My Husband Did Not Have a Revocable Living Trust.

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A Scenario about Revocable Living Trusts

My Husband Did Not Have a Revocable Living Trust.

Why do I need revocable living trusts? If my husband only had a will and there were no big problems when he passed away isn’t that enough?

This specific situation would need to be reviewed by your professional advisors-they might know why your husband chose to go with a will and not revocable living trusts. One reason you may have experienced no problems is because you and your husband owned everything jointly (like your house, bank accounts, investments, etc). Another thought would be your assets were passed to you by way of a beneficiary designation (like insurance and IRAs). If the assets were held in these ways, there would have been no probate at your husband’s death, and all would have been fairly simple.

Now, however, all those assets are now in your name individually, and things won’t be so simple upon your death. And when things pass from you to your children and other beneficiaries, you may now want to take advantage of all the benefits of trust planning mentioned earlier in this chapter.

I Heard That I Could Put Assets into Revocable Living Trusts, Retain Control, and Then Apply for Medicaid Benefits, and the Assets in the Trust Would be Protected from Medicaid?

No. The assets in a revocable trust are not protected from Medicaid. If the transfer had been to an irrevocable trust or gifted away, the technique may allow the assets to be excluded from Medicaid, subject to the applicable rules regarding the time of the transfer.