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In this video we dig a little deeper about who wants to protect their assets and their estate from losing their estate to (1) nursing home expenses; (2) a lawsuit; and (3) government intervention.

People often call our office or request to discuss with me how they can "protect their assets." But different people, in different circumstances, have different ideas regarding what they want to protect their estates FROM.

One group of people asks me about how to protect their estate from long term care expenses. Perhaps they are 65 or older, and they have seen family members and friends be forced to deplete their estate, and even lose their home, sue to the costs they must pay to reside in a nursing home.

When we engage in a conversation about Long Term Care Medicaid eligibility, we have to take an in depth look at an individual's, or couple's, assets, monthly income, health, age, and the different rules that apply. Often we make some determination regarding what assets should remain in the individual or couple's name, and what assets, perhaps, should be transferred to some form of a trust. Not that the traditional "avoid probate" revocable living trust does NOT provide much in the way of protection from nursing home expenses. Also note that this form of "asset protection" is most effective when transacted at least five years before entering a nursing home.

The second theme of asset protection involves protecting assets you own in the event you get successfully sued. Sometimes people contact us and they are a nervous wreck because "something happened," (maybe the threat of a lawsuit, maybe an automobile accident where you were determined at fault, maybe someone injured on real estate you own, or maybe you have a serious illness and you are worried about the millions of dollars of potential health care expenses).

Two common obstacles I've seen to this kind of asset protection are: (1) People do not want to give up the control over what they own; or (2) people don't engage in this kind of asset protection until it is too late whereby action could be later undone due to the rules on fraudulent conveyances and the intent to defraud creditors.

The third category of asset protection requests comes from those who, in general, want to protect their estate from "the government." When I ask followup questions and dig deeper, they often want to protect their estate from the various forms of taxation, and they want to keep their estate out of probate (the court system).

The solutions for these three categories of asset protection vary based on the appropriate set of laws, rules, and regulations that apply to your situation, and the solutions vary based on your particular financial and estate situation.

This post is for informational purposes only and does not provide legal advice. Please do not act or refrain from acting based on anything you read on this site. Using this site or communicating with Rabalais Estate Planning, LLC, through this site does not form an attorney/client relationship.

Paul Rabalais
Estate Planning Attorney
www.RabalaisEstatePlanning.com
Phone: (225) 3292450