Frequently Asked Questions

Medicaid planning is the legal process of structuring your finances to qualify for Medicaid-funded long-term care benefits while preserving as much of your estate as possible. Nursing home costs in Florida can exceed $10,000 per month. Planning in advance — or even during a care crisis — can help protect a significant portion of your assets from being spent down entirely.

Florida Medicaid applies a 60-month (five-year) lookback period when reviewing asset transfers for nursing home eligibility. If you transferred assets during that period without receiving fair market value in return, Medicaid may impose a penalty period during which you are disqualified from benefits. Proper planning must account for this rule carefully.

Countable assets include bank accounts, investments, second properties, and most other financial holdings. Certain assets are exempt, including a primary residence (under specific conditions), one vehicle, prepaid funeral arrangements, and personal property. The rules differ for married couples versus single applicants, making legal guidance essential before submitting a Medicaid application.

Crisis Medicaid planning applies when someone needs nursing home care immediately and has not completed advance planning. Even at this stage, legal strategies may still be available to protect a portion of the estate. These options are time-sensitive and complex — clients in Delray Beach, Florida and throughout South Florida regularly work with our firm to address these situations quickly.

VA Aid and Attendance is an enhanced pension benefit available to wartime veterans and surviving spouses who require assistance with daily living activities. It helps cover the cost of in-home care, assisted living, or nursing home care. The benefit is not widely publicized, and many qualifying individuals in Fort Lauderdale, Florida are unaware they may be entitled to it.

To qualify for VA pension benefits, a veteran must have served at least 90 days of active duty with at least one day during a wartime period, received an other-than-dishonorable discharge, and meet financial and medical requirements. Surviving spouses may also qualify. Income, assets, and care needs are all evaluated as part of the eligibility determination.

A VA pension claim typically requires military discharge documentation (DD-214), medical records confirming a care need, proof of income and assets, current care facility information, and completed VA application forms. Organizing and submitting this documentation correctly is critical to avoiding delays or denials. Clients in Tampa, Florida and Greenville, South Carolina work with us to compile and submit complete, accurate claims.

Processing times vary, but VA pension claims can take several months. Incomplete applications, missing documentation, or errors in the submission can extend that timeline significantly. Working with an elder law attorney from the start helps reduce back-and-forth with the VA and improves the likelihood of a timely decision.

Probate is the court-supervised process of validating a deceased person's will, paying debts, and distributing remaining assets to heirs. In Florida, probate is required when a decedent owns assets solely in their name without a designated beneficiary. The process can take months to over a year, depending on the complexity of the estate.

Assets titled solely in the deceased person's name — without a joint owner or beneficiary designation — typically go through probate. This includes individually owned bank accounts, real property, vehicles, and personal property. Assets held in a trust, jointly owned property, life insurance with named beneficiaries, and retirement accounts generally bypass probate.

Summary administration is a simplified probate process available in Florida when the total value of probate assets does not exceed $75,000 or the decedent has been deceased for more than two years. It is faster and less costly than formal administration. However, it is not available in all situations, and eligibility must be carefully evaluated.

Probate can be avoided through revocable living trusts, beneficiary designations on accounts, joint ownership of property, and enhanced life estate deeds (Lady Bird deeds). Proper estate planning in Fort Lauderdale, Florida eliminates or minimizes probate exposure, helping your family avoid the time, cost, and public nature of the court process.

Asset protection planning involves legally restructuring your financial affairs to shield assets from future creditors, lawsuits, or long-term care costs. It is proactive planning — not a last-minute response to an existing threat. The goal is to preserve what you have worked to build while remaining in full compliance with the law.

Florida law provides strong asset protection for certain assets. A primary homestead is protected from most creditors under the Florida Constitution's homestead exemption. Additionally, IRAs and qualified retirement accounts, life insurance cash value, and annuity proceeds carry significant protection under state law. Proper planning leverages these protections and, where appropriate, adds additional layers of legal structure.

An irrevocable trust is a trust that cannot be modified or revoked once it is established without the consent of the beneficiaries. Because the assets are no longer owned by the grantor, they may be shielded from creditors and excluded from Medicaid eligibility calculations, subject to applicable rules and timeframes. Families in Delray Beach, Florida and Tampa, Florida commonly use irrevocable trusts as part of a broader long-term care strategy.

The earlier, the better. Once a lawsuit is filed or a care need arises, legal options narrow considerably. Transfers made too close to a Medicaid application or during existing financial threats may be challenged. Planning well in advance allows for a full range of legal strategies and avoids the risks associated with last-minute arrangements.

A Special Needs Trust (SNT) is a legal arrangement that holds assets for the benefit of a person with a disability without disqualifying them from government benefits such as Medicaid or Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Assets in a properly structured SNT can be used to enhance the individual's quality of life — covering expenses that government programs do not. Families across Fort Lauderdale, Florida and Greenville, South Carolina use SNTs to secure long-term financial support for loved ones with disabilities.

An ABLE account is a tax-advantaged savings account available to individuals who became disabled before age 26. It allows the account holder to save up to a set annual limit without affecting most government benefit eligibility. ABLE accounts are flexible and can be used for qualified disability expenses such as housing, education, transportation, and healthcare. They are often used alongside a Special Needs Trust.

A trustee of a Special Needs Trust can be a family member, a trusted individual, a nonprofit organization, or a professional corporate trustee. The trustee manages distributions and ensures the trust is administered in compliance with government benefit rules. Choosing the right trustee is a critical decision — the wrong choice can jeopardize both the trust's integrity and the beneficiary's benefits.

Without proper planning, an inheritance or financial gift given directly to a person with a disability can exceed asset limits and result in loss of Medicaid or SSI eligibility. A properly drafted Special Needs Trust or ABLE account ensures that financial support reaches the individual without interrupting essential benefits. Coordinating these tools is a core part of what Elder Legal Solutions provides to families throughout Fort Lauderdale, Florida.