- Medicaid Planning
- VA Aid and Attendance application and qualification
- Retirement and Income Planning
- Medicare Supplements and Advantage programs
- Estate Planning
- Pre-Paid Funeral Trusts
- Annuities
- Life Insurance
- Long-term Care Insurance
- Hybrid Long-term care products
- And more . . .
Pre-Paid Funeral Trusts
What are pre-paid funeral trusts? Simply stated, they are funds specifically set aside to pay for final expenses such as burial costs and services. Rather than pre-paying at a particular funeral home (and risk losing those funds if the funeral home goes out of business), the funds are held in an irrevocable trust (created at no expense) and released at the time of death.
The State of Wisconsin says that funds held in such a trust ARE NOT COUNTED for the purposes of Medicaid eligibility. In fact, a Medicaid applicant can set aside up to $15,000 each for funeral expenses for themselves, their spouse, their children (natural, adopted, and step-children), their children’s spouses, and even their own siblings. So, instead of all of these funds going to the nursing home to pay for care, these funds would be exempt from spend-down requirements. Funds not used for final expenses would be returned to the estate of the deceased or in the event of Medicaid payment for services, the State of Wisconsin to the extent they have paid for care.
Traditional life insurance cash values are counted by Medicaid and must be ‘spent down’ in order to qualify. We can transfer these values into this exempt assets to assure that your family will have the necessary funds to pay for your final expenses.
Badger Senior Solutions represents several companies that prepare these trusts. Let us help you plan for the inevitable.
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