Elder Law
Medicaid Asset Protection Trust in Georgia
An irrevocable trust for your home and savings. Fund it more than five years before you apply, and Medicaid generally does not count the trust's principal.
How Georgia Families Use a Medicaid Trust to Protect Their Home From Nursing Home Costs
A Georgia nursing home costs about $8,821 a month for a shared room. Without a plan, Medicaid requires you to spend most of your assets before the state pays a dollar. A Medicaid Asset Protection Trust transfers your home and savings out of your estate more than five years before you need care, so Medicaid generally does not count them when you apply. The longer you wait to act, the fewer options you have.
Here Is What Medicaid Does to Assets in Your Name
Georgia Medicaid will not pay for a nursing home until your countable assets are at $2,000 or less. Your savings, investments, and some property all count. If you have $300,000 saved, Medicaid expects you to spend $298,000 of it before coverage begins. That is not a penalty. That is the rule. A Georgia nursing home costs about $8,821 a month for a shared room, so that $298,000 lasts less than three years.
What a MAPT Is
A Medicaid Asset Protection Trust is an irrevocable trust. You transfer ownership of your assets into it, typically your home, sometimes savings and investments. The trust becomes the legal owner. Medicaid counts what you own. That is the mechanism: move assets out of your name more than five years before you apply, and Medicaid generally does not count the trust’s principal toward the $2,000 limit. Any income the trust pays you still counts as your income.
The Trade-Off You Have to Make
A MAPT is built to be permanent. You cannot change the terms or take the principal back on your own once the trust is funded. Georgia law allows some changes through a court or a trustee. An adult child usually serves as trustee. What Medicaid checks is whether the trust could ever pay the principal back to you. If it cannot, Medicaid generally does not count the principal once five years have passed. If it can, you spend it down first. There is no version where the trust can pay the principal back to you and Medicaid still leaves it out of the count.
Georgia’s Estate Recovery Program
Many families assume the home is safe after a loved one passes. In Georgia, that assumption is often wrong. Georgia runs an expanded Medicaid Estate Recovery Program (MERP). When a Medicaid recipient dies, the state can recover what it paid for their care from the estate. In Georgia, MERP reaches not just probate assets but also revocable living trusts, because Georgia treats a revocable trust as still belonging to you. A MAPT is a stronger defense against MERP than a revocable trust because at your death, the trust owns the assets. You do not. Federal law lets the state claim only assets you still had a legal title or interest in when you died. But Georgia’s rules do mention trusts, the income and the right to live in the home that you keep may still count, and no Georgia court has settled the question. No trust is a guarantee. Anything you keep outside the trust stays in your estate.
The Five-Year Look-Back Rule
Medicaid reviews five years of financial history before approving long-term care coverage. A gift, or a transfer for less than fair value, made within that 60-month period can trigger a penalty. Georgia calculates the penalty by dividing the transferred amount by $11,122 per month (the figure in effect since April 2026). A $111,220 transfer made three years before applying creates a 10-month penalty period. During the penalty, Medicaid will not pay the nursing home, and you pay out of pocket. The penalty does not start at the time of the transfer. It starts once you are in care, have applied, and would qualify for Medicaid if not for the transfer. Families who fund a MAPT five or more years before needing care avoid this entirely. Families who wait do not have the same options.
What a MAPT Does Not Cover
- Assisted living is not covered by Georgia Medicaid. If you end up in an assisted living facility, your MAPT principal is locked. This is the most overlooked limitation of a MAPT.
- Retirement accounts do not belong in a MAPT. IRAs and 401(k)s have their own Medicaid rules and require separate planning. Transferring them into a trust creates a taxable event with no Medicaid benefit.
- A MAPT does not protect assets moved in less than five years before a Medicaid application. Inside the look-back, the full value counts toward the penalty. You do not get credit for the time that has passed.
- A MAPT is not a complete estate plan. It addresses one specific exposure and works alongside wills, powers of attorney, and healthcare directives, not instead of them.
Who This Is Right For
A MAPT makes sense if you are currently healthy, own a home or have savings above $2,000, do not expect to need nursing home care in the next five years, and have an adult child or other trusted person available to serve as trustee. The earlier you act, the better the odds that five full years pass before you need care. If you are in your late 50s or 60s and in reasonable health, you likely have the five-year runway this strategy requires.
What a MAPT Does, How It Works, and What You Keep
Once your assets are transferred into a MAPT, the trust is the legal owner. After the five-year look-back, Medicaid generally does not count the trust’s principal. When you die, those assets pass directly to your named beneficiaries without probate. The trust is built to keep the principal out of Medicaid’s count during your life and pass it to your family after you are gone. No trust is a guarantee.
What You Can Still Do
You can still live in your home after transferring it to the MAPT. The trust document gives you a contractual right of occupancy for your lifetime. You can receive income generated by trust assets: interest, dividends, and rental income. What you cannot do is access the principal. The income stays yours, and Medicaid counts it as your income. The principal stays in the trust, where Medicaid generally does not count it once the five-year look-back has passed, and goes to your family when you pass.
Who Controls the Trust
No Medicaid rule says who has to be the trustee. What Medicaid looks at is what the trust could pay out. If it could pay you or your spouse, Medicaid may count that money, no matter who runs the trust. Most families choose an adult child, so it stays clear that you do not control the principal. The trustee has legal responsibility for managing the assets, keeping records, and making distributions according to the trust terms. They cannot give you the principal, and they cannot take it for themselves. Choosing a trustee who understands the responsibility is not a formality. It is part of the plan working.
What Happens to the Assets When You Die
Trust assets do not go through probate. The trustee distributes them directly to your named beneficiaries according to the trust terms. Because you held no legal title or interest in the trust principal at death, the principal is generally outside what Georgia’s MERP can claim. But Georgia’s rules do mention trusts, your right to the trust’s income and your right to live in the home may still be valued and claimed, and no Georgia court has settled the question. So no trust is a guarantee. Anything the trust paid out to you that you still have is part of your estate. Your family inherits the principal you put in.
How to Get Started
The first step is a free 15-minute call with Shawn to review your situation. If it is a fit, your next step is a Design Meeting, a 60-minute meeting with us to review your assets, your timeline, and whether a MAPT is the right fit for your situation. That cost is credited in full toward your plan if you move forward. If a MAPT is the right structure, most engagements 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
You leave your Design Meeting knowing what Medicaid counts today. You also know what it generally would not count after five years, and what has to happen first.
The fact that you read this far tells us something about you. You take this seriously. So do we.
See exactly what The Hive Law includes and charges for the Medicaid Asset Protection Trust: Georgia MAPT Flat-Fee Pricing →
Assets in Your Name
- Countable assets must be spent down to $2,000 before Medicaid pays for care
- At about $8,821 a month, $300,000 in savings lasts less than three years
- Georgia's Estate Recovery Program can reach a revocable trust or your probate estate
- The assets are in your name, so Medicaid counts them
- A gift inside the 5-year look-back window can trigger a penalty period
Assets in a MAPT
- The trust owns the assets, and after the five-year look-back Medicaid generally does not count the principal as yours
- You keep the right to live in your home and receive the trust's income for life
- Assets pass to your beneficiaries with no probate. The principal is generally outside a MERP claim, but the home and income rights you keep may still count, and no trust is a guarantee
- An adult child usually serves as trustee, so you are not the one holding the principal
- Assets funded more than 5 years before you apply are generally not counted toward Medicaid's asset limit
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.
The Design Meeting With Shawn and Melissa
In a 60-minute meeting, Shawn and Melissa review your assets, your family, and your goals together and design your plan. This meeting is credited toward your plan if you move forward.
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.
Sign at Home
You sign at home, in front of a notary and witnesses you line up. Your signing instructions tell you who needs to be there. After you sign, you get a written checklist of what to do next.
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 and drafts every plan at The Hive Law after the initial call. Every plan is built from scratch for your specific family, your specific assets, and your specific wishes.
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My mom chose The Hive firm to help with estate planning and developing a trust to protect her assets. I sat in on her meeting with Melissa, and Melissa did a great job of simplifying complex legalese into easily understood concepts. Shawn was very quick to get us our documents and all steps in the process were clear and easy. They make a great team and we are thankful for their help!
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Working with Shawn and Melissa at The Hive Law has been an excellent experience. They were one of three firms we contacted, but she made the strongest impression during our initial call. They asked great questions to understand our situation and clearly explained what we needed to put in place. We initially had some reservations about their fully virtual approach, but those concerns were quickly put to rest. After the first two calls, it was clear how easy they are to work with and how well connected we felt. Communication has been clear, organized, and reassuring throughout the process. Shawn and Melissa are professional, approachable, and thorough. We feel confident we're in good hands and highly recommend The Hive Law for 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!!
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For several years now I have been thinking about having a will drawn up, but continued to procrastinate until an older sibling had a medical situation occur which none of the family was prepared for. This was the determining factor for me to get it done. We never know when an emergency medical situation could arise and I didn't want my other siblings to be scrambling around trying to figure things out in the event I couldn't make any decisions for myself, or God forbid I pass away. My attorney (Melissa), was very funny and made the whole experience quite entertaining. She listened to what I wanted and explained the type of plan I needed. Thanks Melissa & Shawn for making the process an enjoyable experience.
The Hive Law Firm did an excellent job helping my mother-in-law with her estate plan. The process felt overwhelming at first, but their team walked us through every step with compassion and professionalism. They listened to our concerns, explained things in simple terms, and made sure our mother's wishes were honored. We're very grateful for their guidance.
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The whole process of creating a family trust felt simple, clear, and stress-free. We really appreciated how patient, helpful, and easy to communicate with the team was throughout everything. Shawn and Melissa gave us great guidance and helped us feel confident every step of the way. We're grateful for their support and would definitely recommend them.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can keep living in the home. The trust document includes a lifetime right of occupancy. You stay in the house, pay the property taxes, and keep it maintained. If the home is ever sold, the money stays inside the trust and is reinvested under the trust terms. What you cannot do is take those sale proceeds out as a personal distribution.
The principal is not available to you once it is in the trust. A MAPT is irrevocable on purpose. Because you cannot reach the principal, Medicaid generally does not count it once the five-year look-back has passed. Any back door that let you reach the principal would make that part of the trust count as yours. Before funding one, keep enough outside the trust to cover living expenses and anything you can see coming.
Yes. An adult child is the most common trustee choice for a MAPT. No Medicaid rule says who has to be the trustee. What Medicaid looks at is what the trust could pay out. If it could pay you or your spouse, Medicaid may count that money, no matter who runs the trust. Most families keep themselves and their spouse out of the trustee role, so it stays clear they do not control the principal. The trustee manages the assets, keeps the records, and follows the trust terms. Pick someone who will keep good documentation and can produce records to Georgia DFCS if a Medicaid application is ever filed.
A MAPT does not protect a transfer made in the last five years. Medicaid looks back 60 months at your financial history before approving long term care coverage. A transfer into the trust inside that window creates a penalty period. During the penalty, Medicaid will not pay the nursing home. The MAPT is built for planning done well before care is needed. If care may be needed sooner, other strategies may still apply.
A revocable trust can be changed or cancelled by you at any time. Because you keep that control, Georgia Medicaid counts revocable trust assets as still yours, so the trust gives no protection from nursing home costs. A MAPT is irrevocable. You give up ownership permanently, and once the 60 month look-back has run, Medicaid generally does not count the trust’s principal against your eligibility. Any income the trust pays you still counts as your income. That look-back and the permanent give-up of ownership are the real difference between the two, not anything to do with probate.
Retirement accounts should not be moved into a MAPT. Transferring one is treated as a taxable distribution, which can create a large tax bill and buys you no Medicaid benefit in return. In Georgia, an IRA or 401(k) normally counts toward Medicaid’s asset limit. The exception is when you are getting regular payments from the account that include part of the principal. Then the account itself is not counted, and those payments count as income instead. Your accounts need their own analysis as part of a wider Medicaid conversation.
Find Out Where You Stand
You’ve been meaning to do this for a while now. That’s normal. Most families wait until something happens, then wish they hadn’t.
A 15-minute call tells you exactly what you have, what’s missing, and what your family needs next. No paperwork, no obligation, just a straight answer.
- No sales pitch. Just a straight answer about where you stand.
- No confusing terms. We explain everything in plain English.
- A real next step. You’ll know exactly what to do when we hang up.
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