Nursing Home Asset Protection in Myrtle Beach, SC

If you have questions about nursing home costs and their effect on your savings and property, call Bespoke Estate Law. As part of our broader estate planning and elder law practice, we provide legal guidance on asset protection, trusts, property transfers, and long-term care planning. Contact us today for a complimentary consultation.

Protecting Assets From Long-Term Care Costs

A nursing home stay can consume savings much faster than many families expect. When long-term care becomes a possibility, clients commonly have questions about the property they have spent decades accumulating. What happens to the house? Should investments be moved? Would a trust help? Can assets still pass to children?

The answers depend on what you own, how property is titled, whether you are married, and when planning begins. Previous gifts and transfers may also affect the available options.

Your House May Require the Most Attention

Many of the families we work with think about their house first and foremost. Perhaps a husband needs nursing home care while his wife intends to remain in their home in Myrtle Beach. A widow may want the property to pass to her children eventually, but needs to consider long-term care first.

South Carolina's Medicaid estate recovery law adds another consideration. S.C. Code § 43-7-460 states that the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is directed to seek recovery from the estates of certain Medicaid recipients for specified assistance paid on their behalf. The statute also limits recovery under certain circumstances involving a surviving spouse and particular children.

The house should therefore be reviewed in light of ownership, family circumstances, Medicaid rules, and the client's eventual estate plan. For a careful review of your situation, give us a call.

Trusts Can Help, but the Type of Trust Matters as Well

Clients sometimes come across the idea that putting a house or savings account into a trust will keep those assets safe from future nursing home expenses. A trust may indeed have a role in asset protection, but simply creating a standard revocable living trust does not accomplish that objective.

South Carolina law generally makes property in a revocable trust subject to claims against the settlor during the settlor's lifetime. See S.C. Code § 62-7-505. Different trust arrangements may be considered when long-term care is part of the planning discussion, depending on the client's circumstances and how far in advance the planning begins.

Protect the Spouse Who Remains at Home

When one spouse requires nursing home care, they want to know what will remain available for the husband or wife who continues living independently.

Medicaid law contains protections designed to prevent a spouse at home from becoming impoverished simply because the other spouse requires institutional care. Those rules can affect how income and assets are treated. Before a couple gives property to children or starts moving money between accounts, their finances should be reviewed with these protections in mind.

Transferring Assets to Children Can Create New Problems

Imagine a widowed father who owns his home outright and begins having health problems. A friend tells him to put the house in his daughter's name before he needs nursing home care, so he signs a deed transferring the property to her.

That decision could create several legal and financial issues. Medicaid applies rules to certain transfers made during the five years preceding an application for long-term care benefits. The father has also given up ownership of the property, which creates concerns beyond Medicaid. His daughter's creditors, divorce, financial problems, or death could now affect a house that was previously his. A deed is easy to sign, but undoing the consequences may be considerably harder; this is why you need an experienced estate planning attorney on your side.

Planning Before and After Nursing Home Care Begins

Advance planning generally provides more options because there is time to consider transfers, ownership, trusts, and the rest of the estate plan before care becomes urgent.

But families do not always have that luxury, since a stroke, fall, dementia diagnosis, or sudden hospitalization may result in nursing home care much sooner than expected. Even then, it is worth having an attorney review the situation before assuming that all assets must simply be spent on care.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a Nursing Home Take My House in South Carolina?

A nursing home does not simply take ownership of your house because you need care. However, paying for care, Medicaid eligibility, and South Carolina's estate recovery rules can affect what ultimately happens to the property.

Should I Put My House in My Children's Names?

Do not make the transfer without reviewing it first. Giving a house to a child changes ownership and may affect future Medicaid eligibility. It can also expose the property to circumstances involving the new owner.

Does a Revocable Living Trust Protect Assets From Nursing Home Costs?

Generally, no. Under S.C. Code § 62-7-505, assets in a revocable trust generally remain subject to the settlor's creditors during their lifetime. Other trust strategies may be appropriate depending on the circumstances.

Can My Spouse Keep Our House If I Enter a Nursing Home?

Protections may be available when one spouse requires nursing home care and the other remains at home. Ownership and the couple's overall financial circumstances should be reviewed before making changes to the property.

Is It Too Late To Protect Assets After Entering a Nursing Home?

No, not necessarily. The available options may be narrower than they would have been with advance planning, but entering a nursing home does not mean a family should abandon the planning process.

Does Nursing Home Asset Protection Mean Giving Away My Property?

No. Giving assets away without understanding the consequences can cause Medicaid eligibility and ownership problems. Asset protection should account for the property involved, timing, family circumstances, and the client's broader estate plan.

Speak With a Myrtle Beach Nursing Home Asset Protection Attorney

Bespoke Estate Law helps individuals and families throughout Myrtle Beach and the Grand Strand address nursing home asset protection as part of thoughtful elder law and estate planning. Contact our firm today to schedule a complimentary consultation.