As an elder law attorney, I spend a lot of time talking with clients about paying for long-term care and how to “protect” their assets.  Many of these conversations are precipitated by ads clients hear on the radio or see in print, urging them to act quickly to protect their assets from the high cost of nursing home care, and making it seem easy as pie to do so while still enjoying full control.  In long-term care planning, as in life, it is not possible to have your cake and eat it too as these ads would have you believe.

In order to keep your options open to live where you want to live as you get older you need resources.   Much of the pre-planning that is done to “protect” assets involves removing assets from your control, with the result that the asset are not available to pay for care you may need down the road.  Putting resources beyond your reach may mean that you will need to apply for public benefits to pay for care.  Although the availability of public benefits to pay for care in settings other than a nursing home is improving, public benefits are still predominately available for nursing home care.  I have yet to meet a client who would rather be in a nursing home rather than at home or in another less restrictive setting such as an assisted living facility or a continuing care community.

The planning to protect assets that you hear about on the radio or see in print ads is often about protecting your assets for future generations rather than protecting those assets for you or your spouse.  If you have been thinking about long-term care and asset protection issues, seek the advice of an experienced elder law attorney.  If your attorney does not discuss the risks or downsides of a particular asset protection strategy, ask questions about the disadvantages of such planning and make sure you understand the consequences before proceeding.  An experienced elder law attorney can counsel you on the benefits and risks of various asset protection strategies and help you decide what is best for you and your family.

Click here for an excellent article written by my partner Suzanne Sayward in November 2013 about why you might not want to transfer your assets to an irrevocable trust.

Published December, 2013