Planning for Long-Term Care in Florida

Most Florida residents reading this article are probably healthy enough to take care of themselves right now, but we all grow older. Sooner or later, many of us will need some help completing our daily living tasks through long-term care. Long term care might include living in a nursing home with round-the-clock nurses and doctors on staff. Long-term care might also include in-home assistance.

Although long-term care takes many forms, one thing is definitely certain: it’s expensive and unaffordable. Unless you are a multi-millionaire, the high costs associated with long-term care will quickly eat away at your savings until you have nothing left. Even multi-millionaires may find themselves running out of savings while they still have many years of long-term care living expenses left to pay for.

Fortunately, when we do run out of money, government benefits will kick in to help pay for our long-term care. However, we will first spend all of our loved one’s inheritance on medical expenses before this happens.

Florida residents, who are concerned about preserving their money for their heirs (rather than spending it all on their long-term care), will have various estate planning strategies available to them. For one, a special trust can be created that a Florida resident can use in order to protect the wealth of his or her estate. By putting one’s assets under the ownership of a trust, Florida residents may be able to start receiving government medical benefits before they have spent it all. Long-term care insurance could also be appropriate in some situations, depending on an individual’s income level, health, savings level and family situation.