Medicaid Planning Attorney in San Antonio
Protecting Your Assets While Qualifying for Long-Term Care
Nursing home care in San Antonio can exceed $6,000 per month, and neither standard health insurance nor Medicare covers extended stays. For most families, that cost arrives without warning and without a plan. Medicaid planning is the legal process of structuring your finances and documents so you can qualify for Medicaid benefits while preserving as much as possible for yourself and your family.
Many families assume Medicare can cover long-term care. In practice, Medicare covers only short-term skilled nursing care, up to 100 days per benefit period following a hospitalization. After that, the cost falls entirely to the family. Without a legal plan in place, spend-down requirements can deplete a lifetime of savings before Medicaid steps in.
At Wilson Law, we’ve served San Antonio families since 1983. We handle Medicaid planning as part of a fully integrated estate and elder law practice, so the same team that may already know your estate documents works with you on your Medicaid strategy. Free initial consultations are available.
Call our San Antonio Medicaid planning attorneys today at (210) 405-4919 to schedule your free consultation and learn what options may be available for your family.Have Questions?
We Have Answers!
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What is a “legal separation?”Texas, unlike other states, does not recognize a “legal separation.” Instead, temporary orders concerning marital issues (financial issues, child conservatorship, matters of residence) can be granted while a divorce is pending.
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What does a “temporary order” mean in Texas?
Texas law does not recognize “legal separations.” Instead, after a divorce is filed, either party may request a “temporary order,” which determines the temporary situation until the divorce is decreed.
For example, a temporary order can dictate who will remain in the house, pay what bills, and visitation matters for the non-custodial parent. It’s important to understand that a temporary order is not always required.
Also, if the parties involved agree to the temporary order, there may not need to be a hearing. However, some situations are so volatile that a judge is asked to impose a temporary order after listening to the evidence presented.
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In Texas, is marital property automatically divided 50/50?Texas law does not insist that property must be divided equally. Instead, a judge will divide the community estate into a “just and right” division.
Medicaid Planning Services We Handle
The right Medicaid strategy depends on your timeline, asset picture, and family situation. Our attorneys assess each case individually and build a plan around the tools that apply.
Eligibility Assessment
We review income, assets, and any prior transfers or gifts that could affect eligibility under Texas Medicaid rules. Understanding where you stand today is the foundation of any sound strategy.
Asset Restructuring
Certain strategies can help families preserve their home, savings, and retirement accounts while still qualifying for Medicaid. Not every asset counts the same way under Medicaid rules, and how assets are structured matters.
Medicaid Asset Protection Trusts
A Medicaid Asset Protection Trust (MAPT) is an irrevocable trust that removes assets from the countable asset pool for Medicaid purposes. Assets placed in a MAPT must remain there through the five-year lookback period to be fully protected, making these trusts most effective when established well in advance of a care need.
Spousal Protection Planning
When one spouse requires nursing home care and the other remains at home, specific legal strategies exist to protect the community spouse’s income and assets from spend-down requirements. We help families navigate these rules before a crisis forces the issue.
Medicaid Crisis Planning
For families who need care now, crisis planning works within tighter constraints. The range of available tools is narrower than with advance planning, but meaningful strategies can still reduce exposure.
Why Timing Determines Your Options
The single most consequential factor in Medicaid planning is when you start. Texas Medicaid reviews asset transfers made within 60 months before an application. Transfers made during that window without proper legal structuring can result in a period of ineligibility, meaning Medicaid won’t pay for care even when a person otherwise qualifies.
This rule doesn’t prohibit all transfers. It penalizes transfers made for less than fair market value without the right legal structure in place. Transfers to a spouse, for example, aren’t subject to a transfer penalty. But families who give assets informally to children or relatives, thinking it will help them qualify sooner, often trigger a penalty period instead.
Planning started years before care is needed opens the full range of available strategies, including trusts that require the lookback period to expire before assets are fully protected. Once a person loses legal capacity, they can no longer sign a power of attorney or create a trust, and the family may be forced into a court-supervised guardianship proceeding. Starting early isn’t just advisable. It can often be the difference between protecting assets and losing them.
Medicaid Planning Within a Broader Estate & Elder Law Practice
Medicaid planning rarely exists in isolation. A complete plan typically involves trust documents, powers of attorney, beneficiary designations, advance directives, and in some cases special needs considerations. All of these interact with Medicaid eligibility rules, and a change to one document can affect the others.
At Wilson Law, clients don’t need to coordinate between separate firms as their legal needs evolve. Our practice spans estate planning, elder law, and family law. We handle the durable powers of attorney, medical powers of attorney, advance directives, and trust structures that work alongside a Medicaid strategy, all under one roof.
When incapacity planning wasn’t completed in time, guardianship proceedings often follow. Those proceedings are heard in the Bexar County Probate Courts under the Texas Estates Code, and our attorneys handle them. We work across all of these matters for San Antonio families, so we understand how each one connects to the next.
Why San Antonio Families Work With Wilson Law
Founded in 1983 by William A. Wilson, Wilson Law has spent over 40 years serving families throughout San Antonio. Much of our growth has come through referrals, which reflects a client service approach built on one principle: we treat each client’s legal needs as we would want our own handled.
Attorney Credentials
Partner Eric D. Wilson earned his Doctor of Jurisprudence from South Texas College of Law in 2004 and his undergraduate degree from Baylor University. He is admitted to the Texas Bar and is a member of both the State Bar of Texas and the San Antonio Bar Association. He holds a Fellow designation from the Texas Bar College and is Lead Counsel Verified.
Firm Recognitions
Wilson Law holds Martindale-Hubbell Preeminent and Client Champion Gold ratings (2022) and an Avvo 10.0 Top Attorney rating. These recognitions reflect a consistent record of client service across more than four decades of practice.
Schedule a Free Medicaid Planning Consultation in San Antonio
The earlier a Medicaid plan is in place, the more options your family has. Waiting until a care crisis arrives limits what can be done and how quickly. A free consultation with our team can give you a clear picture of where things stand and what strategies may be available for your situation.
Wilson Law serves clients throughout the San Antonio area. Our attorneys handle Medicaid planning alongside the estate planning and elder law matters that connect to it, so you work with one team from start to finish.
Call (210) 405-4919 to schedule your free consultation with a Medicaid planning lawyer at Wilson Law.