Protecting Your Estate From Medical Bills

Your estate is responsible for paying any medical bills you happen to owe after your passing. This means that, if you owe a great deal of money to a particular hospital, they will try to take that money from your estate.

Even though the above is true, you can protect your estate from medical bills. Doing so lets your beneficiaries receive more of what you want to give them, instead of having those assets taken away to pay off those bills.

Going over how you can protect your estate from medical bills, and speaking with a Florida estate planning lawyer at Millhorn Elder Law Planning Group today will help you protect the assets you wish to give your beneficiaries. 

What Happens To Your Medical Bills After You Pass Away? 

The answer to this question is “It depends.” In most cases, though, the people who are owed money will file a claim against your estate. And, in doing so, they will attempt to take things from your estate, to pay those bills.

Just as an example, if you owe $150,000 to a particular health care provider, that provider can file a claim against your estate. If this claim is successful, parts of your estate will be liquidated, in order to pay these bills.

The exact assets that may be liquidated are dependent on what is in your estate, as well as the value of your estate as a whole. There is a chance that a lot of your estate could be liquidated, to pay off particularly large bills.

Your beneficiaries may be left with very little, if two things are true: you owe a lot of money and the health care provider you owe files a successful claim against your estate. 

How Can You Protect Your Estate From Medical Bills? 

You can protect your estate from medical bills by developing a trust that makes it very difficult for your creditors to access the assets you own.

A proper trust transfers your assets to another individual. This individual is called the “trustee” and your trustee manages your assets. And, when you pass away, they transfer those assets to your beneficiaries.

If you develop a proper trust and put your assets into this trust, your creditors will have a hard time obtaining payment for medical bills.

The reason for the above is as follows: none of the assets within that trust are, technically, part of your estate. And, since they are not part of your estate, your medical creditors cannot go after them.

Outside of that major benefit, developing a trust can, if implemented properly, let your assets bypass the probate process.

Probate is long and expensive – it can take at least nine months for your beneficiary to receive anything. Bypassing probate ensures that your beneficiaries receive what you wish to give them much more quickly. 

Speak With A Florida Estate Planning Lawyer Today 

If you need to develop an estate plan that protects your assets, you must work with someone who can help. Speak with a Florida estate planning lawyer today and we will help you protect your assets.

Sources: 

law.cornell.edu/wex/trust

law.cornell.edu/wex/probate