amount and treatment of particular assets depend on the couple's circumstances and current eligibility rules.

Is It Too Late for Medicaid Planning If Someone Is Already in a Nursing Home?

No. Fewer options may be available than with advance planning, but an attorney can still review the person's assets, prior transfers, marital circumstances, and eligibility issues.

Does Medicaid Planning Require a Trust?

No. A trust may be useful in certain circumstances, but Medicaid planning does not automatically require one. The appropriate strategy depends on the client's property, family circumstances, timing, and long-term plans.

Speak With a Myrtle Beach Medicaid Planning Attorney

Bespoke Estate Law helps families throughout Myrtle Beach and the Grand Strand areas with Medicaid planning within the larger context of elder law and estate planning. If you have concerns about long-term care, Medicaid eligibility, or protecting family assets, contact us today for a complimentary consultation.