Paula Span in her article on the NY Times New Old Age Blog suggests that “what variety of facility an older person lives in may matter less than we’ve assumed. And that the characteristics adult children look for when they begin the search aren’t necessarily what makes a difference to the people who move in.”

Span’s suggestion is based on (among other things) a recent study published in The Journal of Applied Gerontology, which found that among 150 Connecticut residents living in various long-term care situations (assisted living, nursing homes, residential care homes), the type of living situation itself made little difference in the resident’s emotional well-being. Rather, happiness and contentment was more a matter of “the characteristics of the specific environment they’re in, combined with their own personal characteristics — how healthy they feel they are, their age and marital status.”

Logically enough, a resident of a long-term care facility of any kind is more likely to report satisfaction and comfort if they had a hand in choosing their living situation, if they were part of the decision making process. In fact, it is the process itself—researching options, visiting facilities, considering current and future social and physical needs and how they will be met—that is the beginning of acclimatization.

Whatever your choice, you’ll want to know that you have options for paying for your long-term care living situation. Medicare.gov has published a chart summarizing and comparing the various options for long-term care financing. We find that the chart falls short, however, in the way it outlines the features of  “Medicaid”, called Medi-Cal in California, as it does not address planning options that are currently available to qualify for the subsidy and protect your home and other assets.  For more on this topic, see our “Consumer’s Guide to Medi-Cal Planning”.

Estate planning—or what this article from Investors Insight likes to call “legacy planning” —can help you achieve all of these goals. The article outlines four goals an estate plan can help you achieve. In our firm, we add a fifth:  Long Term Care Planning.  You and our firm can work together to make your plan more than merely a tax savings tool, by addressing the following:

1. Financial Security
2. Estate Care and Management
3. Protecting your Estate
4. Minimizing the Tax Burden and Probate Expense, and
5. Long Term Care Planning

Tax planning is sometimes an important part of your estate planning process, but tax laws have a tendency to change, and with a new estate tax law expected in 2009 or 2010 it is essential to remember your other goals as well when you plan your estate.

For many of our clients, planning to help fund the cost of Long Term Care without depleting the estate is a primary goal; if these costs are not considered, they can drain the estate you leave to your spouse or children.  Our firm may be able to help minimize the impact of these costs by creating an estate plan that coordinates your wishes with available government long term care benefits.  Pre-planning is the best approach.