What Happens to Your Spouse If You Need Nursing Home Care?

Have you and your spouse ever talked about what would happen if one of you needed nursing home care next year? It is not the easiest conversation to start, but it may be one of the most important ones a married couple can have. Long term care is expensive, it is often unexpected, and it can affect far more than just the person who needs it. For couples in Georgia, understanding how long term care planning works, and how it can protect a spouse who remains at home, is worth exploring now rather than later.

How Likely Is It That You Will Need Long Term Care?

Would it surprise you to learn just how common the need for long term care actually is? According to the Administration for Community Living, someone turning 65 today has almost a 70 percent chance of needing some type of long term care services at some point in their remaining years. Many people assume this only applies to nursing homes, but long term care can also mean home health aides, assisted living, or memory care support.

For couples, the real question is not just whether care will be needed, but what happens financially when it is.

What Protections Exist for a Spouse Who Stays at Home?

Could Medicaid rules actually work in a couple’s favor? Federal law includes spousal impoverishment protections designed to prevent the spouse who remains at home, sometimes called the community spouse, from being left with little to nothing while the other spouse qualifies for Medicaid coverage of nursing home care. These protections allow the at-home spouse to retain a portion of the couple’s income and assets rather than requiring both spouses to spend down everything before Medicaid eligibility begins.

The specifics of how much can be retained depend on current federal guidelines and how a couple’s assets are titled. Advance planning tends to produce far better outcomes than waiting until a crisis is underway.

What Steps Can Couples Take Now?

What could a proactive plan actually include? Couples considering long term care planning in Georgia may want to think through:

• Reviewing how assets and income are titled between spouses
• Considering long term care insurance while both spouses are still healthy
• Understanding Medicaid’s look back period and how asset transfers are treated
• Creating or updating powers of attorney so financial and health decisions can be made if either spouse becomes incapacitated
• Discussing preferences for care settings before a decision has to be made in a hurry

Every couple’s situation looks different depending on their assets, their health, and their family circumstances, so a one size fits all approach rarely works well here.

Contact Us Today for Help

Long term care planning is not something most couples want to think about, but putting a plan in place while both spouses are healthy can make an enormous difference later. If you and your spouse live in the Norcross area and want to talk through your options, our Norcross elder law and long-term care attorneys at Bowman Law Firm are ready to help you think it through together. We take the time to understand your specific goals as a couple, not just your paperwork, and we can walk you through how Medicaid rules, asset protection strategies, and long term care insurance might fit into your overall plan. Contact us today to schedule a conversation about protecting both of you.