Amidst Uncertainty, You Need a Plan

By Evan H. Farr, Certified Elder Law Attorney

The Law Firm of Evan H. Farr, PC

. http://www.farrlawfirm.com/

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Amidst Uncertainty, You Need a Plan

If you know or suspect you are at a high risk for developing cancer or if you are one of the brave individuals or families already battling the disease it is important for you to implement a proper asset protection plan. Even for individuals who are not facing imminent crisis, planning is just as critical.

Asset protection planning and incapacity planning are vital legal services where an elder law attorney guides the individual (or couple) through the complex Medicaid qualification, application, and approval processes.

It may be necessary to employ a complex set of asset protection strategies, to save hundreds of thousands of dollars in many cases.

If planning is engaged in soon enough, assets can be 100% protected from nursing home creditors, lawsuits, and general creditors. The good news is, even if someone is already in a nursing home paying the monthly bill, their remaining assets can be protected.

Proper planning can allow Americans to legally and ethically qualify for Medicaid and veterans' benefits, pass on an inheritance if they so choose, and enjoy the standard of living and quality of life they prefer.

1 in 2 men have slightly less than a
1 in 2 risk for developing cancer

1 in 3 women will get cancer

23 times the risk for developing
lung cancer is the price male smok-
ers pay for the habit

1,500 people will die today from
cancer

2 million will be diagnosed this year
with skin cancer

570,000 will die from obesity-
related cancer in 2011

171,000 will die from tobacco-
related cancer in 2011

Protecting Your Family

Life care planning and Medicaid asset protection is the process of protecting assets from having to be spent in connection with entry into a nursing home. More importantly, it can help individuals and couples get the best possible care and maintain the highest possible quality of life whether that's at home, in an assisted living facility, or in a nursing home.

With proper planning, a spouse who is able to stay at home can keep all of the couple's assets and much or all income while Medicaid pays for the nursing home. The most important goal is typically to ensure that the spouse remaining at home is able to live the remaining years of his or her life in utmost dignity and not have to suffer a drastic reduction in his or her standard of living.