One way to protect some of your assets from Medicaid if you have to go into a nursing home is to use a pre-paid funeral trust.One of the exempt assets for Medicaid is a pre-paid funeral for yourself and your spouse. (And in Indiana, it is also an exempt asset iif you purcase one for your children and their spouses.)
Typically, one of the best ways to fund this is through a pre-paid funeral trust. Essentially, a pre-paid funeral trust works as follows. First, you purchase a single premium, whole life insurance policy. (In Indiana and Kentucky, you do not want to have a policy over $10,000.) Then, that life insurance policy is irrevocably assigned to a funeral home. Because it is irrevocably assigned, it is no longer considered your asset.
Although the money in a pre-paid funeral trust can only be used for a funeral, that still generally works to the advantage of you and your family for protecting assets. For example, if you had no pre-paid funeral arrangements, and went on Medicaid, your children would end up having to pay for your funeral after you died. But, if you purchased a pre-paid funeral for yourself and your spouse before going on Medicaid, for a total of $20,000, that’s money that they would not have to spend on a funeral out of their own pocket. And if you are in Indiana, buying pre-paid funeral trusts for your children and their spouses means that they and their children will not have to pay out of their pockets for funerals.
At Brigthwell Elder and Probate Law, we can help you properly set up pre-paid burial trusts to help protect your assets.
