Glen Oaks Elder Law Attorney

Elder Law & Medicaid Planning Lawyers Serving Glen Oaks

Glen Oaks, Queens, is a neighborhood that lies near the Nassau County border. The postal codes of the Glen Oaks neighborhood include New Hyde Park, Floral Park, and Bellerose.

The main form of residences in Glen Oaks are garden apartments and are comprised of cooperative apartment complexes such as Glen Oaks Village and Parkwood Estates. In addition, Glen Oaks hosts the well-known North Shore Towers complex, a private high-rise apartment and country club.

Children gleefully travel to Glen Oaks to visit the animals at the Queens County Farm Museum which is a popular designated school field trip destination.

Glen Oaks is easily accessible from several major highways such as the Long Island Expressway, the Grand Central Parkway, and the Cross Island Parkway.

Glen Oaks residents can sleep soundly at night knowing that they are only minutes away from one of the largest and excellent medical facilities on Long Island, the Long Island Jewish Medical Center, which is situated in Glen Oaks, as well as North Shore Community Hospital which is minutes away as well.

Glen Oaks residents realize that it is not only important to do estate planning directing to whom your assets will go to after death, but also ensuring that there are in fact assets in the estate to distribute. With proper Medicaid asset protection planning, a resident can be cared for as they age, while also preserving their assets for the next generation.

There are ways to protect assets to become Medicaid eligible for long term care but sometimes protecting the home is often overlooked because a person can qualify for Medicaid if they reside in their home valued below $906,000 (2021 figure in NYS). However, it is important to understand that even if a person qualifies for care at home while owning their home, Medicaid has the right to recover from the Medicaid recipient’s estate, which in the case of a Medicaid recipient usually means only the house.

What is estate recovery?

After a Medicaid recipient dies, the state attempts to recoup from the Medicaid recipient’s estate the cost of the benefits it paid for the recipient’s care. This is called “estate recovery.” Because Medicaid qualifications require a person to have very little resources, but they can own their home worth $906,000, it is common that a Medicaid recipient’s house is his or her only estate asset. That is why it is so important to protect your home during your lifetime even if you can obtain Medicaid benefits without advance planning for your home.

Should I transfer my home to my children to protect it?

Most likely, no! Some uninformed people may simply recommend transferring their house to their children, but this is almost always a very poor idea. First of all, there can be adverse tax consequences that will likely outweigh any long term care savings and certainly outweigh the cost of proper planning with an elder law attorney. For example, if a primary residence is sold, there is no tax on the first $250,000 capital gain for an individual and $500,000 for a couple if the sold home was the seller’s primary residence. If the children own the home and the house is sold, the first $250,000 or $500,000 gain would be subject to significant capital gains tax. Further, once the parents die, the children will lose the step up in basis when they sell, and will need to pay capital gains tax on the increased value from the time their parents purchased the home instead of the value at the time of death, if the parents were to have owned the house during their lifetime. And last, if a nursing home is needed within five years of the transfer, a serious penalty would be assessed if a child can’t transfer the house back (i.e. deceased, house was part of divorce settlement, etc.).

There are safer and better ways to protect a home when faced with Medicaid long term care.

Esther Schwartz Zelmanovitz, PLLC can help Glen Oak residents, and others, implement trust planning as a strategy to prepare for Medicaid eligibility.

Medicaid Irrevocable Asset Protection Trust

A very important estate planning tool that is commonly used is an “irrevocable” trust. An irrevocable trust is meant to be, like it’s name, “irrevocable”; unable to be changed, revoked or modified. When it comes to Medicaid planning, it is a common tool to use an irrevocable trust for assets that a person wishes to protect and preserve so that Medicaid will not consider that asset available when it comes to Medicaid eligibility. The trust is designed that the “grantor”, the person that creates and funds the trust, is relinquishing control and rights to the assets placed int the trust. The principal assets that are placed in the trust cannot be paid or used for the grantor or the grantor’s spouse’s benefit.

The idea is that if it was available to you, Medicaid would consider it available for you to pay for your own care. Depending on your particular situation, income may or may not be paid to you.

Often, the grantor’s responsible adult children, or other loved ones are appointed trustees of the trust. The grantor does retain some indirect control in the trust. For example, the grantor can retain the right to remove and replace a trustee or to change beneficiaries. This is a good reassurance to make sure that the people named in the trust as trustees and beneficiaries respect the grantor’s wishes and instructions. Once you pass away, the assets in the trust are distributed to your heirs named in the trust.

An irrevocable trust is a great tool to protect your hard earned assets while also giving you the ability to use the income for your living expenses. To avoid Medicaid’s look-back period, the trust must be funded at least five years before applying for Medicaid benefits.

Careful planning in advance can help protect your estate for your loved ones. Planning before you need long-term care, allows you maximum asset protection and also a shortcut to eligibility when and if the time comes that you need care. If you already have a plan in place then when you do need long-term care, your family will have a much easier job arranging for care and getting you qualified for Medicaid benefits.

Contact our attorneys today to see how we can help.