Attorney Thomas B. Burton answers the following question:
"Does Putting Your Home in a Trust Protect it from Medicaid?"
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Hello, I'm attorney Thomas Burton. And today's question is the following:
“Does putting your home in a trust protect it from Medicaid?”
The short answer is yes, but only if it's a special type of irrevocable trust. So the confusion I see here is people know there's revocable living trust and irrevocable trust. Revocable living trusts are no longer effective for protecting your home from Medicaid in the state of Wisconsin. As of August 1, 2014, the state of Wisconsin Department of Health Services changed the estate recovery program. So that revocable living trusts are no longer effective. Prior to that date, they said certain assets that passed outside the probate process, for example through the revocable living trust, they would not go after outside of probate, after your death for repayment. What this means is you could have certain assets in a revocable living trust and until you could die and if they pass through the trust, the estate recovery program would not go after that asset for repayment. What I mean by go after that asset is, if you receive money from the Medicaid Program, after you die, the state recovery program will look at assets in your name and seek to be repaid for the cost they expended on your behalf.
So just remember that a revocable living trust will not protect it from Medicaid. If you want to look at a trust that has Medicaid asset protection, you're going to need an irrevocable trust, what I call at my office, The Burton Asset Protection Trust or sometimes you hear it called a Medicaid asset protection trust and I only recommend doing this type of planning with a qualified attorney.
Now, if you're interested in learning more about using an irrevocable trust, I created a free five step guide on how to protect your home from the nursing home. It's available on my website and I'll put a link in this video. All you have to do is go to that link, enter your e-mail and the guide will be sent to you. So I recommend looking through that guide.
Also watching my other videos on Medicaid and asset protection, you can find them on YouTube in the Medicaid and asset protection playlist where you'll see me cover more of these topics in depth and from different angles.
So again, putting your home in a trust can protect it from Medicaid, but only if you use the right type of special irrevocable trust.
Great question and thank you for asking.
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