Our Approach

As we grow older, our healthcare and financial needs change. So, at Huizenga Law, we have two goals:

First, we want to make sure you have a plan in place to meet those changing needs. That means helping you make a plan to prevent the loss of your home or life’s savings if you need significant long term care in the future.

Second, we want to make the transition from independent living to in-home assistance or nursing home care as smooth and easy as possible.

We can’t stop the aging process. But, with proper planning through our LegacyGuard^TM process, we can make it an easier transition for you and your loved ones.

LEGACYGUARD^TM PROCESS

elder law · medicaid · veterans benefits · trusts

From your first contact with us, we’re working to make planning as painless as possible by helping you get comfortable with us, both personally and professionally. At the Mutual Interview, the most important thing is for you to get answers to your questions. Rather than overwhelm you with technical information, we’ll also get to know each other, review your financial information, and talk about your needs and your family’s needs. Then we’ll talk about how we can help you eliminate the financial stress that comes with thinking about nursing home care.

If you decide to engage us, we’ll analyze your assets and income in the context of Medicaid and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) pension and build you a Comprehensive Analysis and Strategy Letter (CASL), complete with a list of our recommended planning tools and a synopsis of the rules that are applicable to you. At the Design Meeting, we’ll use a visual presentation to: (1) review the CASL together, (2) select the planning tools that fit you best, and (3) develop a timeline for building and implementing your selected plan tools.

The Building the Plan phase is a series of internal meetings and actions by our staff. After the Design meeting, we’ll help you set up a system to keep your financial records at our office up to date. As we prepare for implementation, we’ll put together instructions for reallocating assets, draft any legal documents needed to accomplish your plan, and prepare any Medicaid or VA application paperwork needed for your plan. The timing of each of the tasks we perform during this phase is based on the timeline we create with you at the Design Meeting.

Now that your plan is designed and built, it’s time to implement your decisions. At the Sign and Align Meeting, we’ll collect your signatures on the tools we’ve built for you and help you set up any needed new accounts. Once your assets are aligned with your goals and when the timing is right, we’ll submit your Medicaid or VA application and communicate with the state or the VA on your behalf until you receive an eligibility determination on that application.

Whether we’ve successfully applied for Medicaid or a VA pension on your behalf or set up a trust in advance of that application, it’s important to make sure the plan you designed stays effective. That’s why we offer you a variety of benefits through our LegacyGuard^TM Program. As a member, you’ll keep your client portal, have access to our team for any questions or clerical changes to your plan, and we’ll work with you, your family, and your other advisors to maintain your eligibility and keep your documents and your assets aligned with your goals.

In our community, farmland is often the foundation on which a family is built. If you're a farmer, it's likely that you inherited some part of the land you farm, and it's even more likely that the farmland is an integral part of your personal legacy. We know how important that farm legacy is, often passing from great-grandfather down through the generations to great-grandson or great-granddaughter. That's why we've developed a special long-term care planning package that addresses the unique needs of farmers and farm families.

LTC Resources

• Glossary of Medicaid Terms
• Guidebook to Nursing Home Medicaid
• Medicaid Myths

More on LTC Planning

• Watch Your Language: Resource
• Watch Your Language: D.R.A.
• Watch Your Language: Spenddown