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Medicaid – Annabel
(66 years old)

medicaid

Annabel is a successful business owner in her 60s that is concerned with her eventual need for Medicaid. This concern stems from the experience she had with her parents, who both eventually needed to be cared for 24 hours a day. When they applied for Medicaid, a lien was placed on their home. They also were told that they needed to spend down their accounts and cash out their insurance policies and apply this to their cost of care before they would receive state assistance. Annabel has an estate that is close to a total of $2mil. This includes her residential home, vacation home, investment account and life insurance policy – and she wants to make sure that all of this is protected so that she can pass them along to her three children; Stephanie, Marie and Joseph.

After her husband passed, Annabel knew that she needed to get her business rolling to start bringing in some income before the funds from her husbands’ life insurance policy ran out. She started small, with booths at local fairs and farmers markets selling her homemade goods, and now she has multiple store fronts and sells her products online. She has a lot of passion for her business. After all, it is what made it possible for her to take care of herself and her three children after the sudden passing of her husband.

The oldest of her three children, Stephanie, is a stay at home mom. She is married with two children, and has another on the way! Annabel would love for Stephanie to take over her business. Her middle child, Marie, lives a nomadic lifestyle as an artist. Annabel wants to make sure that Marie is able to continue pursuing her passion, she knows it’s what truly makes her daughter happy and fulfilled. Her youngest, Joseph, was recently divorced by his wife. He had proposed fairly quickly, moved into her house and spent well over half of his savings making various updates to her home. Months after they were wed, she asked for a divorce which left him with next to nothing. Joseph is now living in Annabel’s spare bedroom while he gets back on his feet.

Annabel was voicing her concerns to her trusted financial advisor, who then recommended that she set up a free initial consult with Legacy Counsellors, P.C. During her consult she expressed her past experiences, her business, the three of her children and all of the concerns that she has. When the Attorney brought up something called a Medicaid Asset Protection Trust, she knew that’s what she needed. She could put her assets into this trust, and after only five years, all of those assets will be protected from the dreaded Medicaid spend down and her children will be able to benefit from this specific estate plan.