Does your power of attorney let your family qualify you for Medicaid in Florida?

Why income can block eligibility

Florida's long-term care Medicaid programs have an income cap. People whose income is above it can still qualify by routing the excess income through a Qualified Income Trust, a trust that federal law expressly permits. The trust has to be set up and the deposits made every month.

The cap changes every year, so we do not print it here. We check it against the current figure for your review.

The power of attorney is the key

When the person who needs care can no longer sign, their agent creates and funds the trust. That requires a power of attorney that clearly authorizes it, and a bank that will accept the document. Plans written in states without the same rules often say nothing about it.

The same is true of personal care agreements, transfers between spouses, and beneficiary changes, all common pieces of Medicaid planning.

Protecting the surviving spouse

Plans that leave everything outright to the surviving spouse make all of it countable if that spouse later needs care. Florida planning can direct the first spouse's share into a trust created by will for the survivor's care. Because it is created by will, it is treated differently for Medicaid purposes than a trust the survivor creates, and it remains available for the survivor's needs.

How we Floridize it

A Florida power of attorney with express QIT, personal care agreement, and interspousal transfer authority, and, for married couples, a pour-over will that can hold the first spouse's share in a care trust for the survivor.

Common questions

What is a Qualified Income Trust?

A trust that receives the income above Florida's long-term care Medicaid income limit so the person can qualify. Federal law authorizes it at 42 U.S.C. § 1396p(d)(4)(B). It is also called a Miller Trust.

What if no one has authority to set up the QIT?

The family may need a guardianship, a court proceeding that takes time and money, before the trust can be created.