JANUARY 2022 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 47
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POWER OF YOUR ATTORNEY
ASSET PROTECTION PLANNING:
PRESERVING YOUR ASSETS AND
PROTECTING YOUR FAMILY
BY JENNIFER B. CONA, ESQ.,
CONA ELDER LAW
If you’re like most people, you
worked hard all your life, raised a
family, and provided a leg-up for
your children. But now that you
need care, the cost is going to wipe
out your family’s assets in short
order. Your spouse will be left
scraping by, and your kids will
have no inheritance whatsoever.
This is not how it was supposed to
be. That’s where asset protection
comes in.
Asset protection planning focuses
on protecting your money from
the high costs of long-term care,
such as nursing home care, home
care, and assisted living (the
ALP program only). This can
be accomplished by transferring
money, investments, real estate
or other assets into an irrevocable
trust. However, asset protection
make the transfers 5 years in
advance. Accordingly, early
planning is critical.
to pay for the costs of home care,
nursing home care, assisted
living/ALP
• Preserving assets to pass on to
the next generation/heirs/loved
ones
• Protecting assets for your
spouse/avoiding spousal refusal
litigation
• Avoiding probate
• Transfer and management of
assets by the next generation
Protecting assets is important to
everyone; no one wants to spend
down all of their assets to pay for
nursing home or other long-term
care. The goal is to become eligible
for Medicaid if and when the need
arises. By planning ahead with an
Asset Protection Trust, you can
ensure that you will qualify when
you submit
a Medicaid
application
without spending
down your family’s assets.
In order to protect assets, the
Asset Protection Trust must be
irrevocable. This means that the
living trust cannot be revoked,
amended or terminated by you
alone, but can be with the consent
An irrevocable trust set up for
asset protection purposes can hold
almost any type of asset, including
your home, bank accounts, and
investments. You cannot have
access to the principal of the
trust, but you can retain the right
to receive the income (dividends
and interest). After five years
have passed, the assets held in the
trust are protected with respect to
Medicaid. You would not have to
spend down those assets on the
cost of care, and instead the assets
are protected and will be inherited
In this highly specialized area
of law, it is imperative that you
work with the experienced and
knowledgeable Asset Protection
be sure your assets are preserved
and your loved ones protected.
Jennifer B. Cona, Esq. is the Founder and
Managing Partner of Cona Elder Law, an
in the areas of elder law, estate planning,
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