Long Term Care Planning

Planning for Nursing Home Care

Taking the Steps to Provide for the Best Treatment

While wills and trusts guide family members if you should die, it is just as critical to have plans in place if you or your spouse become incapacitated. By exploring this unpleasant possibility now, you give yourself better options for the desired level of care when the time comes for a nursing home, assisted living facility, or home health care.

For a comprehensive discussion of your long-term care planning needs, you can contact the Raleigh, North Carolina, office of Armor Trust Attorneys at (919) 571-4398. We serve clients throughout the communities of Wake County, Durham County, and the Triangle.

Long-Term Care Planning

Many clients want to discuss Medicaid planning, but we consider government program eligibility only as a last resort. The quality of care at Medicaid facilities is often lacking, and the federal government has sharply curtailed the ability to shelter assets and still qualify.

Rather than spending down the family fortune or giving away assets well in advance of your retirement, we focus on strategies that enable our clients to preserve wealth and choose to fund the best level of care possible. Some primary considerations are:

Long term care insurance — There are many plans out there, some good and some loaded with hidden policy exclusions. We can help you decide if long-term care (LTC) insurance is right for you and to select a policy that meets your needs and your financial picture.

Reverse mortgage — If you are 62 or older and own your own home, you probably have significant equity. The "reverse mortgage" allows you to draw on that equity for extra monthly income. For example, you might be able to afford home health aides that allow you stay in your home. The downside is the steady reduction in what may be your chief asset — but as they say, you cannot take it with you.

Nursing home care is expensive and long term care planning raises many questions. What kind of care can we afford? What if we both have to go to a "home"? Are we spending our children's inheritance? Who will manage our affairs if we cannot?

We can also help you establish a special needs trust for a dependent family member whose disability requires government benefits.

Armor Trust Attorneys extends over 25 years of experience in estate planning and asset protection, and we stay abreast of the latest insurance products, legislation, and legal strategies. Arrange a consultation to discuss long-term care planning and elder law with dedicated and caring lawyers. You can reach us at (919) 571-4398.