We Helped Our Client Keep the Family Home After Her Spouse’s Unexpected Nursing Home Stay

Nursing home stays often drain finances more quickly than you may realize, and with only a single income—or no income at all—you can easily find yourself in a desperate situation nearly overnight. That’s the circumstance one of our clients found herself in after her husband was diagnosed with a brain tumor and required the constant care of a nursing home. With bills mounting and Medicaid draining her family’s remaining funds before covering expenses, our client was on the verge of losing her home and hard-earned assets.

Facing an Uncertain Financial Future

After that devastating change in her spouse’s health, our client was only expecting the nursing home stay to last a year or two at most. However, the man she had spent her life with wasn’t ready to let go just yet.

His tenacity was a blessing for the family, but one that came with unintended consequences. It simply would not be financially feasible to continue paying for a nursing home stay in the long term, and our client was unable to properly care for her spouse at home.

She was in a situation no one should ever find themselves in—having to plan on how to continue paying the bills while ensuring her spouse received the treatment he needed for his irreversible disability. Thankfully, she found hope for a solution at our seminar on estate planning and asset protection. Our firm got her husband qualified to for Medicaid to cover his nursing home costs and protected all the families assets.

Protecting Assets and Financial Stability With Outside-the-Box Solutions

While Medicaid was paying for a bed at the nursing home, the program wouldn’t allow our client to keep enough of her spouse’s income to survive. After a consultation to find out what path forward would work best for her, we came up with a solution that wouldn’t have been obvious without the assistance of an experienced elder law and estate planning lawyer.

With our help, she successfully petitioned the court for a legal proceeding known as a separation without divorce. Going through that process protected her spouse’s income from all being funneled towards Medicaid for the nursing home stay, while still providing alimony to keep money flowing in to cover monthly expenses.

Although the process was emotionally draining, our client told us it saved her life, because now she’s been able to keep her home and retains enough money to live comfortably after more than a decade of covering nursing home costs.

Let Our Experienced Estate Planning Lawyers Help You Plan for the Future

While this situation had a positive resolution, it could have been a disaster without the right attorney for the job showing up at the right time. That’s why it is so important for everyone to make an estate plan early and prepare for the possibility of an extended nursing home stay. You never know what life will throw your way, and it’s better to be prepared for these issues ahead of time so you don’t have to take the same drastic measures.

If you are facing serious financial pressure over the prospect of a loved one requiring 24/7 care through a nursing home, we can help by tailoring a plan to your specific circumstances using a large toolbox of unique and creative legal strategies that other lawyers aren’t aware of or even utilize.

Ready to get started?  Download our free book for more information on how we can work with you, or schedule a free 15-minute consultation to speak with us directly.