Irrevocable Doesn’t Mean Inflexible
Irrevocable Doesn't Mean Inflexible
Your clients want asset protection — without losing control of everything they’ve built. In 60 minutes, learn to answer the five questions that decide whether they move forward.
Five Questions. One Planning Conversation.
A couple in their early seventies visits your office. They own their home outright, they've seen what long-term care costs can do to a family's finances, and they want to protect what they've built. They're interested in asset protection — but the word irrevocable makes them hesitate. Then come the questions:
- Can an irrevocable trust ever be changed?
- Will our beneficiaries lose the step-up in basis?
- Can either of us serve as trustee?
- Can we still access income or assets if we need them?
- When does the Medicaid five-year look-back period begin?
These are the concerns that decide whether clients feel comfortable moving forward with an asset protection strategy. Answering them takes more than a general understanding of trusts — it takes knowing which provisions create flexibility and where the legal limits apply.
In 60 Minutes You'll See
Where the flexibility lives. Trust protectors, limited powers of appointment, and trustee selection — the provisions that make an irrevocable trust adaptable, and where the legal limits apply.
The tax and access answers. How retained powers affect estate inclusion and the step-up in basis, and why the income-versus-principal distinction decides what your clients can still reach.
The Medicaid timing question. How the five-year look-back really works, how transfer timing shapes the plan — and how the LWP iPug® trust approach builds these answers into the document itself.
You'll leave with the Five Questions Card
A one-page reference that pairs each of the five questions with the key provisions behind the answer and a plan-English explanation you can use in your next client meeting.
Is This Webinar for You?
Yes — if you are:
- A solo or small-firm estate planning attorney considering Medicaid planning
- Regularly referring out Medicaid crisis or asset-protection matters
- Ready to grow beyond wills, revocable trusts, and powers of attorney
- Already doing some Medicaid work and want a systematic approach
Probably not — if you are:
- Not a practicing attorney or law firm staff member
- Looking for consumer advice about a family member's Medicaid case
- Unwilling to add any new practice area in the next year
Can You Answer All Five with Confidence?
The next time a client hesitates at the word “irrevocable,” be the attorney who can explain exactly what they keep, what they give up, and why the structure protects them.
Free to attend. Educational content for legal professionals. No CLE credit is claimed. Trust provisions, tax consequences and Medicaid eligibility outcomes depend on applicable law and individual circumstances. This webinar does not constitute legal advice.
Speaker
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Brittney Shearin Esq.Head of Product Development & Legal-Technical Attorney | Lawyers with Purpose
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