Most Sikeston families reach us within days of hearing two words from a hospital discharge planner: skilled nursing. What follows is usually the same question, asked quietly: “Are we going to lose everything?”
Often, the answer is no — even when the move has already happened.
What a nursing home costs a Scott County family
Missouri’s official figure for private-pay nursing home care is $8,235 a month. That is $98,820 a year, and it does not slow down. A family that spent forty years paying off a house and putting money aside can watch it disappear in two or three.
The families hit hardest are rarely wealthy. They are the ones who did everything right — worked, saved, kept the land, stayed out of debt — and now find that the savings which made them careful are the same savings that disqualify them from help.
It is not too late once they are in the facility
This is the belief that costs Sikeston families the most money. People assume that once a parent or spouse has moved into a nursing home, the window has closed and all they can do is spend down and wait.
That is not how Missouri law works. Crisis planning is done for families whose loved one is already in the facility. It is the majority of what we do. Depending on the situation, a substantial portion of what remains can often be protected — in many cases including the home, and sometimes the farm.
What crisis planning cannot do is recover months of private-pay spending that already happened. Every month a family waits is money that leaves and does not come back. That is the real deadline — not a legal one, a financial one.
If there is a spouse still at home
Married couples have more protection than almost anyone realizes. Missouri performs a Division of Assets, and the spouse who remains at home may keep up to $162,660 in countable assets — not the $6,220.50 that applies to a single person.
The spouse at home is also guaranteed a monthly income floor of $2,705. If the husband’s Social Security and pension are being paid to the facility, income can be redirected back to the wife at home to reach that floor. Many spouses go years without knowing this rule exists.
See all the current Missouri Medicaid figures →
The mistake we see most often in Scott County
Someone gives the house or the land to the children, believing it puts the property out of reach. Missouri looks back five years at gifts and transfers, divides what was given away by $8,235, and that is how many months of ineligibility the family gets. A $82,350 transfer creates roughly ten months of no coverage — beginning at the moment the family would otherwise have qualified, when the money is already gone.
If a transfer like this has already happened, it is not necessarily fatal. But it needs to be looked at by someone who does this work regularly, and quickly.
Working with families from Sikeston
Our office is in Cape Girardeau, about a forty-minute drive up I-55, and we work with Sikeston and Scott County families regularly. Probate matters for Scott County are handled through the county’s circuit court in Benton, and we appear there as matters require.
Families we work with in Scott County commonly have a loved one at Clearview Nursing Center or Sikeston Convalescent Center in Sikeston, or at Chaffee Nursing Center in Chaffee — a facility where we have handled a great many cases.
We also travel through the region for seminars, and much of the first conversation can happen by phone. Families dealing with a nursing home admission generally do not have a free afternoon to spare.
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. That means 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 will get you to the right attorney faster than we could.
Find out where your family stands
Nine questions, about ninety seconds, and nothing is saved or sent to us. You will get a straight answer about whether this is something we can help with — and if it is not, we will say so.
Are we a fit? Take the 9-question assessment
Or call us directly: (573) 334-5125
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.