When a spouse needs long term nursing home care, the concern is always preserving assets
for the spouse that will remain in the community. The goal is to preserve many, if not all, of the
assets that the couple have saved during their married years for the spouse that remains in the
community. One of the planning tools that elder law attorneys are using is a Solely for the
Benefit of Spousal Trust.
The Solely for the Benefit of Spousal Trust is an irrevocable trust that preserves the assets for
the Community Spouse and distributes them to him or her over their lifetime based on the
Medicaid life expectancy tables. This planning prevents the Community Spouse from having to
spend down these assets on the care for the institutionalized spouse. It preserves the assets
for use over his or her lifetime.
The timing of creating this trust is important and should be discussed with an elder law attorney.
It is a trust that is created at the time one of the spouses is needing long term care in a nursing
home.
Burgess and Sweeney Law, P.C. continue to advise clients on estate planning, elder law,
Medicaid planning, probate and trust administration, guardianships and conservatorships,
business law, and real estate. As a result of the constantly changing laws in these areas, the
information provided may change. We would be pleased to discuss this, or any other issues, in
more detail.
