Potentially Exempt Transfers
Generosity is its own reward, but it has plenty of other rewards. When someone gives a gift of money or some other item with a large amount of use value or exchange value, the giver gets the feels, and the recipient gets financial relief, at least temporarily. Even though it is tacky to brag about your generosity, people are generally optimistic when they think that other people are generous. Even when you don’t tell anyone else about the gift you gave, the fact that you gave it makes you more optimistic and less likely to assume the worst about other people. The best thing about generosity is that it is up to you to decide what to give, and with a little imagination, you don’t even need many financial resources to achieve it. If you are generous with your free time, you can bring people a sense of relief that money can’t buy, whether you do this by going to your daughter’s house and entertaining your grandchildren by reading to them while she washes the dishes or by having long conversations with people who feel lonely and misunderstood. Likewise, simply by smiling and being pleasant even when people are less than pleasant to you, you can spend abundant good cheer. The quest for longevity does not pay dividends in the same way, especially because so much of it is outside your control. You might adhere zealously to the restrictive diet of your choice and not allow any plastic into your kitchen, but despite this, you might get hit by a bus tomorrow. In the world of estate planning, longevity compounds generosity. You can’t control how long you stay healthy, but you can control when you give gifts, and sooner is better than later. For help strategizing about how to give gifts now and then keep body and soul together for at least the next five years, contact an Orlando estate planning lawyer.
Generosity and Longevity Are a Winning Combination
Estate planning is all about making sure you have enough money to last the rest of your life, even though you don’t know how long that will be, nor do you know when you will need long-term care. The wealthiest people buy long-term care insurance when they are still young and healthy, but not everyone is that fortunate. Plenty of seniors want to help their families financially, and their families need help, so they are torn between the desire to help and the obligation to plan for their long-term needs. The good news is that, if you need to, you can enter a nursing home as a Medicaid beneficiary. The bad news is that, after you die, the probate court will try to reimburse itself from your estate. If you gave gifts less than five years before applying for Medicaid, the court will make your estate pay it back for those gifts, assuming that you were trying to impoverish yourself so that you could qualify for Medicaid.
Contact Gierach and Gierach About Probate for Generous People Who Are Used to Uncertainty
An estate planning lawyer can help you determine the likelihood of needing Medicaid nursing home care and plan your gifts accordingly. Contact Gierach and Gierach, P.A. in Orlando, Florida to discuss your case.
