Our office is on Independence Street, a few minutes from the facilities where most of these conversations begin. Cape Girardeau families are the largest part of our practice — and the ones who most often arrive believing they have already missed their chance.
Usually they have not.
What it costs, and how fast
Missouri’s official figure for private-pay nursing home care is $8,235 a month — $98,820 a year. Individual facilities here run above or below that, but the shape of the problem is the same everywhere.
The families hit hardest are not the wealthiest ones. They are the households with a paid-off house on a quiet street, a modest retirement account, and forty years of careful saving — enough to disqualify them from help, nowhere near enough to outlast the cost.
It is not too late after admission
This single belief costs Cape Girardeau families more money than any other. Someone tells them the planning should have been done five years ago, so they stop asking and start spending.
That is not the law. Medicaid crisis planning exists specifically for families whose loved one is already in a facility, and it is the majority of what this office does. Depending on the circumstances, a substantial portion of what remains can often be protected — in many cases including the home.
The one thing nobody can recover is money already paid to the facility while a family waited. That is the real deadline, and it runs at roughly $274 a day.
More on why “too late” is usually wrong →
If a spouse is still at home
Married couples are protected far more than almost anyone realizes. Missouri performs a Division of Assets: the spouse who stays home may keep up to $162,660 in countable assets — not the $6,220.50 that applies to a single person — plus a guaranteed monthly income floor of $2,705, funded by redirecting income from the spouse in the facility.
We have sat across the table from spouses in this town who had already made peace with losing the house, and who had never been told either number existed.
See the current Missouri Medicaid figures →
Before anyone signs a deed
Missouri looks back five years at gifts and transfers. Whatever was given away is divided by $8,235, and that is how many months the applicant goes without coverage — a penalty that begins when they would otherwise have qualified, which is exactly when the money is gone.
Putting the house in the children’s names is the most common version, and it also exposes the property to a child’s divorce, creditors, and lawsuits, while usually costing the family a significant tax advantage.
Why putting the house in the kids’ names backfires →
When Medicare runs out
Most Cape Girardeau families meet this problem right after a hospital stay, when someone says “rehab” and “Medicare covers up to 100 days.” Both parts of that are true and neither means what families think. Medicare pays days 1 through 20 in full, charges $217 a day for days 21 through 100 in 2026, and pays nothing after that — and most people never reach 100 days.
What Medicare actually pays, and what happens when it stops →
Working with Cape Girardeau families
We are at 2007 Independence Street, which means most families here can be in our office the same week they call. Families we work with in Cape Girardeau have loved ones at skilled nursing facilities throughout the city, and Lutheran Home in particular.
Cape Girardeau County probate matters run through the county’s circuit court, with the county seat in Jackson.
One thing worth saying plainly: we are not affiliated with any nursing facility. We represent families, not facilities. Our only obligation is to the family sitting across the table.
What we handle — and what we do not
We do one thing deeply: protecting what Missouri families have spent a lifetime building. Medicaid crisis planning, asset-protection trusts, wills and trusts, and probate. It is why other attorneys send us their hardest Medicaid cases.
We do not handle divorce or family law, criminal defense, traffic, or personal injury. For those, the Missouri Bar’s Find-a-Lawyer directory is the fastest route to the right attorney.
Find out where your family stands
Nine questions, about ninety seconds, nothing saved or sent to us. You will get a straight answer — including if the answer is that you do not need us.
Are we a fit? Take the 9-question assessment
Or call us: (573) 334-5125
2007 Independence Street, Cape Girardeau, MO 63703
This page is general information about Missouri Medicaid and nursing home planning, not legal advice, and reading it does not make you a client of the Law Office of Mark McMullin. Every family’s circumstances differ, and the rules change several times a year. Please speak with an elder law attorney before making decisions about your assets.