The Senior Show – Protecting Your Home & Legacy: Medicaid Trusts, Deeds vs. Trusts, and Reverse Mortgage Strategies – S1E5

Let’s get into it—this is The Senior Show!

On this episode of The Senior Show, Neil Himmelstein and Tim Kennedy welcome Larry Scherer, a trusts, estates, and elder law attorney, to unpack how families can protect their home and assets while planning for Medicaid and long-term care. Larry explains what actually works in a Medicaid application—especially Medicaid Asset Protection Trusts (and why you can’t be your own trustee), plus a “Medicaid two-step” strategy that starts with a revocable trust to avoid today’s probate delays (now often months post-COVID) and later converts it when Medicaid planning becomes urgent. The conversation also covers how homeowners can still access equity—often through a reverse mortgage even when a home is held in certain trusts—and how trust-held funds can be invested to generate income while maintaining protections. They close with a cautionary story about a tenants-in-common deed gone wrong after deaths in the family, highlighting how outdated documents and deed structures can create conflict, forced sale/partition risk, and unintended heirs—reinforcing the need for a coordinated team approach across legal, insurance, and mortgage planning to manage Tim’s “five L’s”: longevity, liquidity, lifestyle, legacy, and long-term care.

Join us every Friday at 5 PM EST on 103.9 L.I. News Radio to catch "The Senior Show," hosted by Neil Himmelstein and Tim Kennedy.

Catch episodes on YouTube, Spotify & Apple Podcasts.

For questions or planning help:

Neil Himmelstein - ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.mainstreetplanninggroup.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠

Tim Kennedy - ⁠⁠⁠⁠http://www.timtalksreverse.com/