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Question: My friend told me that when he dies, his house and brokerage accounts are going to go to his children in trusts. I thought that trusts were only for people with large amounts of money that are trying to avoid taxes. Is this true? What are the benefits of his children receiving assets in a trust?

Question: Am I able to obtain a mortgage on my real property if it is owned by an irrevocable Medicaid trust? Can a bank demand that an existing mortgage be due in full if I transfer my property to an irrevocable Medicaid trust?

Question: My aunt has a home that she purchased in 1980. It is now worth $300,000.00 and she wants give it to me to protect it from the cost of nursing home care. Can she just deed it to me? My lawyer is suggesting a trust. What is the difference?

A Pooled Income Trust allows a medicaid recipient to capture their income to pay their bills and qualify under the strict Medicaid income guidelines. This allows people to use their income to stay in their home and receive services.

Question: I want to start looking into creating a trust to protect my assets for Medicaid but the idea is over-whelming, can you explain the process?

When planning for the differently-abled, the use of Supplemental Needs Trusts as part of your estate planning will ensure that you have provided protections for those with special needs and disabilities. When considering your estate planning it is important to consider any beneficiaries who may have special needs or disabilities.

Many families (erroneously) disinherit a disabled child, believing that this is in the child’s best interest and instead leave assets to other family members so that they can care for the disabled individual. Even with the best of intentions, circumstances may arise in their lives that could directly affect their ability to provide for a disabled family member.

Question: Why would I need to put my house into an irrevocable trust?

For many clients the idea of creating and funding an Irrevocable Trust with an end goal of protecting assets should the need for long term care arise raises questions and concerns about the potential tax implications.

My mother has a Medicaid Asset Protection Trust and her house has been owned by this trust for 6 years. She purchased the house in 1980 for $30,000. It’s now worth $400,000. What will be the tax consequences if she sells the house while she is alive? What if we sell it after her death?