Protecting the Spouse in Long-Term Medicaid Planning | CLE Course

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Course Details

Course Information

smart_display Format
Live Online with Live Q&A
signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level
Intermediate
work Practice Area
Family Law

Date & Time

event Date
Wednesday, October 1, 2025
schedule Time
1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT
timer Program Length
90 minutes

Credit Information

This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.
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Live Online

On Demand

$197.00

This course is $0 with these passes:

CLE

ALL

This CLE course will provide elder law counsel a detailed analysis of protecting the spouse in long-term Medicaid planning. The panel will discuss the best approaches to leverage the community spouse resource allowance (CSRA) and Medicaid monthly minimum maintenance needs allowance (MMMNA), as well as how to identify exempt assets and avoid spending down exempt funds. The panel will also discuss gifts or inheritance received by the community spouse, asset and money transfers to children, and estate planning issues.

Faculty

Gretchen Cleevely

Senior Associate Attorney

Rhodes Law Firm, PLLC

Ms. Cleevely is passionate about finding clients the right tools to succeed, whether clients are overcoming the challenges of a disability or seeking a plan to age with dignity. She guides clients and their families through the difficulties of public benefit eligibility and applications, long-term care planning, and finding the best options for individuals dealing with advancing age or disabilities.

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Michael Gerity

Attorney

Israel & Gerity, PLLC

Mr. Gerity is a distinguished attorney in Arizona who brings a wealth of experience to every case, whether representing a client to develop an estate plan or providing legal advice for a business entrepreneur, he is an experienced and reliable lawyer who knows how to provide the solutions clients need. Mr. Gerity has been admitted to practice law in Arizona State and Federal courts since graduating from the Arizona State University College of Law in 1994. Mr. Gerity is admitted to practice law in Colorado and before the United States Patent and Trademark office.

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Description

Elder clients rarely plan for Medicaid asset preservation, not anticipating the illness or injury that requires long-term Medicaid planning. Under such circumstances, protecting the spouse should be prioritized. Practitioners advising the senior population must understand medical criteria, qualification standards for Medicaid, how assets are classified, and available mechanisms to protect a spouse. Medicaid has strict financial rules that may require money to be spent down in order to qualify.

Asset protection strategy implementation requires a working knowledge of how the spend-down is determined. Rules for married couples are particularly complicated when one spouse requires long-term care. Counsel's goal is to preserve as much income and assets for the healthy spouse as permitted under the law.

Fundamental approaches include making countable assets unavailable and leveraging the use of the CSRA and MMMNA. Other strategies include transferring the sick spouse's IRA/retirement funds to the healthy spouse, having a valid, well-crafted power of attorney, considering divorce as an asset-protection option, and revising the estate plan using MAPTs, prepaid services, annuities, and pooled trusts.

Listen as our distinguished panel of attorneys discusses tools to assist married clients in Medicaid planning when only one spouse requires long-term care. The speakers will provide tips for leveraging the CSRA and MMMNA, identifying exempt assets, and avoiding spending down exempt resources. The panel will also cover other strategies to maintain assets and income for the healthy spouse.

Outline

I. Community spouse resource allowance

II. Monthly maintenance needs allowance

III. Avoid spending down exempt resources

IV. Identifying all exempt transfers

V. Divorce as a strategy

VI. Revising the estate plan

Benefits

The panel will review these and other critical issues:

What are the key challenges in protecting a spouse in long-term Medicaid planning?
What issues arise for gifts or inheritance received by the community spouse?
How do you manage asset and money transfers to children?
What estate planning issues must be considered?
How can the CSRA be optimized for the married client's benefit?
When is divorce a viable option in a spend-down strategy?