Your Land, Your Home, and Everything You've Worked For — Here's How to Keep It That Way
Long-term care is the expense most Texas Hill Country retirees aren't planning for — and the one most likely to reshape what they leave behind. We help you think through the care scenarios before they arrive, so your estate plan and your financial plan are ready when they matter most.
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Why Long-Term Care Planning Can't Wait Until You Need Care
Most people don't start thinking about nursing home costs until someone in the family needs care. By then, the options are narrower and the financial exposure is real. In Texas, Medicaid's five-year lookback period reviews financial transactions made in the years before an application is filed. If assets were moved or gifted inside that window without proper planning, they may still count against eligibility. The time to plan is now — not when the need is already at your door.
Long-term care planning isn't about expecting the worst. It's about making sure that if care is needed, your family isn't left scrambling — and that the land, home, or savings you've spent decades building doesn't disappear to cover costs that could have been anticipated.
How Long-Term Care Fits Into Your Estate and Financial Plan
Long-term care isn't a separate category from your estate plan. It's part of the same conversation. The decisions you make about your trust structure, your income sources, and your asset ownership all affect how care costs would be handled if the need arose. At Estate Resource Center of Texas, we bring those pieces together rather than treating them in isolation.
Our integrated approach means your estate documents, income planning, and long-term care scenarios are aligned from the start. You won't end up with an estate plan that works against your care plan — or a financial strategy that leaves your legacy exposed.
The Income-Only Trust Option — Protecting Assets Without Giving Up Your Income
One of the most common fears we hear from clients is that planning for long-term care means giving up control of their own money. That's not how it has to work.
Our estate planning packages include an income-only trust option. This structure allows you to transfer assets into the trust — which positions them outside of direct estate recovery — while continuing to receive the income those assets generate. You keep your income stream. Your principal is positioned for protection. And your family is more likely to receive what you intended to leave them.
This option is available as part of our standard estate planning package and is one of the concrete ways we help clients connect their care planning to their estate planning in a single, coordinated structure.
What We Help You Think Through — and Where We Refer When Needed
What ERC Covers in Long-Term Care Planning
We work with clients to assess long-term care exposure as part of a broader estate and financial planning conversation. That includes reviewing how your assets are held, how your estate documents are structured, and how your income plan would hold up if care costs entered the picture. We can identify gaps, model scenarios, and help you understand what your current plan does and doesn't protect.
When an Elder Law Attorney May Also Be Needed
For clients with complex Medicaid situations — active applications, disputes with MERP, or significant asset transfers that require legal documentation — an elder law attorney may be the right resource. We're straightforward about that. Our role is to coordinate the estate and financial planning side of the equation. When legal strategy is what's needed, we'll tell you, and we can help connect you with the right professionals. Having both sides covered is what a complete plan looks like.
The No-Obligation Clarity Session
Every consultation at Estate Resource Center of Texas starts with a Clarity Session — a no-obligation conversation where we listen to your situation and help you understand where your plan stands. For long-term care planning, that often means walking through your current asset structure, identifying any obvious exposure, and explaining what options are available to you. There's no pressure and no commitment required to have that conversation.
Serving Hill Country Families Across the Region
We serve retirees and property owners throughout the Texas Hill Country, including Kendall, Kerr, Gillespie, and Comal counties. Our offices in Boerne and New Braunfels are open for in-person appointments, and we regularly hold workshops in Fredericksburg and Kerrville for families who want to learn more before scheduling a one-on-one session.
Connected to Your Full Financial Picture
Long-term care planning at ERC doesn't happen in a vacuum. We look at how care costs connect to your income plan, your tax situation in retirement, and the estate documents you have in place. If any of those pieces are missing or misaligned, we'll surface that in your Clarity Session and help you understand what it would take to bring them together.
A Simple, Structured Approach
What Long-Term Care Could Cost — and What's at Stake for Hill Country Families
The financial reality of long-term care catches most families off guard. A year in a Texas nursing facility can cost between $60,000 and $90,000 or more, and care needs often extend for multiple years. For retirees on fixed incomes — many of whom hold significant wealth in land or property rather than liquid savings — that exposure is particularly sharp.
Your Home and Ranch Property Are at Risk
Texas has a Medicaid Estate Recovery Program, known as MERP. After a Medicaid recipient passes, the state can file a claim against their estate to recover what Medicaid paid for their care. For Hill Country families whose primary asset is a home, a ranch, or rural acreage, this means the land itself could be subject to recovery — even if it was never sold during the person's lifetime. Understanding how MERP works is the first step in structuring your plan to reduce that exposure.
The Five-Year Lookback Window Closes Faster Than You Think
Texas Medicaid reviews five years of financial history before approving long-term care benefits. Transfers, gifts, and asset movements made within that window can trigger penalties and delay eligibility. Waiting until a health crisis to think about asset positioning is one of the most common — and most costly — mistakes we see. Proactive planning, done years in advance, is what keeps options open.
Fixed-Income Retirees Face a Different Kind of Pressure
Many Hill Country retirees live comfortably on Social Security, pension income, or modest investment distributions — but their net worth is tied up in property. Liquidating land to pay for care isn't a plan. It's a last resort. The right long-term care strategy accounts for your actual income picture and keeps your property out of the equation wherever possible.
Couples Have Unique Exposure When One Spouse Needs Care
When one spouse requires nursing home care, Medicaid rules determine how much of the couple's assets the healthy spouse is allowed to keep. Without planning, those rules can leave the at-home spouse with far less than they expected. Coordinating your estate documents and financial plan in advance gives both spouses a clearer, more protected position.
Long-Term Care Planning Isn't the Same as Buying Insurance
Long-term care insurance is one tool — and it may be appropriate for some clients. But it isn't the only tool, and for many Hill Country retirees it isn't the right starting point. Asset positioning, trust structuring, and income planning can do significant work on their own. We look at your full picture before recommending any specific direction.
Plan with Confidence for the Future
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Wealth Management
Why Hill Country Families Trust Estate Resource Center of Texas
We're not a law firm, and we're not a distant financial institution. We're a team of Legacy Planning Specialists based in the Hill Country who work with retirees, ranchers, and property owners every day. Our clients come to us because they want someone who speaks plainly, knows this region, and can bring their estate plan and financial plan into alignment without sending them to three different offices.
A few things that set our approach apart:
- Attorney-drafted estate planning document packages that include trust funding support and re-deeding — not just documents, but a complete, executed plan
- An income-only trust option available as part of the standard package, specifically designed for clients concerned about long-term care exposure
- Integrated planning that coordinates estate documents, income strategy, and care scenarios in a single process
- In-person appointments in Boerne and New Braunfels, with workshops regularly held in Fredericksburg and Kerrville
- A no-obligation Clarity Session included with every consultation — no commitment required to get started
Common Questions About Long-Term Care Planning in Texas
What is the Texas Medicaid five-year lookback rule?
Texas Medicaid reviews five years of financial history before approving long-term care benefits. If assets were transferred, gifted, or moved within that window without proper planning, those transactions can trigger a penalty period that delays eligibility. Planning well in advance of any care need is the most reliable way to keep your options open.Can Texas take my home after I pass away to recover Medicaid costs?
Texas operates a Medicaid Estate Recovery Program, known as MERP, which allows the state to file claims against a deceased Medicaid recipient's estate to recover costs paid for their care. For Hill Country families whose primary asset is a home or rural property, this is a real concern. Proper trust structuring and estate planning can reduce — though not always eliminate — that exposure, and the earlier you plan, the more options are available.How do I protect my assets from nursing home costs in Texas?
Proactive planning is the most effective tool. Strategies may include trust structuring, repositioning how assets are held, and coordinating your income plan so that care costs don't force the sale of property. For clients with complex Medicaid situations, an elder law attorney may also be part of the picture. We help you understand where your current plan stands and what adjustments could strengthen it.What is an income-only trust and how does it help with long-term care planning?
An income-only trust allows you to transfer assets into a trust structure — positioning them outside of direct estate recovery — while continuing to receive the income those assets produce. You don't give up your income stream. The principal is positioned for protection, and your heirs are more likely to receive what you intended to leave them. This option is available as part of our estate planning packages.Does long-term care planning mean I have to buy long-term care insurance?
Not necessarily. Long-term care insurance is one option, but it isn't the right fit for every client. Asset positioning, trust structuring, and income planning can accomplish meaningful protection on their own. We look at your full situation before recommending any particular direction — the goal is a plan that fits your actual circumstances, not a product sale.How does long-term care planning connect to my estate plan?
They're part of the same conversation. The way your assets are owned, the structure of your trust, and the income sources you rely on all affect how care costs would be handled if the need arose. An estate plan that doesn't account for long-term care scenarios may leave your family in a difficult position. Our integrated approach makes sure both sides of that equation are working together.