Johnson Law LLC

08/18/2026

"We have a house and some savings, so we won't qualify for Medicaid."
You don't have to spend down to nothing. With the right planning, done early enough, families with real assets can protect their home and their savings and still qualify for long-term care coverage when they need it.
The tool is a Medicaid Asset Protection Trust. It isn't fancy, it isn't a loophole, and Maryland attorneys have used it for decades. The only catch is timing — it has to be in place more than five years before care is needed.
Which means the best time to do this is while you're healthy and not thinking about it. That's the part most people get wrong.
If you own a home in the greater Annapolis area and have never had this conversation, it's worth having. Schedule a free introductory call with our firm.

https://www.jcjohnsonlaw.com/blog/medicaid-asset-protection-trust-maryland-middle-class-families

📞 410-570-1671

08/07/2026

The most common thing families say when they call our firm after a parent has entered a nursing home is some version of: "I think we waited too long."

Almost always, they haven't.

The belief that the window has closed does more damage than the actual timeline. Families stop asking. Savings keep draining. Options that were available in month one are worth noticeably less by month four.

Here is what's actually true. It is only genuinely too late once countable assets have been spent down to $2,500 and Medicaid is already paying. Most families who call are nowhere near that point. A parent is still paying privately. The house is still in their name. There is still something to work with.

Maryland's look-back period reviews transfers — it does not automatically punish them. Spousal protections let a community spouse keep up to $162,660 this year. The caregiver child exception exists and almost nobody knows about it.

We wrote this for the family that has already decided it's hopeless.

https://www.jcjohnsonlaw.com/blog/is-it-too-late-to-protect-assets-nursing-home-maryland

Most Maryland families think they've waited too long. Usually, they haven't. What crisis Medicaid planning can still do.

07/28/2026

The hardest calls our firm takes begin the same way: a family is months into paying $12,000–$15,000 a month for a parent's nursing home care, and no one ever told them another option existed.

Crisis Medicaid planning exists for exactly this moment. It isn't a loophole — it's a set of legal strategies that help a family qualify for Medicaid long-term care while protecting assets, even after admission.

The nursing home won't raise it. We understand why. Families still deserve to know.

Our new article explains how this works in Maryland. Call our office to learn about a consultation. 410-570-1671

https://www.jcjohnsonlaw.com/blog/nursing-home-medicaid-options-maryland