Long-Term Care Planning Lawyer in Utah

Estate Planning, Tax, and Probate Coordinated for Long-Term Care

Our long-term care planning coordinates Medicaid considerations, asset preservation, estate planning, tax, and probate. We prepare families for possible nursing home or assisted living costs while establishing who can make financial and medical decisions during incapacity.

Founded in 2010, Pearson Butler includes more than 30 attorneys with over 300 years of combined legal experience. From our South Jordan and other Utah offices, we serve families throughout the state.

Why Estate Planning, Tax, and Probate Must Work Together

Preparing for future care takes more than a single trust or form. Transferring property, changing ownership, making gifts, or applying for Medicaid may affect taxes, probate administration, and the assets ultimately available to a spouse or other beneficiaries.

Our attorneys work across more than a dozen practice areas, including estate planning, tax law, elder law, probate, and creditors’ rights. This multidisciplinary structure allows us to evaluate related legal and financial consequences within one firm rather than treating each decision in isolation.

How Utah Medicaid’s Five-Year Look-Back Period Works

When someone applies for long-term care Medicaid, Utah generally reviews asset transfers made during the preceding five years. Gifts and other transfers for less than fair market value may create a penalty period during which Medicaid won’t pay for covered care, even if the applicant otherwise meets the applicable requirements.

Utah generally calculates this penalty by dividing the uncompensated value of the transfer by the state’s current penalty divisor, which is based on nursing home costs and may change. The timing and type of transfer, available exemptions, and the applicant’s circumstances can all affect the analysis. We examine these details before recommending spend-down strategies, transfers, or trust planning.

Trusts and Other Tools for Protecting Assets

Available options depend on when planning begins and how much control the person creating the plan wishes to retain. Medicaid rules are fact-specific, so a trust or transfer shouldn’t be treated as an automatic route to eligibility.

Medicaid Asset Protection Trust

A Medicaid asset protection trust is an irrevocable trust designed to hold selected property, potentially including a home or savings. When properly structured and funded, transferred assets may become noncountable after the five-year look-back period expires. In exchange, the person creating the trust gives up forms of ownership and control that would otherwise remain available.

Revocable Living Trust

A standard revocable living trust generally doesn’t shield assets for Medicaid purposes. Because its creator can usually amend or revoke the trust and retain control of its property, those assets may remain countable during an eligibility assessment.

Caregiver Child Exemption

Utah’s caregiver child exemption may allow a parent to transfer a home to an adult child without incurring a Medicaid transfer penalty. The child generally must have lived in the home for at least two consecutive years immediately before the parent entered a nursing home and provided care that satisfied the exemption’s requirements. Merely sharing the residence may not qualify, making thorough documentation important.

How Medicaid Estate Recovery May Affect Your Plan

Eligibility planning should also address what may happen after a recipient dies. Utah’s Office of Recovery Services may seek reimbursement from a deceased recipient’s estate for certain benefits, generally including covered long-term care received at age 55 or older.

Recovery is subject to limits and exceptions. It may be delayed or unavailable when the recipient leaves a surviving spouse, a child under age 21, or a child who is blind or disabled under the applicable rules. As part of a coordinated plan, we can assess property ownership, trust terms, beneficiary designations, and potential recovery issues.

Documents That Protect Financial and Healthcare Decisions

A complete plan establishes decision-making authority before incapacity or a medical crisis. Two documents are particularly important:

• Financial power of attorney: Authorizes a chosen agent to handle specified financial and legal affairs if the principal can’t manage them independently.
• Advance healthcare directive: Records treatment preferences and names an agent to make healthcare decisions when the individual can’t make or communicate them.

Each document should reflect the person’s goals, family circumstances, and intended limits on the agent’s authority. Putting these instructions in place may also reduce the likelihood that relatives will need to pursue guardianship or conservatorship through court.

Build Your Plan Before Care Is Needed

Our long-term care planning attorneys coordinate Medicaid considerations, asset protection strategies, and incapacity documents around your property, family structure, and expected care needs. Starting early provides more time to address transfer rules and choose tools that align with your broader estate plan. Schedule a confidential consultation to understand your legal options.