St. Petersburg Health Care Planning Attorney
Health care represents a considerable expense in retirement. Many seniors can watch helplessly as their hard-earned wealth evaporates like seawater in a warm breeze. Certain medical events, such as admission to a nursing home, can devastate a family’s finances. Fortunately, proper health care planning can reduce the risk to your income.
At Fisher & Wilsey, P.A., we have engaged in health care planning for decades. Our clients can sleep easier knowing they have put in place a health care plan. Contact us to speak with a St. Petersburg health care planning attorney.
How to Plan for Future Health Care Expenses
The cost of care will only go up in the coming decades, so it is best to plan for how to pay for future medical expenses. Our attorneys use a variety of strategies:
- Long-Term Care Planning. At some point, many seniors can no longer be cared for at home. But the cost of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities has grown to a staggering degree. Some planning includes identifying and purchasing long-term care insurance, finding appropriate nursing homes, and reviewing all available methods of funding.
- Medicaid Planning. Florida’s Medicaid program will pay for nursing home care in certain situations. We work with clients to improve their eligibility for the program, which might require moving assets to a trust.
- Health Care Directives. By creating a living will or designation of health care surrogate, our clients ensure they will receive the care they want when they are unable to make those decisions themselves. Let’s review who you should appoint as your surrogate.
- Special Needs Planning. A loved one who receives government benefits might lose eligibility if they are left money or assets in a will. Our firm can create an appropriate trust to help provide for them without threatening their benefits.
The Dangers of Inaction
Health care planning might sound like a tedious process, but you can’t afford to skip it when thinking about your estate. Without proper planning, we have seen:
- Estates eaten away by taxes and Medicaid recovery;
- Families plunged into disagreements which threaten to tear them apart;
- Sleepless nights as people worry about how to pay for a spouse’s nursing home or other necessary care.
Ideally, you should start health care planning as soon as you decide to create an estate plan. Thinking about future health needs goes hand-in-hand with the other pieces of an estate plan, including tax planning, business succession planning, and wealth preservation. Creating a secure estate plan requires that all elements work in harmony and benefit you and your loved ones.
Ready to Learn More? Call Fisher & Wilsey
Our team is ready to discuss your goals and come up with legal solutions that strengthen your financial future. Do not let future medical expenses jeopardize the legacy you have created for your family. There are time-tested strategies we can use to help secure your financial future. Contact us to schedule a consultation with a St. Petersburg health care planning attorney at our office.
