Can A Guardian Can Be Authorized To Engage In Medicaid Planning?
The care of an incapacitated person can be very expensive. Significant amounts of home care or a residential placement can cost many thousands of dollars per month. It is often possible to obtain Medicaid eligibility for home care or residential facility benefits if the assets of an incapacitated person can be transferred or placed into a trust pursuant to qualified Asset Protection techniques. Under appropriate circumstances, a court can authorize a guardian to take the steps that are necessary to obtain Medicaid eligibility for an incapacitated person. Many people prefer to leave an “inheritance” for family members rather than spend it all on nursing home care. For those people, Medicaid Planning and Asset Protection is a serious consideration. But where the AIP now lacks the capacity to make those decisions, a guardian may be necessary. Some are under the mistaken belief that a power- of-attorney is enough to accomplish this goal, but the power-of-attorney may limit or even prohibit
