Long Term Care Planning

Pennsylvania Long-Term Care Planning Attorney

Long-term care planning can include healthcare arrangements, financial and/or personal affairs, and legal matters for individuals with age-related or special needs. Often, long-term care involves an assisted living center or nursing home residence. All of these factors can affect an individual’s quality of life, as well as their family and legacy.

The Importance of Long-Term Care Planning

Individuals nearing or entering retirement should re-evaluate their estate plan and current financial situation, including insurance. If there are healthcare concerns, planning early is key, as long-term care can be expensive. 

Long-term care costs can be handled by individuals and their families, through long-term care insurance, or by qualifying for Medicaid. Planning ahead is key, as no one wants to lose their home or have their spouse become destitute because of a nursing home stay. Also, Pennsylvania’s Filial Support Law allows nursing homes to collect payment from a spouse or child, increasing liability. 

How Does Long-Term Care Planning Work?

Current or future nursing home residents have options. Knox Law’s elder law attorneys and paralegals can review a client’s specific situation, offering solutions including estate planning and trust tools, gifting techniques, annuities, long-term care insurance, powers of attorney, and more. We can also help with the Medicaid application process.

Pre-Planning 

Our Elder Law team can help clients craft estate planning and/or trust documents that will allow an individual (or spouse) to more easily qualify for Medicaid in the future. Overall, the sooner you start to plan, the more assets can be preserved. 

Crisis Planning 

Even when an individual is already in a nursing home or assisted living center (or about to be), our Elder Law attorneys can advise on smart ways to transfer assets and use other estate planning tools to effectively qualify for Medicaid and/or pay nursing home costs. We often recommend Medicaid Compliant Annuities, or DRA-Compliant Annuities, for crisis planning. Crisis planning can still preserve a significant amount of assets for a client’s spouse or other loved ones - it is never too late to plan.

The best way to take advantage of any planning techniques is to be prepared. See this list of items we recommend you bring to an appointment with your elder law attorney.

Why Do You Need a Pennsylvania Long-Term Planning Attorney?

Navigating long-term care planning can be stressful. There is no one-size-fits-all solution: blended families, unexpected deaths, and other circumstances can complicate planning. We also often hear conflicting advice given by well-meaning neighbors or friends - advice that may not apply to Pennsylvania residents or your own situation.

Even if you are healthy now, chances are, you may need long-term care services in the future. Nursing home costs continue to rise, and even a short stay can use up a lifetime of savings.

See our Top 10 Reasons to Hire an Elder Law Attorney.

How Our Elder Law Attorneys Can Help With the Long-Term Care Planning Process

Knox Law’s Long-Term Care team can help clients gain clarity on their specific situation and prepare for their families' future. Our team is experienced in handling estate planning, as well as a wide range of other elder law, elder care, and health care issues, most of which involve a complex system of governmental regulations and care options. We can also help with estate administration when the time comes.

We can help assess the benefits and risks of long-term planning techniques, including estate planning tools, including trusts, Medicaid annuities, and more. We can advise on how to spend down assets, re-title assets, evaluate Family Caregiver Contracts, convert assets into exempt resources, and more. We can also help you execute these plans and ensure your assets are protected for the future. 

Map Out Your Future With Help From a Long-Term Care Planning Attorney

Knox Law’s Long-Term Care team works every day to help individuals preserve and protect the wealth that they have taken a lifetime to earn. We have the knowledge and compassion to help plan for the future and gain peace of mind.

Contact us today to schedule a consultation, or visit our FAQ page to learn more.

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