Defending Your Estate
Florida Trusts are handy tools for placing conditions on asset distribution upon your passing while maintaining control of the trust as trustee. Trusts are also great for protecting your estate from Nursing Home costs and providing immediate asset protection from any liabilities.
The Florida Asset Protection Irrevocable Trust (FAPIT™) program offered by Vanover Law Firm is specially designed to protect your family’s assets from nursing home costs and lawsuits.
Issues with Old Irrevocable Trusts
Old irrevocable trusts had major problems that prevented people from obtaining useful access to their money when they needed it most, like:
- The Trustee needed a new IRS number and separately file tax returns
- The creator lost control over asset and income management
- Higher tax consequences
- NO future beneficiary changes once the trust was created
The FAPIT™ Difference
FAPIT™ is an Irrevocable Pure Grantor Trust, and Keith P. Vanover is the exclusive attorney in Northwest Florida to deliver it. With FAPIT™, you maintain control over the assets while getting immediate asset protection.
The following are some of the FAPIT™ flexibility and asset protection guidelines:
- The Trustee can be changed at ANY time for ANY reason WITHOUT court permission.
- Beneficiaries can be changed at ANY time for ANY reason WITHOUT court permission.
- After 5 years, gain Medicaid and VA Long Term Benefits Eligibility. Spend down rules do not apply to FAPIT™ assets after 5 years.
- Protects assets immediately from your family’s future liabilities.
- The Trustee has the ability to distribute income and principle to anyone other than you. ALL of the income may be reserved for yourself or your spouse. Upon your death, your beneficiaries will receive a full step-up in tax basis. Oftentimes, this provides beneficiaries the ability to avoid capital gains.
- No new IRS number is needed to file a separate Trust tax return. The FAPIT™ uses your social security number, so you are able to transfer assets into the FAPIT™ without it creating a taxable event.
With FAPIT™, families are able to keep more of their money, instead of watching it dwindle away through long-term care costs and future liabilities.
How Much Does a Typical Nursing Home in Florida Cost?
According to Florida Medicaid, the average cost of a nursing home this year is $9,101 per month! A staggering 72% of Americans over the age of 65 will require approximately 2.2 years in a nursing home.
Although the state of Florida will step in and cover ALL of your nursing home expenses once you go broke, they only allow you to retain $2,000 in total assets before they offer any monetary aid.
You can avoid Florida Medicaid from seizing your assets due to nursing home costs if you pre-plan with a FAPIT™ 5 years in advance.
Is FAPIT™ a Good Fit for You?
If you are over 50 years old and have assets you’d like to protect, a FAPIT™ could be the right choice for you. Long-term care becomes quite costly, and a FAPIT™ helps protect your assets from dwindling down to nothing; should you need to stay in a nursing home for a period of time.
Estate planning expert Keith P. Vanover will create a FAPIT™ that is customized to your situation in order to provide you with the comfort of knowing your hard-earned assets will remain secure, regardless of any costly unforeseen circumstances.
You can include FAPIT™ when you purchase the entire Florida Estate Planning Package. It can also be coordinated with your Florida Last Will, Financial Power of Attorney, and HealthCare Surrogate. It is important that your Last Will and Testament has a Florida Pour Over section for FAPIT™ to collect any forgotten assets. You should coordinate your Estate Plan for ALL of your documents to work in Florida.
Call the Vanover Law Firm experts today at (850) 999-0006 to speak with a Fort Walton Beach attorney about planning your estate.