Do you own real estate? Is it your home? A vacation home? Or rental property? It’s important to pay special attention to how you own your real estate. Here we take a look at the different types of real estate and information about the best form of ownership. This is important when you’re thinking about estate planning and asset protection. Your Home Because your primary residence (your homestead) receives special tax treatment, be very careful with how you own your home. In states like Florida, tenancy by the entirety offers married couples creditor protection. This protection is from the creditors of one of the spouses while still preserving relevant tax benefits. It also allows automatic transfer of ownership to the surviving spouse upon the death of the first spouse without court involvement. Transferring…Read More
Medicaid is the government’s long-term care insurance for seniors and the disabled. There are income and asset eligibility requirements that must be met in order to qualify. One big issue is the transfer of assets. In order to be eligible for Medicaid, you cannot have recently transferred assets. Congress does not want you to move into a nursing home on Monday, give all your money to your children (or whomever) on Tuesday, and qualify for Medicaid on Wednesday. So it has imposed a penalty on people who transfer assets without receiving fair value in return. This penalty is a period of time during which the person transferring the assets will be ineligible for Medicaid. The penalty period is determined by dividing the amount transferred by what Medicaid determines to be the average…Read More
