Nursing home care is expensive. In Ohio, it can cost over $100,000 a year. Without proper planning, those costs can drain your savings and leave little behind for your loved ones. The good news is you have options. With the right estate planning strategies, you can protect your estate from nursing home costs in Ohio and keep more of what you've worked hard to build.

How Nursing Home Costs can Drain Your Assets

Most people assume Medicare will cover long-term care. It won’t. Medicare may pay for a short stay in a rehab facility after a hospital stay, but it doesn’t cover long-term nursing home care.

Medicaid will cover nursing home costs, but only after you meet strict income and asset requirements. That usually means spending down your assets to qualify. If you don’t plan ahead, your home, retirement savings, and even life insurance could be at risk.

Many families don’t realize this until it’s too late. Someone gets sick, needs full-time care, and the family starts paying out of pocket. Before long, the estate starts to shrink.

Even worse, Medicaid can come back after your death and try to recover the benefits paid on your behalf from your estate. This is called estate recovery, and it can take a big bite out of anything you hoped to pass on.

That’s why estate planning to avoid nursing home costs shouldn't be optional - it should be essential. The earlier you start, the more options you’ll have.

Strategies to Protect Your Estate From Nursing Home Costs

Not every strategy works for every situation, but here are a few of the most effective tools Ohio families use.

1. Set Up Irrevocable Trusts

One of the most powerful tools for protecting assets is an irrevocable trust. By transferring assets into this type of trust, they are no longer considered part of your estate for Medicaid purposes. That means, Medicaid can’t count them as part of your estate, in most cases.

However, timing matters. Medicaid has a five-year lookback period. If you transfer assets into a trust too close to when you apply, you could face penalties or delays in coverage. Our attorneys can help structure this correctly.

2. Consider Long-Term Care Insurance

Some people choose to purchase long-term care insurance to help cover nursing home expenses. This can reduce or eliminate the need to tap into your own assets.

This kind of insurance is not the right fit for everyone, as the policies can be expensive and coverage terms vary. But when used as part of a larger estate planning strategy to avoid nursing home costs, it can provide peace of mind.

3. Use Medicaid-Compliant Annuities

These annuities convert a lump sum of assets into an income stream for a healthy spouse. They’re often used in crisis planning situations where one spouse needs nursing home care and the other is still living at home.

Ohio has specific rules around how these annuities must be structured. Done right, they can preserve some of your estate while helping a spouse remain financially stable.

4. Asset Protection Planning for the Family Home

In Ohio, Medicaid doesn’t always count the primary residence right away. But if the home is still in your name when you die, Medicaid can try to recover costs by forcing its sale through the estate recovery process..

Transferring the home into an irrevocable trust or to a family caregiver who meets certain criteria can help protect it. Again, this has to be done carefully and well before nursing home care is needed.

5. Gifting and Transfers

Some families try to gift assets to children to spend down what Medicaid would count. While this can work in some situations, it comes with risks.

First, Medicaid has a five-year lookback period, meaning any gifts made within five years of applying can lead to penalties or disqualification. Second, once you give assets to someone else, you lose control over them. If your child gets divorced, is sued, or falls into debt, those gifted assets could be claimed by their creditors.

That’s why it’s rarely wise to gift without guidance. Done strategically and at the right time, however, gifts can play a part in protecting your estate from nursing home costs in Ohio.

6. Establish Durable Power of Attorney and Health Care Directives

Planning isn’t just about money - it’s also about making sure someone you trust can make decisions for you if you’re unable.

A durable power of attorney gives that person authority over your finances. Advance directives cover health care decisions. Together, these documents ensure your wishes are carried out and your estate is protected, even if you can’t act for yourself.

7. Maximize Spousal Protections

Ohio follows federal Medicaid rules that offer some protection for married couples. These rules allow the healthy spouse to keep a certain amount of assets and income.

Still, navigating these rules is tricky. Without guidance, couples often spend down more than they need to. With the right plan, you can keep more of your joint estate intact.

Speak With an Ohio Estate Planning Attorney

If you’ve been thinking about how to protect your estate from nursing home costs, don’t wait until a crisis hits. Early planning gives you more choices and a better chance to preserve what you’ve earned.

At Legacy Law Group, Ltd., we help Ohio families create estate plans that account for long-term care, Medicaid rules, and asset protection. We know the laws, we understand the risks, and we’ll help you put a plan in place that gives you peace of mind.

Reach out today to schedule a consultation with Tim Alley. Let’s talk about your goals and how to protect your estate from nursing home costs in Ohio - before it’s too late.