San Antonio Elder Law Attorneys

Unlike estate planning, which generally deals with what happens after you pass on, elder law addresses the challenges you may face when you’re still living.

Elder law is important because it helps avoid situations like spending your life’s savings paying for a nursing home, assisted living facility, or at-home care.

At SMC ESQ PLLC, our Texas elder law attorneys work with you to create a tailor-made plan for aging that addresses your unique needs, goals, and family situations.

Our approach to our legal work is centered on our founding values of authenticity, empathy, gratitude, education, and service.

We recognize that elder planning involves thoughtfully reflecting on big questions.

As such, we guide our clients through the planning process in manageable steps.

From start to finish, our process is compassionate and communicative. We balance educating clients on the processes of elder law with a “let’s make this manageable” approach. Clients should feel comfortable with their decisions but never overwhelmed with information.

When clients talk about long-term care planning before they need it, they limit the challenges and concerns that making last-minute decisions can have on their families.

Long-term care planning includes:

• Asset protection
• Creating trusts to fund care
• Creating life estates
• Disability planning
• Reviewing admissions contracts and agreements with care facilities

While these topics aren’t lighthearted, it’s far better to have clear, transparent conversations now than to leave them to your loved ones to sort out once a crisis is already at hand.

If someone has a physical or mental illness, a special needs trust allows them to receive income without losing their eligibility for the public benefits that help cover the cost of their care.

Self-funded special needs trusts

Self-funded special needs trusts may be funded by:

• Gifts
• Inheritance
• Settlements
• More

These trusts hold money that already belongs to a physically or mentally ill beneficiary, without the beneficiary holding the funds outright in their name. However, these trusts are created by someone other than the beneficiary, such as a family member or legal guardian.

Third-party-funded special needs trusts

Parents of children with disabilities often use these types of trusts. Third-party-funded special needs trusts must be funded by someone other than the beneficiary, such as a parent or guardian. They supplement government benefits and can be used for almost anything a beneficiary needs.

If paying for long-term care is a concern, clients should consider Medicaid planning.

Medicaid planning involves restructuring finances to help ensure Medicaid eligibility. Due to the high monthly cost of long-term care, Medicaid planning can be relevant for many people, even those who have been strong earners. It’s possible to qualify for Medicaid even if you and your spouse still own your family home.

Many people assume that they need to sell or give away assets to qualify for Medicaid. However, this isn’t the case.

In Texas, there is a 60-month lookback period, and during this time, the state looks at all asset transfers. Unplanned transfers can lead to temporary ineligibility for Medicaid, but our Texas elder law attorneys can help you create a legal plan for Medicaid eligibility that considers your finances, goals, preferences, and family members.

If your assets are greater than the threshold to qualify for Medicaid, a Medicaid asset protection trust (MAPT) can be a helpful planning tool.

These trusts are irrevocable, which means they can’t be canceled. When you create a MAPT, the assets that make up the trust belong to the trust itself, not you. That means they can’t be counted as your individual income, helping you establish eligibility for Medicaid.

The beneficiary of a MAPT can’t be the same person who created the trust, but a MAPT can help preserve assets for their family members and loved ones.

A qualified income trust is a legal remedy for individuals whose monthly income would disqualify them from Medicaid. With such a trust in place, money above a certain amount is redirected from your checking account to the trust.

For example, Social Security benefits may sometimes disqualify a person from Medicaid. With a qualified income trust, also known as a Miller Trust, in place, a person can receive their benefits and still qualify for Medicaid.

An enhanced life estate deed, also known as a Lady Bird Deed, allows the person who creates the deed (the grantor) to transfer real property to someone else. Once the deed is signed, this other person owns the property. However, the grantor retains rights to the property.

In Texas, this means the grantor can:

• Live on and use the property
• Lease the property
• Mortgage the property
• Sell the property

The grantor can do all these things without getting consent from the person who technically owns the property (the remainderman). When the grantor passes on, the remainderman retains control of the property.