Probate assets are assets that were titled in the decedent’s name solely with no designated pay on death beneficiary.

Letters of administration is the key document that you’ll receive from the probate court once an estate is successfully opened. It will appoint the personal representative and it will empower that person to handle the assets of the estate.

It depends on how the assets are titled. If the assets are titled jointly or have a Pay-on-Death beneficiary, then they do not have to go through the probate process.

Assets may need to be probated depending on how they are titled. If they were titled in the decedent’s name solely, with no pay on death beneficiary, they will be required to go through the probate process.

A person is free to name a family member, a non-family member, or a corporate entity in their last will to serve as their personal representative. If the person is a family member of the person who died, then they can be a resident of any state. If the person nominated is not a family member of the person who died, they must be a resident of Florida in order to serve. No personal representative can serve if they’ve ever been convicted of a felony.

Any property that was owned by the decedent in their sole name with no designated pay on debt beneficiary will be required to go through the probate process in order to clear title.

A will normally contains several important elements. One, it appoints a personal representative or a successor personal representative to do the duties of a personal representative. Two, it directs the disposition of tangible personal property, like all the assets in your home, your jewelry, your collectibles, your heirlooms, and it also directs the disposition of your other assets. If you don’t do it asset by asset, there’s usually a residuary clause that says, “I leave the rest or remainder of my estate to the following people,” normally a spouse. If no spouse, the children. If no children, they name relatives or charities.

When an estate passes testate, this means that the person died leaving a final will. When the estate passes intestate, that means they died without a will.

Trusts are a legal entity similar to a partnership, similar to a corporation. They have a settler who creates the trust and transfers assets into it. They have trustees who control the assets and administer it during the settlers life or upon death, and there are named successor trustees and then there are named beneficiaries. Trust is a legal entity that can own assets and follows the directions that the settler sets forth in his trust documents.

A trust offers several benefits. The primary one is it’s a private document. It’s normally not recorded in any public record such as a Probate Court. It is confidential among the settler and his beneficiaries. Another benefit is that upon disability or incapacity he’s set up his successor trustees to manage his assets to pay his bills and handle his estate after he’s gone. Another benefit if you’re fortunate to be in a taxable situation you need trust in order to maximize the unified credit deduction amount and other tax planning opportunities available to wealthy people.

A hand-written will is valid if and only if two witnesses are present when you sign it, and they signed it in your presence. If you have a will that is signed by the decedent only, it’s called a holograph will, and they’re not enforceable in Florida. You have to have the two witnesses sign in the presence of the decedent signing. One of the big mistakes is the decedent will do a hand-written will, or type-written on his computer, print it out, sign it, and then go see a neighbor, the two neighbors, and say, “Here, sign here. This is my will.” It’s not valid because they have to see the decedent sign the will and be in his presence.

A will should be reviewed periodically after certain events have occurred:, either there’s a change of law so you need to see an attorney on a regular basis to see if there’s been any changes of law, if there’s been a financial change in your life, assets go up or down or you’ve retired or assets have been disposed of and new assets acquired, if there’s been a change in your family, one of your children have died or a parent gave you an unexpected inheritance. Any of these financial or family matters that change your disposition should be reviewed.

No, you do not have to use your assets before you can get Medicaid. Speak to a competent attorney about ways that you can preserve your assets while still being eligible to qualify for Medicaid.

Private pay residents in a nursing home are those who can pay their monthly nursing home costs from their income, savings, or money that they received from selling their assets. We have a set daily fee for “private pay” residents which is stated in the nursing home contract.

Make sure you read the nursing home contract carefully before signing so that you won’t give consent to a wrong agreement.

It is never too late to transfer your assets to qualify for Medicaid.

In most scenarios, the person’s current situation determines whether it is legally possible to transfer all assets and immediately qualify for Medicaid. Most people think once they are in the nursing home, they have to spend all their assets on nursing home care until they meet the Medicaid criteria but it doesn’t work that way.

Even in the nursing home, an individual can carefully plan for Medicaid to help him/her meet up the criteria and qualify

Our attorneys here at CWH Law can help your journey on ways to move your assets properly to preserve them to qualify.

To be honest, there is no specific amount you need to make as an income before you qualify for Medicaid; therefore, the income level is set depending on the state you live in, just as required by federal law.

As of 2024, you are to make $2,829/month as income; if you make less than that amount, then you are considered qualified. (Kindly note, this amount changes on an annual basis, therefore don’t rely on this figure until you verify the current rate.) If you make more than the allowed amount, speak to our attorneys here at CWH Law. They can help you preserve your income to qualify.

Medicaid has a five-year look-back period from the date of application where they look back five years to see if you’ve given away any gifts or uncompensated transfers. If you have, they have a penalty for that.

During your Medicaid application process, one of the questions you are expected to answer is “Have you made any transfers or gifts in the last five years?” now, if your reply is yes! This might lead to disqualification or penalization and also required to mention any of the gifts or transfers you have made.

The Medicaid state officials will look only at giveaways within five years i.e., 60 months before Medicaid application. To ensure accurate calculation by Medicaid, the total number of what you gave away will be divided by the penalty divisor (which equals the cost of nursing home care in the state).

However, during the Medicaid look-back period, sometimes the penalty for transfers is not applicable to all transfers depending on what asset was transferred and the person such asset was transferred to, and the time of the transfer. In all, the look-back period determines what kind of transfer will be penalized.

If this is somewhat confusing, you can always consult CWH Law for more clarification.

No, you cannot transfer your assets outright to your children just before you go into a nursing home and still qualify for Medicaid. This would be considered an uncompensated transfer. When applying for Medicaid, they look back five years for any uncompensated transfer and you would be penalized for this.

You must be a US citizen or be a resident alien, and must have medical needs requiring a nursing home, car, and meet income and asset eligibility requirements.

For individuals who want to receive Medicaid to help cover the cost of long-term care, the asset and income qualifications as of 2024 are as follows:

The applicant’s gross monthly income may not exceed $2,829. The applicant may retain $160 per month for personal expenses.

The applicant’s countable assets may not exceed $2,000, and the Medicaid applicant’s well spouse (also known as the “community spouse”) may retain up to $154,140 in assets.