What is a Medicaid Asset Protection Trust?
A Medicaid Asset Protection Trust — or MAPT — is an irrevocable trust that holds your home and money so Medicaid generally doesn’t count them against you when you apply for long-term care. When it’s funded at least five years before you need care, your family may keep what you’ve worked for — while you receive the care you need.
These are the questions that matter most when you’re thinking about a MAPT.
Won’t Medicare just pay for the nursing home?
Medicare
Short-term care
- Helps pay for rehab after a hospital stay
- Does NOT pay for long-term nursing home care
- Does NOT pay for assisted living
Medicaid
Long-term care
- May pay for your nursing home care
- Looks at your income and everything you own to decide if you qualify
- Looks back 5 years to see if you moved assets out of your name
Will my family still get the step-up in basis at death?
When a MAPT is drafted as a grantor trust, the step-up is generally preserved.
Your heirs may receive your home or investments at their current value — generally without owing capital gains tax on the increase that built up while you owned them.
How is a MAPT different from a revocable trust?
| What it’s designed to do | Revocable trust | MAPT |
|---|---|---|
| Holds assets outside Medicaid’s count. | ||
| Designed to help protect assets from nursing home costs. | ||
| May help you qualify for Medicaid without losing everything first. | ||
| May help your heirs inherit more. | ||
| Helps your family avoid probate. | ||
| Keeps you in full control of the assets. | ||
| Can be changed or revoked at any time. |
How does the five-year clock work?
-
Day you fund the MAPT
Your 5-year clock starts the day you actually move assets in.
-
Years 1–5 after
If you need long-term care during this window, Medicaid may not pay right away.
-
After 5 years
Medicaid generally stops treating those assets as yours.
Is a MAPT right for your situation?
Five short choices. Brent reads your answer back to you at the end.
A 30-second guided quiz. Get a personal read on whether a MAPT likely fits your timing.
How Brent helps you
- Helps you understand what Medicare and Medicaid actually cover
- Helps you decide whether a revocable trust or MAPT fits your goals
- Shows you how the five-year look-back applies to your assets
- Drafts MAPTs as grantor trusts so your heirs may keep the step-up
“Brent was so easy to work with and explains everything until you understand it.”
— S.D.
This testimonial reflects one client’s personal experience. It does not guarantee or predict the same or similar results for any other person.