St. Petersburg Long-Term Care Planning Lawyer
Americans are living longer and healthier lives, with more time spent accumulating wealth and more time to enjoy it. In fact, those over 85 make up one of the fastest growing segments of the population. Living longer is great of course, but it also tends to mean that more and more of us will succumb to quality of life impairments such as stroke, a serious fall, and memory impairments in our later years. Today, one-third of adults over 85 have moderate to severe memory impairment, including Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia. The fact remains that an ever-increasing portion of the population will encounter a final extended illness or significant healthcare costs in their final days, months or years.
Our St. Petersburg long-term care planning lawyers are here to help individuals and families in Tampa Bay prepare for the need for long-term care. Through careful and deliberate long-term care planning, you can afford the care you need without going broke and still leave a legacy behind for your family’s future.
Planning for long-term care is a must
A semi-private room in a Florida nursing home runs over $90,000 a year. Assisted living or a home health aide costs over $3,000 per month, and add in another $1,000 for Alzheimer’s/memory care. Even with substantial savings, long-term care in a nursing home is not the only cost seniors may have to face. According to a recent study, a married couple with drug costs in the 90th percentile need to save $349,000 just to have a 90% chance of being able to afford their medical care.
Government assistance to pay for long-term care is available to those who qualify. This assistance can save thousands of dollars and is literally the only way many people would be able to afford long-term care. Unfortunately, Medicare does not help pay for the costs of long-term care, so many seniors do not qualify simply by being on Medicare. Medicaid, on the other hand, does pay for long-term care. But Medicaid is a needs-based program only open to persons below certain income limits. Seniors in need of long-term care often find themselves in the unenviable position of having to spend down their life savings in order to become eligible for Medicaid. This is where long-term care planning can help.
With advance planning, you can engage in strategies to spend down your estate in practical, useful ways that do not destroy wealth yet actually help serve your overall estate planning goals. These strategies include creating trusts, purchasing immediate annuities and long-term care insurance, performing home repairs and pre-paying funeral costs, among others. Advance planning is essential to these strategies, as Medicaid looks back at transfers within the previous five years and can actually penalize someone for making these efforts to reach Medicaid eligibility.
Long-term care insurance may work for you (or not)
Long-term care insurance seems like a no-brainer when it comes to planning for long-term care. This insurance is typically affordable to the young and healthy, and the payout grows over time, making it a reasonable and worthwhile investment. But not everyone is young or healthy when considering long-term care insurance. Many simply can’t qualify for long-term care insurance or can’t afford the premiums. At Legacy Protection Lawyers, we’ll take the time to sit down with you and understand your big picture. We’ll advise you on whether to buy long-term care insurance and how much to purchase as part of your overall estate planning. We’ll also help with asset protection and wealth preservation strategies so you can afford the long-term care you need and still leave a legacy to future generations, making sure those you love and care about are cared for when you are gone.
Call Legacy Protection Lawyers in St. Petersburg for Long-Term Care Planning in Tampa Bay
Don’t wait until you are in crisis to figure out how you are going to afford long-term care. Call the Tampa Bay estate planning attorneys at Legacy Protection Lawyers in St. Petersburg at 727-471-5868 for knowledgeable, compassionate advice and diligent, reliable assistance.
