How Much Does a Medicaid Asset Protection Trust Cost in Georgia?

What Is Included in the $6,500 Flat Fee

The $6,500 Medicaid Asset Protection Trust package includes every document and step required to properly protect your assets from Medicaid spend-down. Other firms charge a base fee for the trust document and bill separately for everything else. This package has one price.

The Trust Document and Deed Transfer

Medicaid Asset Protection Trust. The core document. An irrevocable trust that holds your assets outside of your estate for Medicaid purposes. Once assets are transferred in, they are no longer counted as yours for Medicaid eligibility — but only after the 5-year lookback period has passed. The trust names a trustee (not you) to manage the assets, and names your beneficiaries to receive them after you pass.

Quitclaim Deed. If your home is the primary asset being protected, it must be formally transferred into the trust by deed. Without this step, your home remains a countable asset and Medicaid can place a lien on it after your death to recover care costs. Deed preparation is included in the flat fee. Government recording fees apply when the deed is filed — those are disclosed upfront before you sign anything.

Strategy and Implementation

Medicaid Strategy Review. Before the trust is drafted, Melissa reviews your full asset picture — home equity, savings, retirement accounts, and any transfers made in the past 5 years. This review identifies which assets can be protected, which cannot, and whether any prior transfers may trigger a Medicaid penalty period.

Document Walk-Through Call. Melissa walks through every document with you in plain language. You leave knowing exactly what the trust does, what it does not do, and what happens next.

Funding Guidance Session. An irrevocable trust only protects what is inside it. This session explains which assets to transfer, how to retitle accounts, and what to tell your bank. The 5-year clock does not start until the trust is properly funded — this step is what starts the clock.

Post-Signing Checklist. A written list of every action item after signing — accounts to transfer, deeds to record, and beneficiary designations to review. Most families complete funding within two to four weeks of signing.

The 5-Year Lookback Rule — Why Timing Is Everything

Georgia Medicaid does not simply look at what you own today. When you apply for Medicaid long-term care benefits, the state reviews every asset transfer you made in the 5 years before your application date. This is called the lookback period.

If Medicaid finds that you transferred assets — including into a MAPT — within that 5-year window, it calculates a penalty period during which you are ineligible for benefits. The penalty is calculated by dividing the transferred amount by the average monthly cost of nursing home care in your area. A $300,000 transfer could result in a penalty period of 33 to 43 months of ineligibility.

This means the MAPT only fully protects your assets if it was funded more than 5 years before you apply for Medicaid. The protection does not start the day you sign. It starts the day the assets are transferred in — and it does not fully vest until 60 months later.

Under O.C.G.A. § 49-4-142, Georgia Medicaid requires full disclosure of asset transfers during the lookback window.

Who this affects most:

• Anyone over 60 with significant home equity or savings
• Anyone with a family history of dementia, Parkinson’s, or other conditions requiring long-term care
• Anyone currently in good health who wants the 5-year clock running before a health event occurs

The most common reason families cannot use a MAPT is that they waited until a health crisis to ask about it. By the time a nursing home is involved, the 5-year window has closed or is closing. The trust is most useful when set up before a crisis, not during one.

MAPT Cost vs. Nursing Home Spend-Down

The right comparison is not what you pay for the trust versus hourly rates at other firms. The comparison that matters is what you pay for the trust versus what your family pays if you do not have one.

Georgia Medicaid will not pay for nursing home care until you spend down to $2,000 in countable assets. The 2024 Georgia Medicaid asset limit is $2,000. The income limit is $2,742 per month. If you have more than $2,000 in countable assets, those assets must be spent on care before Medicaid covers anything.

The average nursing home in Georgia costs between $7,000 and $9,000 per month. That is $84,000 to $108,000 per year. A five-year nursing home stay costs between $420,000 and $540,000. Without a MAPT in place more than 5 years in advance, most of that money comes directly out of what you planned to leave your family.

• Nursing home cost: $7,000–$9,000 per month in Georgia
• 5-year total exposure: $420,000–$540,000 without Medicaid coverage
• Asset spend-down threshold: Must reach $2,000 in countable assets before Medicaid pays

A MAPT that costs $6,500 today can protect your home, your savings, and what is left of your estate from that spend-down — if the trust is funded at least 5 years before a Medicaid application is needed.

For a comparison of MAPT to a standard revocable living trust, see our overview of both options. A revocable trust protects your estate from probate but does not protect assets from Medicaid spend-down. See our full Medicaid asset protection trust service page for a complete explanation of how the trust works. For all pricing options, visit the pricing hub.