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Medicaid Planning: The Ins & Outs of MMMNA #4 – Income Cap States

Thanks for coming back for more about MMMNA, or the minimum monthly maintenance needs allowance, which is the minimum income allowance for the community (or well) spouse in a Medicaid claim. We've already covered some of the basics of determining MMMNA for your clients; If you didn't see the previous posts, click on the links to find numbers One, Two and Three.

Bigstock-Solution-563994One question you might have to deal with in MMMNA calculations is the income cap, if you're in a state that has one. Income cap states are a little bit of a different animal, and they raise a question: Does the insurance allowance include the Medigap premium? Yes it does. So Medicaid will allow you to deduct any cost of insurance and Medicare will be a primary insurer, which means they’re going to allow you any insurance costs related to the Medigap because that benefits Medicaid. In other words, Medicare would be the primary payer, and Medicaid would become the secondary.

Another issue along these lines is income limits. The income limit applies to the institutional spouse only in an income cap state.To review, in our previous posts we talked about the MMMNA individual allowance and the personal needs allowance, and we went over the MMMNA for a person who is married. The income cap is a different provision. In income cap states, it doesn’t matter if you’re married or single. It doesn’t matter what your income allowances are. It’s just a simple test: If a Medicaid applicant’s income exceeds $2,130, then the applicant doesn’t qualify for Medicaid. According to income cap states, that person has too much money.

It doesn’t matter how much the spouse’s income is. This is an income limit on the applicant only. So in the case we had before where the husband made $3,000, he would be over the income cap and therefore would not qualify. It might sounds ridiculous and you might feel bad for people who are in an income cap state, but that's the bottom line.

So our usual approach in such states is to do a Miller trust, which is a qualified income trust, or QIT. In a Miller trust, the husband assigns his income to the trust and then the trust pays the cost of care. It’s kind of silly to have to take that step, but those of you who are in income cap states are probably pretty familiar with the Miller trust, so it's not a big issue. If you’re not in an income cap state, you won't have to worry about it.

That's about all we can cover in today's post.  Check back back soon for a discussion on MMMNA asset tests.

To learn more about Medicaid join us at our Practice With Purpose event in June.  You'll experiece 2.5 days of all that you need training about Asset Protection, Medicaid and VA.

David J. Zumpano, Esq, CPA, Co-founder Lawyers With Purpose, Founder and Senior Partner of Estate Planning Law Center

A Look at the Pros and Cons of Business Planning with iPug™ Trusts and LLCs

An event not to be missed! On this free webinar we will carefully distinguish the pros and cons of the use of trusts to replace high net worth planning and planning in general for successful business owners and business succession planning using iPugs instead of LLCs.

Here's a sneak peek at what we'll be covering:

  • Planning for Business Owners
  • Planning for Efficient Gifting and Federal Estate Tax Planning
  • Planning for reasons such as…
    • Maintaining Control
    • Promoting Family Unity
    • Protecting Family
    • Wealth from Failed Marriages
    • Managing Family Assets Efficiently
    • Protecting Family Wealth from Creditors

Registration for this live event is FREE … Click here now to reserve your space!

To your success,

Dave Zumpano,
Co-Founder, Lawyers with Purpose
Practicing Attorney…Just Like You!
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The Estate Plan Audit

At Lawyers With Purpose, we put a tremendous amount of time and expertise into developing tools for estate planning attorneys to help them day in and day out, in their practice and with their clients. One tool for example is the "Estate Plan Audit."

Bigstock-Magnifying-Glass-3383639The Estate Plan Audit is a checklist of 15 questions to tap into the client’s needs.  The goal of the Audit is to find out where they are currently, and where they want to be. And we can do that by asking them just 15 very important questions that address what their estate planning goals are. Then ask them to rate them each, on a scale of 1 to 10, one being not very important and ten being very important.  What they’re really doing is showing us what's important in their world.

When you use the Estate Plan Audit, the best part about it is, that it becomes a non-sales process. This completely focuses on the client, without the attorney pushing any particular agenda. We’re not pushing any particular trust or plan on the client.  They’re really looking at where they are now, what their needs are and what they might want. 

If your an LWP members you can review our 2012 Enhancement Retreat, where members Jeff Bellomo and Susan Hunter discuss in much greater detail the Estate Plan Audit, how to connect it to the workshop and the stories told in The 7 Threats Workshop.  All you've got to do is log into the members website and hover over the “LWP Process” tab, choose the “LWP Program Modules Folder,“ then scroll all the way down to a folder titled "2012 Annual Enhancement Retreat."  You’re looking for the November 14, 2012, Day 1, Video 4.  Start listening right about the 27 minute mark!

We hope you put the Estate Plan Audit to good use. It's a great tool for distilling all of the pieces of an estate plan into what really matters to the client, in a way that won't feel like a sales job.  If you aren't a Lawyers With Purpose member, contact Molly Hall at mhall@lawyerswithpurpose.com for more information.

David J. Zumpano, Esq, CPA, Co-founder Lawyers With Purpose, Founder and Senior Partner of Estate Planning Law Center

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Know What Trust & LWP-CCS Options To Choose

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During Day 2 of the LWP Retreat Attorneys Track – members will be learning fact patterns, designing plans for results and the CCS features & functions in a way that they can understand the science, the art and the legal technical. Dave Zumpano, Victoria Collier and resident SNT expert Kristen Lewis will lead you through an extensive legal technical day. Our goal during this time together is for you to know with certainty the LWP-CCS software confidently, competency and consciously to get the results for meeting your clients’ wants and needs.

You'll gain knowledge of all the trusts available in the CCS as an LWP Member. RLT, MIT, FIT, KIT, CGT, TAB, ENT & SNT trusts will be covered so you'll walk away knowing what they are – and how to charge clients, ultimately increasing your revenue.

What will you be missing if you don't attend? What the software is capable of:

  • Powers of Appointment
  • Formula Funding
  • Retirement Plan Choices
  • Lifetime Beneficiaries Choices
  • Family Trust Beneficiaries
  • Residual Trust Options
  • Trustee Formula Selection
  • Trust Protector & Powers
  • Remarriage Choices

Day 2 will methodically teach you all this and how to compensate yourself for the value you bring to your clients and referral sources. Register today, the hotel is almost SOLD OUT and sells out every year. Invest in your future today and secure your spot. The price will increase tomorrow click here to register now. We can't wait to be in the room with you!

Next up…..what’s our team doing all of Day 2?

Sheraton Syracuse University Hotel & Conference Center
Room Rate: $132.00/Single – $142.00/Double – $152.00/Triple & Quad
Group Rate Cut Off Date: 5:00 pm October 7, 2013