The Hive Law
Long-Term Care Planning in Georgia
A legal strategy for protecting your assets and care decisions before a health crisis forces a spend-down.
How Georgia Families Plan for the Cost of Long-Term Care Without Losing Everything
The average Georgia nursing home stay costs over $300,000 — and most families have no plan in place when the need arrives suddenly. Long-term care planning combines legal tools, insurance options, and government benefit strategies so your family is not making financial decisions during a medical crisis. We map every option for your specific asset profile so you know what is protected and what is exposed.
Here Is What Happens When You Need Long-Term Care Without a Plan
Most people will need some form of long-term care. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that 70 percent of people turning 65 will need it at some point. The average nursing home in Georgia costs $7,500 to $9,000 per month. A year of care can cost more than most families saved in a decade.
What Medicare Covers and What It Does Not
Medicare pays for up to 100 days in a skilled nursing facility after a qualifying hospital stay. It does not pay for custodial care. Custodial care is help with bathing, dressing, eating, and moving around. That is what most people in a nursing home need. After Medicare’s 100 days run out, the bill is yours. Most families do not find this out until they are already paying it.
What Medicaid Covers in Georgia
Medicaid covers nursing home care in Georgia, but only after you spend your assets down to $2,000. Your home may be exempt while you are alive. After you die, Georgia’s Medicaid Estate Recovery Program files a claim against your estate to recover what Medicaid paid. You do not keep the house. The state collects it from your estate.
Medicaid does not cover assisted living in Georgia. If you need help with daily activities but not full nursing home care, you pay out of pocket. The gap between independent living and nursing home eligibility is entirely your expense. For many families, this is the most expensive and least expected part of long-term care.
What the Spend-Down Looks Like in Practice
A married couple has $350,000 in savings. One spouse enters a nursing home at $8,000 per month. In 2026, the Community Spouse Resource Allowance lets the healthy spouse keep approximately $148,620. The rest must be spent before Medicaid helps. At $8,000 per month, that is about 25 months of private pay. Over $200,000 gone before Medicaid covers a single day.
The Five-Year Look-Back Rule
Medicaid reviews all asset transfers made in the five years before you apply. If you gave away property or put assets into a trust during that window, Medicaid will impose a penalty period. The penalty is calculated using Georgia’s monthly divisor of $10,965. A $100,000 transfer results in roughly nine months of ineligibility. The five-year rule means planning must happen before a health crisis, not after.
What Long-Term Care Planning Does Not Cover
- Legal planning does not guarantee Medicaid approval eligibility is determined by DFCS based on medical and financial criteria
- Assets transferred within the five-year look-back period are subject to penalty
- Assisted living costs are not covered by Georgia Medicaid, regardless of legal planning
- IRAs and 401(k)s require separate planning and cannot go directly into a MAPT
Who This Is For
Long-term care planning is for people who are still healthy. The five-year look-back period means you must act before a diagnosis forces your hand. If you are over 60 and own a home or have significant savings, the window to protect those assets is open now.
What a Long-Term Care Plan Includes, How It Works, and What It Protects
A long-term care plan from The Hive Law is a coordinated set of legal documents. The core is a Medicaid Asset Protection Trust. Around it are the documents that handle your care decisions and your finances if you cannot manage them yourself.
The Medicaid Asset Protection Trust
The MAPT removes your home and savings from the assets Medicaid counts. Once the five-year look-back period passes, those assets are protected from the spend-down. You keep the income they produce. Your children inherit what is inside the trust when you die. The trust is the difference between leaving an inheritance and leaving nothing.
The Advance Healthcare Directive
This document tells your doctors what care you want if you cannot speak for yourself. It names a healthcare agent who can make decisions on your behalf. Without it, your family may face legal barriers to getting basic information about your condition. Every long-term care plan includes one.
The Financial Power of Attorney
A durable financial power of attorney lets your agent manage bills, banking, and financial decisions if you become incapacitated. Without it, your family may need to go through a guardianship proceeding to act on your behalf. That process can take months and cost more than the documents would have.
How to Get Started
The process starts with a Family Protection Audit at $500. Melissa reviews your assets, your family situation, and your health picture. You leave with a specific plan, not a general overview. The audit fee is credited toward your total if you move forward.
Long-term care plans at The Hive Law start at:
The Documents
- Medicaid Asset Protection Trust (MAPT)
- Pour-Over Will
- Quitclaim Deed
- Financial Power of Attorney
- Advance Healthcare Directive
- HIPAA Authorization
The Implementation
- Document Walk-Through Call
- Trust Funding Session
- Funding Checkup
The Included Services
- Successor Trustee Orientation
- Professional Coordination Call
- Surviving Spouse Transition Call
- Post-Signing Checklist
Most families complete the full process in two to three weeks. Everything is handled over the phone. Documents are stored in a secure client portal.
*The fact that you read this far tells us something about you. You take this seriously. So do we.*
Without a Plan
- Nursing home costs $7,500+ per month with no coverage plan
- Medicare stops paying after 100 days of skilled nursing
- Assets spent down to $2,000 before Medicaid covers nursing home
- Home subject to Georgia estate recovery after death
- Family inherits what remains after years of private pay
With Long-Term Care Planning
- Assets in the MAPT are not counted by Medicaid
- Healthcare directive ensures your wishes are followed
- No spend-down on assets protected before the look-back period
- Home shielded from estate recovery
- Family inherits what you protected
How It Works
A 15-Minute Call With Shawn
Tell us what is going on with your family. Shawn walks you through your options and what each one costs. Free.
Melissa Designs Your Plan
She builds your estate plan from scratch based on your specific assets and family. You get an exact quote before you commit to anything.
Review Every Document With Melissa
Before you sign, Melissa walks through every document with you in plain language. No legal jargon. No confusion about what you are signing.
Your Plan Is Complete
Melissa delivers your completed documents and explains exactly what your family needs to do. You leave knowing your plan is in place and your family is protected.
Melissa Breyer
Georgia Estate Planning Attorney
Melissa Breyer is a Georgia estate planning attorney who works exclusively on trust-based estate planning and LLC formation. She personally designs every plan at The Hive Law and handles every client consultation herself. Every plan is built from scratch for your specific family, your specific assets, and your specific wishes.
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What Our Clients Say
After my father passed away, my mother had to rely on my father's employer to navigate the estate. It was a disaster. After this experience, I knew I needed a plan. I turned to The Hive Law to set up a trust. I no longer have to worry about my wife and children going through a difficult process if something happens to me. I highly recommend The Hive Law!
My biggest fear was that if I died first, my wife would have no idea how to navigate the estate and legal system. I reached out to The Hive Law and they put my mind at ease immediately. Their process is easy to follow and they took care of everything. The Hive Law is the best decision I've made for my family's future.
Working with Melissa Breyer to set up our Living Trust was a wonderful experience. She and her entire team were knowledgeable, professional, and made the whole process easy to understand. I highly recommend The Hive Law for all your estate planning needs!
We highly recommend Hive Law. They were extremely helpful and professional in guiding us through the process of creating a Revocable Living Trust. Melissa and Shawn were thorough, answered all our questions, and made a potentially confusing process easy to understand.
The Hive Law made the entire estate planning and trust process easy to understand and stress-free. Melissa and Shawn walked us through every step and answered all of our questions. We feel confident that our family is protected. Highly recommend!
My mom chose The Hive firm to help with estate planning after my father passed away. They were very thorough in explaining every step of the process. They made a difficult time much easier to navigate. I highly recommend The Hive Law for anyone needing estate planning services.
I used The Hive Law to help me create a trust for my family. The process was straightforward and Melissa and Shawn made sure I understood each step. They were responsive to all of my questions. I feel much more confident about my family's future now. Highly recommend!
Working with Shawn and Melissa at The Hive Law has been a great experience. They are very knowledgeable and took the time to explain all of our options. They made the process of setting up a trust simple and stress-free. I would highly recommend them to anyone needing estate planning.
The Hive Law Firm, and specifically Melissa, has been wonderful to work with during our estate planning process. She is knowledgeable, patient, and thorough. She answered all of our questions and made the process easy to understand. I highly recommend The Hive Law!
Shawn and Melissa were amazing to work with! My partner and I recently bought a house and wanted to get important things like wills, healthcare directives, etc. set up. They were incredible at answering all our questions and working with us to make sure we felt confident in all of the legal aspects. Having tried to do this online before with one of the DIY tools, it was just an amazing experience to get to talk through what we wanted with a knowledgeable human and have them take care of the details.
Hive Law was awesome to work with! Melissa and Shawn explained everything, kept things stress-free, and were always quick to respond to my questions. They made the whole process simple and smooth from start to finish. Highly recommend if you want a team that's knowledgeable but also easy to work with.
I lost my father in February of this year without any estate planning in place. The process of dealing with the probate court has been overwhelming and expensive. After this experience, I contacted The Hive Law to set up a trust so my children never have to go through what I've been through. Melissa and Shawn were compassionate, knowledgeable, and made the entire process simple. I highly recommend The Hive Law!
I used to know the bare minimum about probate and trust. I first encountered Shawn Breyer on Facebook. He was offering a webinar that I watched. That gave me a better understanding of probate versus trust. I was impressed enough to have him and his wife represent me. I had my initial one on one interview with Melissa Breyer, it went smoothly and she made everything clear. We are now proceeding with getting a revocable trust in place.
The Hive Law has been amazing throughout the process of setting up our trust. Every detail is considered and no stone is left unturned. They have been easy and enjoyable to work with. I would absolutely recommend them! Don't let your estate be turned over to Probate!!
Frequently Asked Questions
Insurance and legal planning address different parts of the problem. Insurance pays the monthly bill if you have a policy and qualify for benefits. A Medicaid Asset Protection Trust protects what insurance does not cover. Many families use both. Others, particularly those who can no longer qualify for insurance due to age or health, rely on legal planning alone. During your Family Protection Audit, Melissa will review your situation and tell you which approach makes sense for you.
The MAPT is the core legal document in a long-term care plan, but a long-term care plan includes more. It adds the advance healthcare directive, the financial power of attorney, and a coordinated strategy for how the documents work together. If your main concern is protecting assets from Medicaid, the MAPT page describes that document specifically. If your concern is the full picture care decisions, finances, and asset protection together this is the right page.
It depends on your specific situation. If you have not yet applied for Medicaid and the five-year look-back period has not started, there may still be planning options available. Some strategies work even after a health crisis begins, though the options narrow significantly once Medicaid has been applied for. The best first step is a Family Protection Audit so Melissa can review what is still available to you.
Georgia Medicaid rules allow the community spouse (the healthy spouse who stays home) to keep a portion of the couple’s assets under the Community Spouse Resource Allowance. In 2026, that amount is approximately $148,620. Legal planning works to maximize what the community spouse can keep while still qualifying the nursing home spouse for Medicaid. A MAPT established before the look-back period can protect assets beyond what the CSRA allows.
Retirement accounts cannot go into a MAPT directly. Doing so triggers a taxable distribution. Your IRA and 401(k) are also treated differently by Medicaid. In Georgia, a retirement account in payout status may be exempt from Medicaid’s countable asset rules. This is one reason the audit matters. The rules for retirement accounts are different from the rules for savings and real estate, and the strategy depends on your specific account types and balances.
Assets held in the MAPT at the time of your death pass directly to the beneficiaries named in the trust. They do not go through probate. Georgia’s Medicaid Estate Recovery Program can only file claims against your probate estate. Assets in the trust are not part of your probate estate. Your beneficiaries receive them outside of the recovery process.
Stop carrying this around.
A conversation with Shawn. You'll walk away knowing what your family needs and what it costs. That's it.
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