Watch Your Language: Community Spouse

The community spouse is like a super hero: retaining more assets, collecting more income, and preserving the couple’s legacy.

In our last entry we talked about what it means to be the institutionalized spouse. The spouse who is residing in a health care facility, whether a hospital or a nursing home, is considered to be “institutionalized” for Medicaid purposes. One or both spouses can be institutionalized. But the mild-mannered spouse who is not in the nursing home has special powers and a special title to go with it: community spouse.

The community spouse is sometimes referred to as the “healthy” spouse. This is because the community spouse is still mentally and physically strong enough to continue living at home on their own.

The distinction between a community spouse and an institutionalized spouse is an important one when it comes to the Medicaid eligibility rules. A community spouse gets to keep more of the couple’s money, more of the couple’s income, and may be able to preserve a significant portion of the couple’s estate and legacy.

Call our office at (712) 737-3885 to find out how we can reduce or even eliminate the financial stress that comes with a looming institutionalization.