Elder Law/Medi-Cal Planning

Pasadena Elder Law Lawyers

Elder law encompasses a wide range of practice areas, including asset protection, estate planning, Medi-Cal planning, and more. As Pasadena Elder Law Lawyers, we utilize a variety of tools and strategies to help seniors remain independent for as long as possible, protect their assets from the high cost of long-term care, and provide experienced, compassionate counsel in a crisis situation.

Medi-Cal Planning

One out of every two women, and one in four men, will find themselves in a nursing home at some point in their lives. Given that the average annual cost of nursing home care in California is more than $93,000, it is not surprising that many families in California run out of money less than one year after a loved one enters a nursing home.

So are you destined to go broke if you or your spouse requires long-term care? Not necessarily, particularly if you contact the Pasadena Law Group. As Pasadena Elder Law Lawyers, we can design a comprehensive plan to protect your assets against the cost of long-term care in advance, or help you qualify for assistance from Medi-Cal in a crisis situation.

Preplanning

Preplanning is for those who are healthy now but want to ensure that if they do become incapacitated, they will have a plan in place to protect their hard-earned assets. We can use a wide range of tools to create a plan that helps ensure you will get the care you need without giving up control or losing all of your savings. The plan we design will also provide you and your family with greater peace of mind.

Protecting The Family Home

Many clients worry that they will lose their homes if they or their spouse must enter a nursing home. The good news is that if you qualify for Medi-Cal benefits, the State of California considers your home—of any value—to be an “exempt” asset. That means the value of your house cannot be counted to determine if you are eligible for Medi-Cal benefits.

If one spouse must enter a nursing home, and the other spouse (the “well” spouse) is healthy enough to reside in the family home, he or she can do so without worrying about the home being sold to pay nursing home costs. However, when both spouses pass away, the State of California may force the home to be sold to pay the State back for the Medi-Cal costs incurred by the spouse living in the nursing home. This is known as “Estate Recovery.”

Fortunately, with proper planning, there are ways to protect your family home—and other assets—from Estate Recovery so that your house goes to your children, not the state, upon the deaths of you and your spouse.

Contact the Pasadena Law Group today for more information.

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A Medi-Cal Crisis

This is a situation in which a person has been admitted to a nursing home, or will require nursing home care very soon, and has been informed that he or she has too many assets to qualify for Medi-Cal assistance. If you or someone you love is faced with a Medi-Cal crisis, don’t despair! Simply because someone working at a nursing home, or even a Medi-Cal representative, has informed you that you are not eligible for Medi-Cal assistance, that person’s assessment could very well be incorrect. These professionals might mean well, but many of them do not understand the ever-changing and complicated rules governing Medi-Cal eligibility. At the Pasadena Law Group, we do.