This is a 4-Part Series on Medicaid Planning and the Lookback
What If I’m Already Inside the 5-Year Window?
All is not lost – but you should not try to “wing it.”
When someone needs care now or in the near term and is already inside the lookback period, we look at “crisis planning” strategies. These might include:
- Partial gifting and Medicaid-compliant promissory notes
- Re-structuring existing transfers or gifts
- Carefully timed spend-downs for legitimate purposes
- Appropriate use of certain trusts or annuities (where allowed)
- Coordinating with your CPA and financial advisor
Crisis planning is complex and very fact specific. The wrong move can accidentally extend the penalty or create tax problems. The right move can save a significant portion of the estate while still getting the client the care they need.
Why Planning Early in New Jersey Matters So Much
In New Jersey, long-term care costs are high and rising. A private-pay nursing home stay can burn through a lifetime of savings in just a few years. The 5-year lookback exists so the state doesn’t foot the bill for people who just gave everything away yesterday.
From our perspective as New Jersey estate planning and elder law attorneys, the lookback is both:
- A risk (if you wait too long), and
- An opportunity (if you plan early and deliberately).
Starting the clock now with a well-designed strategy – including tools like a Medicaid Asset Protection Trust, carefully structured gifting, and updated powers of attorney – can be the difference between:
- Having to spend nearly everything on care, or
- Preserving a meaningful nest egg or family home while still getting needed benefits.
How Simon Law Group Helps Families Navigate the Lookback
At Simon Law Group, we regularly help New Jersey families:
- Review their current assets and income
- Map out potential long-term care scenarios
- Understand existing gifts or transfers that might already affect the lookback
- Decide whether a MAPT or other trust is appropriate
- Coordinate with financial advisors and tax professionals
- Develop both a “now” plan (what if care is needed soon?) and a “later” plan (what if it’s 5–10 years away?)
We also design your documents so they work well together:
- Medicaid-sensitive powers of attorney
- Updated wills and revocable trusts
- Medicaid Asset Protection Trusts and third-party special needs trusts
- Clear instructions for your family so they know what to do if a health crisis hits
And behind the scenes, we leverage advanced legal tech and drafting systems to keep your documents current, highly customized, and readable – not just recycled boilerplate that may or may not hold up when Medicaid actually reviews your file.
You Don’t Have to Figure This Out Alone
The 5-year lookback is one of those rules that sounds simple but explodes into complexity the moment you start adding real-life facts: second marriages, disabled children, a house with a mortgage, IRAs, life insurance, business interests, prior gifts, and so on.
You don’t need to become an expert in all of this. That’s our job.
If you or a loved one are:
- Worried about future nursing home or assisted living costs,
- Considering gifting or putting the house in the kids’ names, or
- Curious whether a Medicaid Asset Protection Trust makes sense for you,
we’d be happy to speak with you.
Contact our New Jersey Estate Planning Attorneys now.
Simon Law Group, LLC
40 W. High Street
Somerville, NJ 08876
Phone: 800-709-1131
Reach out to schedule a confidential consultation. We’ll walk you through the 5-year lookback, help you understand your options, and design a plan that protects both your care and your family’s future.
**** This post is not legal advice. Please seek qualified legal advice from an Attorney when handling potential estate planning or Medicaid planning. ****
If you're looking for more information about Estate Planning or Medicaid Planning or Asset Protection, contact an experienced Estate Planning Attorney, Simon Law Group LLC for a free consultation by calling 800-709-1131 or TEXT us at 908-864-4450
