People ask us all the time, "how do people pay for assisted living and memory care?".

Well that can be a complicated question to answer, but here are some tips.

If you don't know already, find out if your parents have long term care insurance. If they do, often those benefits will kick in only if requested by the carrier. Policies differ with some paying a portion of the costs, having a set benefit limit such as $250,000 over the life of the benefit or other policy nuances.  All will require the facility to be licensed by the state they are located to pay any sort of benefit.

One of the easiest ways outside of having liquid savings in a checking account, CD, annuity or brokerage/investment account is to use the equity in the home if it has not been already sold.

We recommend taking time to get the home ready to sell so you can get the most value for it.  Most states will require the home be sold to pay for care before the state will pay any sort of medicaid benefit.  That is the case in Ohio but not necessarily in Kentucky.  We recommend families speak to a qualified senior living attorney for guidance on your particular situation.

By using the equity in your loved ones home, you can quickly access funds to pay for care. This can be done by obtaining a home equity loan. In order to do this, you will need to be the financial power of attorney.  We recommend getting the equity line long before you need to use it although the process can be as short as 30 days or so in most situations.