| Aid & Attendance Handbook for Professionals & Consultants
|
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
 |
 |
 |
|||||||
|
The attorney suggests putting the $180,000 from the sale of the home in a special irrevocable trust that pays out at Frank's death. If Frank applies for Medicaid within the five year look back period the trust can pay out funds to cover the penalty. With the $180,000 gone, Frank's estate would be worth $75,000 -- $5,000 below the commonly accepted VA asset ceiling. The attorney will not charge for helping Frank prepare and prosecute the claim for VA aid and attendance pension benefit. She has an arrangement with this particular assisted living facility that she will complete applications for aid and attendance pension benefit for the facility for a reasonable fee. She will also be paid for the trust work that she will do for Frank and his family. The help she provides with the application is part of the process for doing the planning, and she will not bill Frank for the services.After assuring herself that Frank is eligible, the attorney next completes the worksheet by tabulating total household income and assets. She also calculates an estimate of what the recurring prospective medical expenses would be, based on numbers Frank provides. The asset transfer strategy described above is next applied to the analysis, and the attorney recalculates income and assets on the worksheet based on the transfer.Using the estimates derived above, the attorney utilizes the software program to estimate the potential aid and attendance pension benefit benefit. Any possible variations on asset transfers are also tested against the benefit to see which combinations produce the best income for Frank and still retain the largest benefit.At this point, Frank is satisfied they have a good chance of receiving the benefit his attorney suggests, and he decides to go ahead with the application. The first step is finding Frank's discharge papers. He has been careful to keep his original copy, but he does not want to release that to VA. The attorney stops by the local court on one of her scheduled visits and has a court official certify a copy of the form. Frank contacts his doctor for an exam to complete Form 1 -- Statement of Attending Physician (used to determine rating for A&A or HB). One of his children takes him to the appointment.The medical report comes back, and, based on its contents, Frank and the attorney feel reasonably sure he will be granted a rating and allowance for aid and attendance. The trust is completed and $180,000 is transferred into it. The attorney works closely with a trust administrator whom she recommends for investing the trust assets and managing the provisions of the trust. Because trusts have to pay income tax, the administrator suggests putting the money into a high-yielding deferred annuity account. Thus the income is deferred.
|
|||||||||