Elder Protection Trust
Protect Up to 100% of Your Assets with Our Exclusive Elder Protection Trust
Click the button now to schedule your call and we’ll apply the Asset Protection Calculator to your situation. Learn how IL law guarantees you to protect at least 50% of your assets from Nursing Home Spenddown!
Unique Benefits of the Elder Protection Trust
Save More. Protect More. A Proven Solution You Won’t Find Anywhere Else.
- Protect 50%–100% of Your Assets: With our exclusive trust strategy, assets placed in the trust are shielded from Medicaid spend-down.
- Guaranteed Savings: Even under crisis planning, you can still save half or more of your assets a benefit no other firm provides.
- Trusted for Over 30 Years: Hundreds of families have relied on our expertise to preserve their wealth and peace of mind.
What Is the Elder Protection Trust?
A Trust Designed to Protect Your Wealth
- A legal tool that protects your assets while allowing you to qualify for Medicaid.
- Specifically designed to shield up to 100% of assets from nursing home spend-down requirements.
- Provides flexibility to safeguard your family home, savings, and investments while maintaining control over your financial future.
Key Benefits
- Save Half or More: Even in urgent situations, protect a significant portion of your assets.
- Secure Medicaid Benefits: Qualify for care without losing your family’s legacy.
Exclusive Expertise: Our proprietary process ensures maximum protection tailored to your needs.
Why Choose ElderSmart?
30 Years of Proven Results – A Unique Solution You Can Trust
- Unmatched Experience: With over three decades of specialization, we’re the pioneers of the Elder Protection Trust.
- Exclusive Process: No other firm offers our level of protection – saving 50%–100% of assets placed in the trust.
- Hundreds of Success Stories: Families across the country have relied on us to secure their financial futures.
Thanks to ElderSmart’s Elder Protection Trust, we saved nearly all of my parents’ assets and ensured their Medicaid eligibility. I’m forever grateful!
– Sarah L.
FAQs About Elder Protection Trusts (EPT)
What is a Elder Protection Trust (EPT), and how does it work?
An EPT is a specialized legal tool that allows you to protect your assets from Medicaid’s spend-down requirements. By transferring assets into the trust, they are no longer considered part of your countable assets for Medicaid eligibility. The trust shields these assets while allowing you to qualify for nursing home financial aid when needed.
What types of assets can I place in an EPT?
Commonly protected assets include:
• Your home
• Savings accounts
• Investments (stocks, bonds, mutual funds)
• Rental properties
• Valuables, such as antiques or family heirlooms
• Automobiles
These assets are transferred to the trust and managed according to your instructions, ensuring they remain protected for your beneficiaries.
Will I lose control over the assets placed in the trust?
No, an EPT is designed to offer protection while maintaining a level of control. You will designate a Trustee to follow your instructions regarding the care and management of all Trust assets. You still have control! Additionally, income generated from the trust may be available for your use, depending on the trust’s structure.
How soon should I set up a EPT?
Sooner is better. Assets owned by the Trust for 5 years prior to applying for Financial Aid are protected 100%! Assets transferred to the Trust within 5 years of applying for Financial Aid are protected 50%. This is like an insurance policy: acting now ensures that your assets are fully protected when the time comes to apply for assistance.
Can I use an EPT if I or my spouse already need nursing home care?
Yes! The Federal Rules allow for crisis planning, which protects at least half of current countable assets, even if nursing home care is already needed. In such cases, we may use additional strategies alongside the trust to optimize the available protections.
How much of my assets can an EPT protect?
An EPT can protect 50%–100% of the assets placed in the trust, depending on the life events that pop up and the structure of your planning.
Can I still live in my home if it's placed in the trust?
Yes, you can continue living in your home even if it’s part of the trust. The EPT allows you to retain the right to live in your home for the rest of your life while ensuring it is protected from spend-down requirements.
How does an EPT benefit my family?
An EPT helps preserve your wealth and legacy for your loved ones by shielding assets from nursing home costs. This ensures that your hard-earned savings and property can be passed down to your children or other beneficiaries instead of being spent on long-term care expenses.
What happens if I need to make changes to the trust later?
The Illinois Trust Code allows for certain flexibility in changing EPTs, such as changing beneficiaries or the trustee. We match you with an experienced elder law attorney to ensure that your trust not only is tailored to your unique needs and future goals; but also has the flexibility allowed by law to address these changes.
Why should I choose your firm to create my EPT?
For over 30 years, our team has specialized in creating specialty trusts that provide unmatched asset protection for families with a loved one facing elder frailty issues. Our expertise ensures that your EPT is structured correctly to maximize protection and meet Medicaid requirements. With a track record of helping hundreds of families, we are your trusted partner in preserving your assets and securing your future.
What are the benefits of an Elder Protection Trust (EPT) over a Revocable Living Trust?
The risk you planned for when you created your Revocable Living Trust was to protect your estate from going to Probate… it offers ZERO asset protection if you’re incapacitated and face a nursing home situation. The EPT offers asset protection AND the Probate protection. The EPT shields assets from spend-down, ensuring they are protected and not subject to being used to pay for long-term care costs. This makes the EPT a superior choice for protecting your wealth if elder frailty or nursing home care becomes a risk.
I already have a trust – what would a new one do for me?
If you already have a trust, it’s a Revocable Living Trust. It’s essential to understand its limitations. Revocable Trusts are great: but they DO NOT address the issue of “What if I face elder frailty issues and need care?” Existing trusts are not designed to protect assets from nursing home spend-down. A new Elder Protection Trust would specifically address this gap as a legal proven structure that shields your assets from being forced to be spent down.
Do I have to close my current Trust?
No – an EPT can complement or replace your current trust to ensure your wealth is fully protected from long-term care expenses. We’ll cover this in our design conversations of our process.
