A couple years ago, when my dad was 85 years old and I had been working in elder law for well over a decade, my dad finally said, “Tell me about those trusts you do for old people.” He was asking about a Medicaid Asset Protection Trust (MAPT). He had tuned me out during all prior attempts to talk about it, because he did not want to turn over control of his assets to anyone else. This day, he was willing to listen, but ultimately decided he still wanted to keep control. This type of trust planning was not for him.
On the flip side, people who want their loved ones to be trustee and manage their assets are prime candidates for using MAPTs. The main downside of using a MAPT is giving up that control that my dad wanted to keep for himself. The upside is that any assets you move out of your control are no longer considered as part of the asset calculation or the lookback for potential transfers as long as they happen 5 years before you apply for Medicaid covered long term care.