How Much Nursing Home Care Can the Elderly Pay for Themselves?
3 or more years: 19% 1-3 years: 16% Less than 1 year: 65% Two-thirds of elderly people living in the community could not pay for more than one year of nursing home care ($70,000), and more than half of the people in this range have less than $5000 in assets. Elder Law Case: Unclear Estate Planning Creates Family Turmoil Roy Ayers and his wife, Lorayne, wanted to protect their money from nursing home costs, but instead of consulting an elder law professional, they decided to take matters into their own hands. They ended up causing bigger problems for themselves and their family. Ayers v. Mitchell (The Ayers deposited $48,000 in a bank account, and added two of their children to the account. Their daughter, Gail Mitchell, claimed that her parents did this in order to create a trust. According to her, they asked her to take charge of their life savings to shelter it from being counted by Medicaid and provide for their future needs. However, because they didn’t consult with a professional
