Spokane Elder Law Attorney

Protecting your Spokane estate and ensuring that you receive the care you deserve without needing to liquidate everything you worked so hard to achieve starts with smart, strategic estate planning. As your Spokane elder law attorney, we’ll take a proactive approach to protect you or your loved one’s estate.

You may never need Long-Term Care, but 70% of adults who live past the age of 65 will.

Since 2006, ELG Estate Planning has helped families across Spokane preserve their assets while ensuring that they receive the care they need.

Call us at (509) 468-0551 or fill out our contact form to discuss your estate planning needs.

Elder Law Services We Offer

Long-Term Care Planning in Spokane

Spokane Long-Term Care (LTC) planning encompasses a wide range of services. Covering the cost of LTC may mean paying for:

At-home care
Adult family home care
Assisted living care
Nursing home care

A private room at a nursing home could cost as much as $142,788 a year, and without a plan in place, covering these expenses can be impossible without liquidating assets, such as the family home.

Our Long-Term Care planning service will help with:

Protecting assets
Obtaining Medicaid benefits that cover LTC
Finding LTC services that you’re confident will provide adequate care
Provide flexibility in your plan if your circumstances change in the future

A Spokane elder law attorney keeps you from having to worry about jeopardizing the quality of care over protecting assets. We can help you find the balance that allows you or a loved one to receive the care they deserve without concern for losing their assets.

Medicaid Planning for Spokane Families

Medicaid provides health insurance for adults, and since it’s a government program, you may believe that all benefits are available to you. Long-term care benefits are available, but you need to qualify for them, and the requirements are strict.

If you start gifting or transferring assets (not selling them), Medicaid will look back for a period of five years and penalize you based on these gifts or transfers that you made to qualify for LTC benefits.

You must have limited assets to qualify for Medicaid LTC benefits.

We’ll help you:

Retain as many assets as possible
Analyze other options for LTC
Create a plan using asset preservation strategies
And more

If you don’t have a plan in place, and a situation arises where Long-Term Care is necessary, you can’t go back in time to meet the five-year look-back period. You need a plan to leverage all the benefits Medicaid provides, and that’s what a skilled elder law attorney can help you achieve.

Medicaid Asset Preservation Strategies®

Qualifying for Medicaid doesn’t necessarily mean having to give up your assets. Through Medicaid Asset Preservation Strategies®, or MAPS®, we can help you protect your assets without compromising the care and benefits you need.

At ELG Estate Planning, we can assist with implementing a variety of MAPS®, including but not limited to:

Medicaid Asset Protection Trust. These trusts transfer ownership of assets to the trust itself. However, the look-back period will apply, so it’s important to be proactive and plan ahead.

Spend down strategies, which may include paying off debt, investing in Medicaid-complaint annuities, renovating your home to make it more accessible, or purchasing medical equipment that is not covered by insurance.

Purchasing Long-Term Care insurance, which can help cover some of the costs of your care and help safeguard your assets.

Our goal as your Spokane elder law attorney is to help you achieve eligibility for Long-Term Care while protecting your estate. MAPS® can help achieve that goal.

Medicaid Crisis Planning

Planning in advance isn’t always possible. You or a loved one may need sudden care now due to an unexpected illness or medical emergency. If you have the right estate plan in place, ELG Estate Planning can implement MAPS® even at the time of need.

After 18+ years in estate planning and elder law, we know that crisis can strike at any time.

If a crisis does hit and you don’t have the five-year look-back window time frame available to you, we can still help you or your loved one qualify for Medicaid’s Long-Term Care benefits. Through Medicaid Asset Preservation Strategies®, we will:

Review your unique situation, assets, and income
Implement strategies to preserve asset and help you qualify for Medicaid LTC benefits
Advise you of options for gifting that is permitted by Medicaid without a penalty period
Explain your options for Long-Term Care

Long-term care planning is best done now. You can’t go back and plan for the future, but if a crisis hits, it’s better to take immediate action than wait a moment longer.

How to Find a Good Elder Law Attorney

When it comes to Long-Term Care and Medicaid planning, it is crucial to work with an experienced legal professional with the skills and expertise to help you achieve your goals.

When searching for a Spokane elder law attorney, consider the following:

Do they focus on elder law services? Specifically, does the elder law attorney have Medicaid experience and knowledge? Many attorneys, even elder law attorneys do not have Medicaid expertise. An attorney who focuses elder law and Medicaid will know the best course of action to take to help your family prepare for the future.

Do they have a positive reputation? Check the attorney’s online reviews. Do clients have positive experiences with the attorney and firm?

What is their fee structure? It’s important to understand how the attorney charges for their services and what you can expect to pay if you decide to hire them.

If you have friends or family members who have recently worked with an elder law attorney, you can ask them for recommendations as well.

Questions to Ask an Elder Law Attorney?

Before hiring an attorney, the first step is to contact the firm and schedule a consultation. During this initial meeting, you will have the opportunity to learn more about the attorney’s services and processes to determine whether they are a good fit for your needs.

Here are some important questions to ask during your first meeting:

What estate planning documents will I need?
Will the attorney and the firm assist me and my family throughout the entire process?
What is the response time for phone calls and emails?
Who will I be working with at the firm?
What is the fee structure?
How does the firm approach Medicaid planning?
How often does the firm help clients with Medicaid eligibility?
How many current Medicaid matters does the firm have open?

These questions are just a starting point. You may have your own individual questions that you would like to ask, so be sure to add them to your list.

Work With a Spokane Elder Law Attorney

Taking a proactive approach to estate planning will help you and your family prepare for the future. Having a plan that covers all of your needs and wishes will give you peace of mind.

An experienced Spokane elder law attorney can guide you through the complex process of creating an estate plan.

At ELG Estate Planning, our core focus is estate planning and elder law, with a focus on Long-Term Care and Medicaid planning.

For nearly two decades, we have been assisting families with their planning needs. We take the time to get to know you and your goals to determine how we can best help you achieve them.

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